My wife and I went away for the weekend recently to celebrate our 10th anniversary. We came back relaxed after a splendid weekend. But I have a bone to pick with some of the people who also spent that weekend in Cape May, N.J. You people need to learn how to travel.

I’m no world-traveler, but I have taken my share of trips, particularly to historically relevant places. Maria loves visiting historic houses, so I know the drill pretty well.

That’s why I couldn’t get over the number of indecisive people we encountered. I don’t expect people to plan a detailed itinerary each day, but they could at least have a clue about what they plan to do when they set out for the day.

When we headed out to take a tour of a historic house in the town, we knew exactly what kind of tour we wanted. Since we visited during Victorian Week, there were plenty of options available. We read the brochure before we left the hotel and made our decision.

The people in front of us in line looked like they had wandered into the house by mistake. They looked at the board with all the options like they had never even considered the possibility of touring a house when they visited Cape May.

At least they didn’t have kids running round with them. That’s another thing that burns my chaps about visiting historical sites. Please, people, leave the young ones at home.

I love my daughter. I want her to learn a lot about the history and culture and society, but not until she can stand around without whining or complaining about how boring things are.

I learned the limits of a 5-year-old the hard way – on family vacations as a kid. My Dad put a lot of miles on the old station wagon. Sure, I learned how to ride facing backwards from Baltimore to Maine. We have a few family jokes about the tour guide at Plymouth Rock and some pictures featuring fascinating fashion trends on my siblings and I, but that’s about it.

Right now, the beach will suffice as a family vacation. Sure, some of the families in Cape May could have planned a nice beach weekend and only came inside to escape the rain. But take the kids to the movies, not to a historic house.

So if you manage to plan your day and get someone to watch the kids for the weekend, I only have one more tip for you – act like you have been there before.

The guy touring the house in front of us sounded like he had never been let out of the house. He expressed amazement at every little fact the docent threw at him.

“Really? No way! That’s amazing!” Yeah, yeah, yeah. Look at the pretty display and move on, mister. Trust me, all these places look the same after a while.

I shouldn’t be bitter, though. I actually do learn a lot after dodging the indecisive people, the children and the incredulous. And I got to spend a lot of quality time with my wife on a vacation right up her alley.

Best of all, we already know what we want to do next year. Now all I have to do is find out if Las Vegas has any historic houses to make Maria happy.