We traveled across the USA this past December and January. There were several places and stories, such as the Battle of Franklin, that really stood out. The stories have stayed with me sitting on a little brain shelf waiting to be dusted off and told.  Some stories are easy.  Some, not so much. I want to do the characters justice by finding just the right niche, the not so common side of things.

Imagine living to be 99-years-old and living your entire life in the same place, never going beyond what you know.  This is the story of Alfred – Alfred Jackson – an enslaved man who spent the better part of his life in servitude to President Andrew Jackson.

Sardine in a can.  At this moment I think I understand the feeling of the proverbial sardine in a can. I am currently somewhere around 30,000 feet trapped in a tin cylinder with about 240 other sardines. The man sitting next to me is probably 6’2” if he’s an inch and although I pity him, practically folded in half in his middle seat, no way am I giving up my aisle seat for anyone.

When we travel, and when we walk in the paths of those who came before us, I have a tendency to fixate on a singular person of interest.  I want more than the surface story, I want the details, the behind the scenes story. I’ll read everything I can find on the person, i.e. Johnny Cash, until I exhaust the resources.  And, if I’m lucky enough to find videos on YouTube, I’ll watch as many as I possibly can.

“Man, that record came out and was real big in Memphis.

They started playing it, and it got real big.

Don’t know why-the lyrics had no meaning.”

Elvis Presley

At this time next month we will be back in Washington, D.C. and I am filled with eager anticipation.  I cannot make the days go fast enough.

Do you stay in B&B’s when you travel?  That’s probably one of the most frequently asked questions from our guests.  We always smile, look at each other with a secret little gleam in our eyes, and answer, “No, we don’t.”  And, of course, the next question is, why not?

There’s never a dull moment when you own/operate a Bed and Breakfast.  Trust me on this.  Last night I prepped a large baking dish of French toast souffle, (it has to refrigerate overnight) only to discover this morning that two of our guests left early.

As we ready (and steady) ourselves for the upcoming tourist season, which includes the baking of a gazillion cookies, I was reminded of a hilarious article I read on the Huff Post about stupid idiotic not so smart things people say when it comes to reviewing their travel experiences.

“One day I heard someone talking about ‘sifting sand’. I liked the sound of those words and scribble in my notebook ‘old man sifts sand’ tells stories…’ and forgot about it.

Then one day I was on a beach, watching the sand trickle through my fingers and thought, what if every grain held a story. And what if someone were able to tell those stories by sifting the sand?”  –   Wikiquote