Write Team: The ultimate family vacation

As a part of my doctoral program in American studies at the University of Maryland, I took several classes in the archeological program introduced by Ivor Noel Hume, chief archeologist at Colonial Williamsburg. We studied his splendid new book, “Historical Archeology,” met Hume in various lecture programs and practiced his techniques in limited settings.

I was fortunate to be selected as a part of a small group of archeologists in 1969 chosen to explore a portion of the island plantation of colonial leader George Mason. This island, now called Roosevelt Island, is in the Potomac River opposite the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Later, my academic studies provided the ultimate family vacation. I was selected to be one of three directors for the Smithsonian Institution asked to conduct a four-credit class that included an archeological dig, classes focusing on historical texts and field trips to colonial sites in southern Maryland. I and the other directors were invited to bring our families for the summer of 1970 to St. Mary’s City, Maryland, the first capital of Maryland, established in 1674 by Lord Baltimore. The group was to conduct an emergency archeological dig necessitated by new construction on the campus of St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

Class members were primarily middle-aged and older members of the immediate community. One, a teacher in the local schools, was a descendent of the original emigrants who came from England.

The families of the three directors lived in dormitory facilities, took their meals in the dining commons with students and enjoyed the amenities with no responsibilities but enjoyment of the college campus. Our children rode their bikes together, hung around the dig site and enjoyed a relaxing and carefree summer.

Each day began with a four-hour session digging on the 1818 John Hicks homesite and the retrieving artifacts from that site. Afternoons were spent in classroom activities, discussing assigned texts and colonial history. Most illuminating, perhaps, were field trips to Colonial Annapolis, Colonial Williamsburg, a dozen colonial plantation sites still in existence in the surrounding area and exploring the lay of the land in southern Maryland, positioned on a peninsula formed by the confluence of the Potomac and St. Mary’s Rivers. Occasionally, the class was joined by members of our families, and the summer proved to be an enriching, educational and thoroughly enjoyable vacation.

As the official photographer for the summer program, I often showed slides of our work as a part of our evening activities. It proved to be one of the most enjoyable and rewarding summers we have spent as a family. We made new friendships, which lasted beyond the summer, in dinners with our director’s families and many family activities together.

At the end of the summer program, as a member of the Smithsonian Associates, I was contracted to lead bus tours from Washington D.C. to Annapolis, Colonial Williamsburg and St. Mary’s City over the next two years. We found new friends and offered new enlightenment in city planning, colonial history and archaeology.

I thank our friends at the Smithsonian for providing this ultimate family vacation.

• Robert Cotner spent 25 years as an English teacher that include serving as Fulbright lecturer in English at the University of Liberia. He concluded his career as an executive at The Salvation Army and Shriners Children’s Hospital-Chicago. He now lives in Seneca.