Good Friday found us packed and ready to hit the road. After we started out I determined that we had left a little latter than the ‘Ole Buckeye had hoped. I realized that he had quietly waited for me to be completely ready.
After 47 years of marriage he has finally learned to let me get ready, pack and organize. He loads. For years this process was a battle, sometimes nearly ruining a trip before it actually began. He has learned to be patient and let me go through the “process”. It took about 45 years for that to happen.
We loaded between bands of rain and were off. The initial plan was to drive to New Bern the first day. Our plan was extremely flexible since our reservation in Savannah was to begin on Monday. We wanted to explore some of the areas along the way. By doing so we could determine where we might want to return in the future and how much time we might want to spend in each destination. We are at a point in life that we can take a 2-4 day road trip on a whim. We can pick the time according to our schedule. We can take off when we hear a perfect weather forecast. A true privilege.
To be perfectly honest I have always thought that once you retire you no longer need to take a “vacation”. After all, you can do most anything you want, when you want. Not. We have settled into a schedule. We have accepted responsibilities. We have delegated much of our time to get the grand girls to and from their various activities. The ‘Ole Buckeye volunteers and has scheduled hours. We are on call. We have structure. Obviously none of this is a full time commitment, but it is set responsibilities for several hours several days a week. For that reason, when our son and his family planned a trip over Spring break, we decided to take a “Spring Break” as well.
Initially we booked 4 nights in Savannah, leaving after Easter. When our son announced that they would be leaving on Good Friday, we decided to do the same. We began to plan a road trip to Savannah that would take several days. We planned a more scenic route…taking US 17 from Virginia to Savannah. We loosely planned exploratory stops in New Bern, NC, Wilmington, NC, Pawley’s Island, SC, Mt Pleasant, SC, and on to Savannah. Other than the reservations we had in Savannah we would be playing the rest of the trip by ear. We have seldom had the freedom to do anything like this in the past. I am becoming “Flexible”, at least fairly flexible. I had done my “research” but without a smart phone and GPS, I would never have been convinced to take a travel adventure.
As an aside, when I say packed and ready to go, it includes a beach bag and chairs (just in case), a bag of snacks, a cooler, reading material, a computer, and several bottles of wine, supplementing the suitcases and a bag of shoes. For this trip the cooler was more substantial than normal. It would supply some lunches and appetizers for the trip. I packed a new pasta salad, guacamole, cheeses, fruit, and Mountain Dew (to keep us awake).
When all was ready to go into the car, the “Ole Buckeye loaded up. He was ready. He then shifted from one foot to the other while I completed “the process”. It was at this point, very much like my Mother once did, that I executed the final walk through. I left the house in perfect condition. Why, because my mom taught me. Another idiosyncrasy that the ‘Ole Buckeye has learned to expect and patiently accept. So…at 10 AM we were off on our adventure. Road trip to Savannah 2016. More trip details to come.
Enjoying the travelogue! I do the same damn thing with the house, got to leave it tidy just in case. I do the same thing before I leave for work in the morning. What if something happened to me, and people had to go in the house? What would they think of me? lol. Gifts from mom. 🙂 I’ll probably find a penny now.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on various stops. I have been to New Bern but not done the tourist stops there. It looked nifty though. Mom also imprinted that house tidying before leaving thing in me and I seem to have passed it on to my daughters! It does feel good when you return from a trip to find everything ship shape.