My vacation takeaways

I like pinpointing the peak of an experience — sometimes during, sometimes afterward. Any experience can have a peak — eating a sandwich, a day at work, a weekend away. Whatever.

A couple of weeks ago I took my first true solo vacation. I hit the road by myself and drove a total of about 1,800 miles. I wasn’t sure I’d have much fun without a traveling companion but honestly, it was great and I did have lots of fun. My trip involved revisiting a familiar place — the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, including Cades Cove and Townsend, TN. I also picked a couple of new places to visit — Beaufort, SC and Savannah, GA. Both new places were towns I’d heard nice things about. A few years ago, my scattered family and I had talked about meeting up in Savannah for a vacation but that trip never materialized. But I’d researched Savannah online and it sounded really cool.

A perfect day in Greenwich

Funny that today while pondering the cloudless blue sky, I thought of a day I spent in Greenwich while on a London vacation with my brother a couple of years ago. After checking my trip journal, it turns out I was in Greenwich exactly two years ago to the day. My day trip to Greenwich was one of those rare, magical vacation days when your expectations are exceeded by reality. It’s a lush, green place with beautiful architecture and lots of history. Getting there was fun and being there was both invigorating and relaxing. Details may seem fuzzy but that’s how the whole London trip was — I was enraptured and captivated and somewhat overwhelmed. While I can recall almost no factual information about Greenwich, my mind’s eye can see the Royal Observatory on the green hilltop. And a sunny, summery day always seems to call Greenwich to mind.