somehow manage to stand out in the memory to the exclusion of things which have been carefully arranged

[Coffee Break]

I encountered the expression, "somehow manage to stand out in the memory to the exclusion of things which have been carefully arranged", but am finding it difficult to understand it. Could you please let me know what it means? Here is the excerpt:

But what did the rain matter now?—let it pour!— let it hail!—another day—two clear days ahead—Friday!—Saturday!—“Isn’t it spiffing!” shouted Ernie.

They put on their coats, hurried down to the pier, and began one of those delightful, unrehearsed interludes that somehow manage to stand out in the memory to the exclusion of things which have been carefully arranged. They dived headlong into the brightly coloured sea of automatic machines: Dick played Mr. Stevens a tremendous game of automatic football with the family straining over their shoulders, calling out encouragement and laughing: quite a crowd collected to see what the merriment was about and the family had almost to elbow their way from the machine when the match was over.

- R. C. Sherriff, The Fortnight in September, Chapter 30

This is a novel published in 1931, which describes a fortnight in September in which an English family consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Stevens, Mary, Dick, and Ernie go on a holiday. Towards the end of the holiday, they are suggested by Mrs. Huggett, the landlady, to stay for another day as a gift from her. So, when Mr. and Mrs. Stevens reveal the news to the children, they are shouting with joy and are hurriedly going down to the pier to enjoy the night.

Here, I wonder what this underlined part means.

I think this "interlude" might be a metaphor for the night, which could be regarded as the interlude between two shining days... (though I may be wrong.)

But I am not sure what it means that these "interludes" stand out in the memory "to the exclusion of things". Would "to" here mean "because of", perhaps...? (But this is just my guess. )

 

[Barque]

began one of those delightful, unrehearsed interludes that somehow manage to stand out in the memory to the exclusion of things which have been carefully arranged.

It means it was one of those unplanned things that people sometimes remember later better than other things that had been more carefully planned.

to the exclusion of

This expression means "superseding" or "overriding" or "taking preference over".

When you go on holiday, you might make a list of things to do and see. Then, during the holiday, you might do something not on the list, just on impulse, and when you come back from holiday, you might remember that particular unplanned activity better than the ones you did from your list.

 

[5jj]

I encountered the expression, "somehow manage to stand out in the memory to the exclusion of things which have been carefully arranged", but am finding it difficult to understand it.

That's part of a sentence. It is not an 'expression'.

 

[Coffee Break]

@Barque and @5jj,

Thank you very much for the detailed explanation!
So "to the exclusion of" would mean that they did something else, which was unplanned, discarding their original plan.

In that case, if I understood correctly, this part might be paraphrased as:

They put on their coats, hurried down to the pier, and began one of those delightful, unrehearsed interludes that somehow manage to stand out in the memory to the exclusion of things which have been carefully arranged.
= those joyous and unrehearsed resting times that by whatever means manage to be especially notable in the memory, and that were performed by discarding the things that they had carefully planned.

That's part of a sentence. It is not an 'expression'.

Indeed! It is always hard to find the exact term, though I always try. Thank you for letting me know.

I truly appreciate your help.

 

[Barque]

So "to the exclusion of" would mean that they did something else, which was unplanned, discarding their original plan.

No, it doesn't talk about them "discarding" their original plan, though they may have.

The sentence means that they did something unplanned, and that unplanned thing was the sort of thing that sticks in your memory better than the planned things you might have done.

As I said in post #2,

When you go on holiday, you might make a list of things to do and see. Then, during the holiday, you might do something not on the list, just on impulse, and when you come back from holiday, you might remember that particular unplanned activity better than the ones you did from your list.