Tag: travel
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Yesterday we drove an hour and a half to Derry, NH, to see an early home of the American poet, Robert Frost. It was closed. We ate lunch and then we drove all the way back. 3 hours. For nada. Just in case you’re tempted to idealize our existence from time to time. So I’m…
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When I was in elementary school, the day after Labor Day always brought two unsharpened Ticonderoga #2 pencils, an unopened box of 8 Crayola crayons, and a fresh Pink Pearl eraser from my public school teachers. How or where the teachers got these supplies for their working class students never crossed my mind, but looking…
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It’s 163 years since the three day battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863) concluded and Lee’s army slipped back into Virginia (July 4, 1863). The following are my thoughts related to the battlefields we visited in Virginia and Pennsylvania. I admit that by the end of them, I was a bit battlefield and Civil War’d…
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Beginning six weeks ago, we met a new nemesis, a very demon from hell sent to test our patience. We fought it valiantly, and I believe we finally have the upper hand. For this spring, at least. Remnants remain, though, in nooks and crannies of the trailer, the truck, and our lungs, eyes, and souls. Both Fairy…
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When I say the temperature dropped the last night we stayed near Cape Canaveral, I mean it dropped. The temps slid downward all day Sunday and the winds climbed steadily upwards. Overnight, wind gusted up to 50mph and the actual temperature fell to 20°F on Monday morning. Our camp hosts were so concerned about us…
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The irony of writing about the warmest week we’ve spent in Florida while wearing parkas, gloves, and stocking caps is not lost upon me. It’s cold here in north-central Florida at the moment. Cold cold cold. My hope is we’ll soon see the back side of anything below 40°F for a while. I fear we…
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Florida is living up to its tourist posters: bright, warm, and beautiful. And as I watch the northeast and Midwest descend into ice, snow, and wind chill chaos, Florida’s reputation as a winter refuge is solidified. Now that we’re near the southern end, it’s become hot and humid. The mosquitoes were apparently late coming back…
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In Pendleton, South Carolina, two restored plantation homes are owned by a nonprofit organization tasked with researching, restoring, and educating the public about the area’s history through educational tours. Educational tours, you say? Step aside, folks, step aside. I’m coming across that big veranda with its ceiling painted ‘haint’ blue to stop ghosts from crossing…
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Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it. We spent the lead up to the Winter Solstice re-watching the Harry Potter series, like we do every year, like we did every year when Ian lived at home, and like the three of us did separately after he moved away. I still enjoy the movies and the…
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Hotels are odd things. Strangers packed into too small a space each morning, huddling over a meagre spread in a kitchenette. Pardon me and Excuse me and May I and Oh, I’m sorry around a warming dish with watery powdered eggs and mass produced sausage patties, a platter of single serve bowls of artificially colored,…
