Hello Boston! It had been nearly 20 years since our last visit to Boston and it was well-past time to return. As the US continues to open up after 18+ months of Covid restrictions, and with both of us fully vaccinated, we hit the road north.

Salem, Massachusetts is all kinds of quirky witchy fun with the added bonus of majestic coastal beauty. It turned out to be a lovely and convenient base for exploring Cape Ann.

We were told, one must visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, when in Boston. Turns out, it was sage advice because the museum is extraordinary.

Martha’s Vineyard. Who doesn’t want to spend a week on the island, it’s beautiful! In full disclosure we’ve never visited during the busy summer season, so I can’t speak to that. However, we have spent time on the island in the spring and fall, which are truly lovely seasons to visit. The days are still warm and the tourists have either not yet arrived before Memorial Day, or they’ve left by Labor Day.

The gingerbread houses of Martha’s Vineyard are iconic. Each time we visit we take a relaxing stroll through the cluster of 300+ utterly charming and individually unique houses. We always discover something new.

There are a few places in this life that beckon us back again and again. Longwood Gardens is one of those places. And, when the fountains are dancing to the music of the Beatles, I’m not sure it gets any better.

Our name says it all, One Road at a Time. It’s always been our travel mantra and lately we’ve been finding ourselves wanting to get back on the road. But in this time of Covid-19, is it safe to travel? No way we’d board a flight, but are daycations, road trips, Airbnb stays, glamping, camping and RV travel the best way to travel for the foreseeable future? We decided to take a test run daycation to Middleburg, VA to see if we could make it work; to hit the road safely.

The New Normal. Is this even a thing? Can we have an actual new normal? It would seem, from this writer’s perspective, that we have no choice. I don’t believe for one minute life will return to what we knew as normal. I’m not even sure that would be a good thing. People didn’t pay attention, life was taken for granted. Sadly, there are still millions who are not paying attention to the science. I do hope though, that more people than not are actually waking up to the reality of the new normal.

I’m not one to have a “bucket list” nor do I proclaim New Year’s resolutions. I’m finding the older more experienced I get the less I worry about long-term planning, or pretty much making any plans at all.  Perhaps it has something to do with retirement and the level of flexibility and freedom it offers.  Or, maybe, it’s just because I’ve stopped worrying about what might happen, opting instead to live in the here and now.

Sometimes, the best travel treasures can be found in one’s backyard, or within just a couple of hours drive.  Road trips are probably our most favorite mode of travel, followed closely by train travel.  We decided to jump start our Christmas holiday with a yuletide road trip that took us just beyond our backyard to the Brandywine Valley which stretches across the borders of Pennsylvania and Delaware.