Getting Away

As the pandemic restrictions ease and I find myself too solitary, I thought it would be a good time to seek different scenery for a few days.  My wife agrees.  When gets determined by our obligations to be a specific place, for me none, for my wife Monday and Thursday evenings.  That leaves a block of time in between, two nights in hotel speak.

With the need to make reservations later today, that what to do where remains unsettled.  While I drive a short route most days, to a park or along the main public thoroughfare, just to leave the house, driving to more distant places that I used to just turn on the car and go seem more of a chore.  The New Castle Farmers Market last Sunday seemed farther than I remember it.  Walmart has become a minor schlep.  I used to drive to OLLI's campus a few days a week.  Just a few days ago I opted to visit the public golf course nearby and found the drive an imposition.  A destination three to four hours distant, while a welcome respite, has acquired its elements of imposition.

We tentatively chose our destination to center around local wineries which I thought would take us anywhere in a 200 mile radius until I looked at the winery maps and individual web sites.  In Pennsylvania and Maryland, they don't cluster quite as I had hoped, except within 100 miles of my home.  Moreover, many of the more rural places do not open during midweek so it looks like wineries alone will need an activity supplement of some type. I probably could arrange visits with people on Long Island or metro NY but the expense is prohibitive relative to what  I can do in Pennsylvania and Maryland.  

Hotels make for interesting choices.  As much as I might like splashing in an indoor pool, it adds about $20 premium above places that don't have one.  Really not worth it for this.  I will allot two days at my state's beaches later this summer.

Or we could go to the Jersey Shore where they have wineries and other things.  It's a lot closer than Central Pennsylvania or Maryland, ample motel options right before their season with other shore attractions.  Could be a reasonable alternative.  Or maybe a day trip later this summer when more of the attractions are open.

For today, just reserve to be someplace else during the coming week.