COVID Vacation

Going away from your safe house during a pandemic is challenging. We used to always plan a trip the first week of June since our anniversary is June 1. We decided when we got married, that instead of giving each other anniversary gifts every year, we would take a trip. We have done lots of fun things, snorkeling in the Virgin Islands, driving cross country and camping in National Parks, Maine was a favorite trip and Alberta Canada was one of the best.  

This year, Gerry put in for vacation a week before the protests started. Thank God for perfect timing!
Traveling far from home was not an option for us, in fact a couple of days were spent at home just catching up on garden work. We also wanted to stay away from people. We almost always want to do that anyway! Driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway seemed like a good choice, it has been a favorite destination for us since we first met forty years ago. It never disappoints and there is always something new to find. This year was no exception.

The most surprising thing we found this year was an empty parkway the first week of June! All of the campgrounds were closed, the visitor centers and craft shops, closed. Trails were open thank goodness, we did a lot of hiking. The first day, temperatures were in the 60's and it was drizzly and cloudy. My favorite mountain weather! By Saturday, the section of the parkway close to towns started getting more and more crowded, cars parked everywhere. The sun came out, weather warmed up and everyone with cabin fever was out and not social distancing at all! We headed north away from the crowds!

This lodge was a sad discovery. I have always loved this place and thought one day we might stay there when we tired of camping. We found it in a terrible state of decay. It was closed up and as we walked around, we could even smell the mold that must have been inside the rooms. Is this what has happened during the trump administration? Our parks are just neglected. The roadsides were not mowed, they used to be pristine, the roads had pot holes, downed trees were everywhere from the winter storms and had not been cleaned up, the facilities all looked shabby and run down. Its really sad to see such a national treasure look so bleak.

I guess they pulled all of the picnic tables in the park, all of the picnic areas were closed.

The hiking trails were virtually empty. We had the woods to ourselves and the quiet space was so healing. We both needed this more than we knew. Just to be in nature and listen to the stillness is medicine for the soul. Avoiding people has become our number one priority, even more than it has been in the past!

Since the campgrounds were closed we stayed at a Marriott. I did a lot of reading about covid hotel stays and Marriott is going above and beyond on protection. There were hand sanitizers on the walls, even in the elevator, the front desk was plexi-glassed, although we did see a guest leaning around it to talk to the staff, idiot. They did not have food service, although there was a Starbucks in the lobby so we did get coffee at least. It was also nearly empty, so we felt relatively safe here. The rooms were clean and sanitized, I could even smell the bleach in the linens. We took the stairs instead of the elevator, and just made sure we were being careful, washing hands and using hand sanitizer.

Eating was a whole other challenge! We brought a lot of our food, tailgating for lunch (missing the picnic areas), fruit and bread in the room for breakfast, snacks in our packs when hiking.

We had the Door Dash app and used that for room service at our hotel, ordering pizza from a local shop. The delivery girl showed up with a mask and held the pizza box far away from her. No contact. Easy Peasy and the pizza was great!  We supported a local business and an essential worker (delivery person) Bonus!

Also supported the local coffee shop in Boone. They were doing a fantastic job keeping everything safe. Doors open, tables removed, everyone wearing masks and keeping a proper distance. The barista announced from time to time that there was sanitizer at the register and to please use it, gave instructions on the one way in one way out doorways, and the coffee was much better  than the hotel Starbucks! Win Win.  We have been to this coffee shop many times, usually long lines, lots of people sitting around on their laptops or students reading books, visiting with friends. It was eerily quiet, but pleasant anyway.

Also a must for any travel is a breakfast biscuit from Bojangles. Again, masks, no inside dining, and limited contact.

On the way home, we stopped for Mexican food. We did not want to dine in, even though NC is now open for limited inside dining.  We did go in to place our order, sort of regretted this, but we tried and tried to call and the line was busy. The restaurant had arranged for curbside pickup, but how do you do that if you can't get through on the phone?  Anyway, all staff was wearing masks, all diners were not. To be fair, how do you wear a mask and eat? It was packed though and I don't see anyway they were practicing social distancing, and I for one, could not have eaten a bite in there. So we ate in the car. It was hot as hell outside, 92 degrees, we stopped at a park, could see the picnic tables but the car was cooler. You do what you gotta do in these weird ass times!

We found some quiet places. We hiked, fished, read, ate good food, had good coffee. All the things you do on a restful vacation. It was sort of normal, we just took extra measures to be safe and virus free. We watched the protests on the news at night in our hotel room, watched the Jeffrey Epstein documentary which was fascinating and creepy. We drove down gravel roads, mountain roads, took lots of photos, and just enjoyed escaping reality for a week.

The cicada hatch was also in the mountains and we were reminded of the insane sound of them years ago when they hatched in Chapel Hill. I hope they stay in the Mts. although this little guy tried to hitch a ride home with us, found him in our car after searching through the back for the sound we kept hearing!

This was Boone NC on a Saturday morning in June. I have been going to Boone all my life, hate the traffic in that little tourist, college town, and this was something I have never seen. An empty main street. Guess some people are taking the Governor seriously and sheltering at home. Even though we were not "sheltering in place", (we had already done so for 70+ days), we took extreme measures to be safe, stay away from people and enjoy a trip away for a few days. It was good to get away, a good break from the virus and nice to see we could get out and enjoy our beautiful country without too much trouble. Vacation is possible during a pandemic, but you should be smart, not only for yourself but for others that want to get out as well. Challenging times, for sure!