Seeking Experiences

Penultimate day in Deerfield Beach. I've purchased no material goods to bring on my return trip, not a cheap T-shirt or a coffee mug.  Nada.  Came for experiences and got experiences.  Met with a cousin who I've not seen in decades and with a friend who I've kept in touch with for many decades.  Visited my father's grave site, completing my Semi-Annual Project of visiting all family cemeteries.  Self-toured the Everglades.  Slept late.  Lounged at pool, jumping in a few short dips.  Walked a block to the beach, mostly sitting at the shore, but wading in twice.  Deerfield Beach differs from Downstate Delaware.  Smaller width.  The town or state built barrier rocks, presumably to avoid flooding.  Even the places we dined at had a uniqueness not readily accessible at home.  I know of no pâtisseries.  Here we had two.  The breakfast places were each a little different than where I would go at home, more in ambience than menu, though I am used to more extensive griddle options.  We don't really have small restaurants with seafood dominant menus, though our beer selections are a lot more varied.  Only ate at one large chain, and that to be with my dear friend, whose house I got to mostly tour, along with my cousin's home.  These are different, inside and outside, from mine, though admittedly I prefer mine as a place to live.  

The scale of the area is also part of the experience.  The shore runs for hundreds of miles.  The population may be among the largest suburban sprawls in America with massive housing developments, mid-rise condos on the beach blocks, and shopping centers spread out with shops catering to any imaginable whim, or even legitimate need.  Nothing seemed grimy. The Everglades followed a single road, but that road ran 38 miles, encompassing multiple habitats.  Yet the two visitor centers seemed far more compact than other National Parks I have visited.

There is also a Jewish presence, part obvious with Chabad style Menorahs prominent in many locations, though much hidden.  Synagogues come up on a list.  I didn't go to one this shabbos, none notable from the roads as I drove past.  Kosher restaurant before I head home, another experience difficult to duplicate.

And maybe the ultimate experience, shirtsleeve, beach weather in December.  Not something I'd want all the time.  I'd probably not really like living in one of the many housing developments of restricted access with rigid Home Owners Association Rules and fees.  As pleasant as the week has been, I still think I like my own norm better.

Cancelling Vacation

Covid-19 has taken its toll on travel, though this Thanksgiving a lot of people took their chances to see trusted relatives in person.  When I went to pick up a few items at Total Whine for my own Thanksgiving, a lot of other shoppers had full baskets that they could not possibly consume themselves.  I felt a need to get away too, and began to act on it.

 

It's been a confining time.  I went on three small day trips this fall and air travel over Labor Day weekend.  My son's wedding was worth some prudent health risk, though far fewer attended than originally planned.  I went virtually nowhere, getting food at a supermarket on arrival and having two dinners, one outdoors, the other in a tent.  The hotel had closed its pool.  In lieu of a buffet, it offered a doggy bag, which I declined in favor of the munchies from the supermarket.

That vacation overdue feeling had arisen, emphasized by a goal I had set for myself to visit a National Park by year's end.  I could have driven to Great Smokies, probably a reasonable  Plan A.  It would take a lot of driving, but offered detours to either Asheville or Knoxville. But there didn't seem to be all that much to do at the park itself, maybe hike or drive on trails.  It is also the most visited of the National Parks, so undesired crowds might be expected.  As an alternative, I looked at the Everglades.  By travel standards, this looked too good to be true.  Airfare less than regional intercity train fare in the Northeast.  Hotels about a third less than I usually pay for a chain hotel.  Rental cars seemed something of rip-off with Florida gouging its visitors as best it could, but as a package, it could not be beat.  Reservations made, with a modest penalty for canceling the car.  Looked forward to getting away until the reports of accelerated infection rates starting making the news.  Most of the trip would not have been that unsafe.  Air travel requires masks and we would sit together.  Hotels and cars also leave us by ourselves.  The hotel district can be accessed on a variety of internet maps.  There is a cluster of them near ours, at the edge of a shopping center district with ample takeout.  And the Everglades have assigned roads and open spaces, far larger than any of the parks near home.  However, to see what's in the Everglades, the National Park Service franchises tour concessions who take tourists around in some form of land or watercraft.  The State of Florida has been a little loose about protecting it's inhabitants, with far more people than we have rejecting infection control precautions as infringement on their personal or economic liberties.  That part is not a prudent risk.  As reports of illness, hospitalization, and mortality disseminated, responsibility for the health of my wife prevailed.  Son's wedding, take a chance.  My amusement, no way.  I cancelled it all, forfeiting an auto rental deposit, accepting an airline credit good for nearly a year, and perhaps staying at a different hotel in an area where the people have a better level of regard for each other.

National Park Maybe

I've been an enthusiast of America's National Parks since I first made Zion and Bryce a destination.  Once I became eligible, for $10 as an entry level Senior, I purchased my Park Pass which has gotten me to Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, and Rocky Mountain Parks.  All spectacular.  I've only been to one eastern park, Shenandoah which I visited as a side trip from Charlottesville.  I'm sure it was more spectacular than I realized, though travel limited to the Skyline Drive main road and few minor offshoots.  No mammals seen, don't even remember road kill.  It had been my intent to detour from St. Louis to Mammoth Cave last year, a project undermined by airline delays that made a long round trip unrealistic.

It's time to go again, so much so that I designated it a semi-annual initiative, even amid Covid-19 restrictions.  These parks are big.  Having the summer depleted, I can no longer head north to Isle Royale or Acadia.  There are some southeastern options.  Mammoth Cave is a little farther than I want to drive.  Great Smokies seems the closest beyond Shenandoah, about a 10 hour drive.  It is the most visited of the National Parks, but seems a lot like Shenandoah.  It was cobbled together by mass purchase of farmland or privately held forests.  There are hotels nearby and side trips to either Asheville or Knoxville, in different directions, that have a few attractions of their own.  This seemed the best option.

However, I looked at the Everglades, which I have seen from the air.  It's geography is less familiar to me, wildlife easier to find, Florida weather has an advantage over the Appalachians in December.  After checking on logistics, airfare and hotels are far less expensive than I would have predicted for Florida in their high season.  Being economically dependent on snowbirds and other tourism, they must have taken a very big hit from the virus.  The hotels are a bit farther from the park than those of Great Smokies.  Still there is a lot more to do in Florida than in North Carolina at the onset of winter.  I even know people who live within a drive of there, though I don't know about the willingness of old friends to have people stop by, even with precautions.  

Given the options, I'm leaning toward the Everglades, but will see if anyone else has experience with these two parks and their surroundings.