Well it’s a wrap. Was it the internet? Was it the economy? Well, yes but there does come a time...
When we first moved to Bristol and I began to circulate among the community socially and through civic organizations I had a distinct impression. It seemed that women were very much involved in running things around the Newfound area. Many successful businesses, if only for longevity, were owned and run by women. Atlas Travel only reinforced that opinion.
In the case of Atlas, an amalgam of skills and talents was manifest. From even before we moved full time to the “Youngs’ chicken barn” in Alexandria, Bob and Carol Huber looked out for us. Bob was in charge of our initial ground and foundation projects at the barn as we made the usual noises of flatlanders who said they would move ‘up north’. Lo and behold it did happen. Gini quit her job at Astro Travel; I quit teaching at the University of Lowell and after 12 years of being brats we decided to become parents. Chicken coop – ho! (“You’re really not going to live in a chicken coop are you?” was the echoing response of the gestating Von D’Lucchi).
Carol tended bar (and still does) at Rossi’s restaurant from the first day it opened. Her previous years in the business made her an ideal choice to schmooz with Exit 23’s itinerant and resident clientele looking for some good Italian food. Since our barn was not ‘ideally’ equipped for cooking (gas stove top fastened to some upright two by fours) when we took a break from our weekend-away-from-Massachusetts, Rossi’s was the place. The girls began cooking a scheme of their own. Gini had good experience in the travel business and Carol knew just about everybody – Voila!
With their blessing and friendship we decided to quit jobs, move to NH and prepare for the arrival of Chip. We were 34 at the time and yet our parents acted like we were teenagers who could not see the forest, the trees or the benefit in erecting walls around a flush toilet. However, taking in (and abetting) all our madness were Bob and Carol:
Now Atlas Travel, itself, has been a ‘well-traveled’ business. Originally these women had a storefront in a small building next to the Huber house until they decided to move a little closer to town…about 9 feet closer. Bob lifted the building, I presume swept under it, and put it back in its new location. Later they began to play musical rooms in the building next door as they could not let any moss gather. There were a total of 4 locations but one site – there’s a pun in there somewhere.
Gini and the travel business had originally been on a collision course. She experienced her first taste of the Old World during a summer jaunt with relatives while still in high school. Later at Rivier College (Nashua, NH) she became versed in how to travel on a scooter in Bermuda, a sobering experience.
Her degree from the Boston School of Fashion Design raised her to the ranks of the shopping cognoscenti and demanded a future with promising venues. Her next stint as an orthodontic assistant braced her to finally declare that there had to be something better than this. And besides, Chris had a lot of time in the summer and all those school vacations!
Enter Astro Travel and Mr. Butler…he was one of the good guys. He impressed upon Gini the idea that travel made you a better sales person. Gini needed very little convincing. So back to Bermuda:
She became quite adept at bargains and smart traveling. On this same trip she was able to collapse me into a bottle and put me in her carry-on.:
Upon emerging I gave her any wish she desired.
Gini became more and more the professional. She was able to immerse herself in new cultures and locations. At times though it became a trick to bring me along since I was still dedicated to changing the world through non-violent but clever revolution. To give you an idea where she had to start, here is square one:
Square two was not all that much better as I was convinced that a green cap with a red star would be the next tri-corner hat
Gini, as we all know, is very upbeat and optimistic. So she decided to be proactive and give me a unique (for me) Christmas present. It made its appearance in a nicely wrapped small box. I eagerly ripped at the paper and quizzically espied a certificate enabling a couple to take a Caribbean cruise for only the price of the sales tax. Gini was sorely tried as she became the ubiquitous audience for my dissertation on the exploitation of the working man and the excesses of the decadent. But I did finally embark:
The first two days were tough as I tried to rally everybody from our cabin steward to the dining room waiters to unite against the oppressor. Gini, bemusedly, would enjoy the food, the sunshine and the sophisticated patience of the staff as they did their professional best to ensure our comfort and pleasure. In fact, our cabin steward spent about an hour sitting and talking with me on the floor in the hallway outside our cabin and he, very politely, re-adjusted my take on the third world proletariat to a more gracious level. By the third night I was in my dinner jacket with Gini and a martini on a moonlit deck watching my hippie-self go down for the third time in the ship’s wake.
So, need I say it? Booking the next cruise was my idea:
Gini was so proud.
She has provided us with a wealth of experience and enjoyment.
Yes that’s the Great Wall and it is aptly named!
Our son has reaped the benefits of world travel and multiple cultures.
Yah mon – every ting is iree!
The magic that was maybe Atlantis on the island of Thera (Santorini):
Gini thrilled our godchild, Colleen, the daughter of our roommates by taking her along on a trip to San Francisco. I got to play Uncle Aldo and drive the convertible hither and yon:
She was also able to take her dad to San Fran soon after her mom died and he had a wonderful time.
But there is something very special about seeing and being with Gini when she is traveling. She is an integral part of the adventure. The joi de voyage. She makes sure that the hotel is affordable but elegant, that touring opportunities are known and understood; that your luggage is packed efficiently or she will send you to the Russian front (there is a little Nazi in all of us); that lunch on the train will be a dining experience:
She will definitely get into the spirit of things:
From sunrise in Sicily:
To sunset in Jamaica:
Her career is a mark of excellence, enjoyment and realized opportunities. Thank you Carol and Gini for so many years of service to those of us who want to get away from it all. May all your sunsets be filled with refulgence and every ray beaming from a satisfied customer.
