There are different kinds of trips to enjoy, at all ends of the spectrum – from the all-inclusive resort to the theme-park-with-kids to the backpacking tour across rugged lands to the Route 66 road trek to the “let’s rent a cabin or beach house and put down some roots for a week” trip. They all have their merits, but the latter is something my family really enjoys, especially when we have reunions, and those trips are one of the reasons we bought a small cabin in central Colorado.
There is something special about the bonding that happens when families and friends share a living space or multiple co-located dwellings and have meals together.
Many of my forever memories are rooted in rental cabins, condos and beach houses that were home for just a week.
The First Rule: No Cooking on Travel Days
Because of our cabin, we’re learning lots about the “let’s put down some roots” kind of travel. One of our best protocols so far is the Travel Day Dinner Plan: No cooking!!! Whether we’re driving or flying, it’s just too darn much trouble to do a full dinner on the same roady-weary day you lug all of your suitcases into your home for a week.
And as much as no one wants to cook on a travel day, you can double that sentiment about the cleanup. No cleanup!!! Smorgasbord all the way.
The Grill-Meister Takes on Smorgasbord Provisioning
The Grill-Meister was on point for provision procurement for the long weekend we’re spending at the cabin, and he did a great job. (We converged via separate flights in Denver because business travel had taken me to California first, and he had some spare time waiting for me.) The Grill-Meister knows the Family Smorgasbord drill and chose a nice mix of meats and cheeses, and threw in some cool condiments, dried fruit and fresh items, too. The closest he came to the verboten cooking was a vegetarian flatbread that had to be baked and some chicken sausage that needed a quick sauté. It was a lovely meal that took less than 20 minutes to prepare and about half that to clear away. That’s the way to do a travel day dinner. No muss, no fuss!
More About the Smorgasbord
We love, love, love smorgasbord in our family, as you’ll know if you read the post about it a couple of months ago. For ideas on how you can have a Family Smorgasbord Night, click here. And remember, when you take that upcoming”let’s rent a cabin or beach house and put down some roots for a week” trip to make those forever memories, no cooking on travel days!
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