![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I need a vacation......
Aug. 3rd, 2003 10:47 pmIt's been too long since I've had a Real Vacation....one where I go somewhere, don't have to worry about schedules, agendas, itineraries, deadlines, commitments, or meeting up with friends. Not that I don't enjoy going to Buffalo to see family and friends there, but I'd like to do something different for a change once in a while.
The last time I went on one was in '99, when my wife and I went on our honeymoon. We couldn't afford a plane trip or cruise -- besides, I hate the hassles of flying -- so we took a driving holiday instead. We stayed at a bed & breakfast in Lebanon, OH -- about a 20-minute drive from where I live -- for two days, and went to places I've been wanting to go but hadn't done so -- The Golden Lamb restaurant and inn, Fort Ancient, The Beach Waterpark. Then we went home, re-packed, and took off on US 40 -- the old National Road -- eastward until the end (Cumberland, MD). On the way we saw a sign for -- and took a side trip to see -- Fallingwater, the famous summer home built over a waterfall and designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for the Kaufmann family, the owners of a Pittsburgh-based department store which has since become a regional chain. When we got to the end, we picked up I-64 and then to Skyline Drive, the road through Shenandoah National Park that follows the Appalaichian Mountains. At the end of Skyline Drive is the Blue Ridge Parkway, which winds its way through the Appalaichians to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee. We got as far as Asheville, NC before we had to head home.
This year, I'm taking a stay-at-home vacation. My wife doesn't have enough accrued vacation time to go anywhere; most of it was spent taking care of the baby this past year.
If I could get away by myself for a week, where would I like to go? Two places come to mind: Put-In-Bay, OH and the Chautauqua Institution, in Chautauqua, NY. Both are relaxing, get-away-from-it-all places.
Put-In-Bay is on South Bass Island, in Lake Erie, near Sandusky (about 1/3 of the way between Toledo and Cleveland). I've been here three times already, and have a strong desire to go back. While the "downtown strip" is known for where lots of people get drunk, the rest of the island is very peaceful and laid-back. I can see myself renting a cottage for a week, hanging up the hammock, lay in it and watch the world go by. The only media I'd have would be the weather radio -- no TV, phone, or Internet. Well, maybe not the Internet -- I'd have my laptop computer with me. (And I can tell the workaholic in me to shut up.)
The Chautauqua Institution is in Chautauqua, NY -- 15 miles north of Jamestown -- in the southwest corner of New York State. It's been there for over 100 years, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. There are lectures, seminars, concerts, plays -- it's kind of like a university with a heavy emphasis on the arts, education, and religion. Again, the only media I'd bring with me would be the weather radio and laptop computer.
Then again, there's always next year. I'd better start making plans.
The last time I went on one was in '99, when my wife and I went on our honeymoon. We couldn't afford a plane trip or cruise -- besides, I hate the hassles of flying -- so we took a driving holiday instead. We stayed at a bed & breakfast in Lebanon, OH -- about a 20-minute drive from where I live -- for two days, and went to places I've been wanting to go but hadn't done so -- The Golden Lamb restaurant and inn, Fort Ancient, The Beach Waterpark. Then we went home, re-packed, and took off on US 40 -- the old National Road -- eastward until the end (Cumberland, MD). On the way we saw a sign for -- and took a side trip to see -- Fallingwater, the famous summer home built over a waterfall and designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for the Kaufmann family, the owners of a Pittsburgh-based department store which has since become a regional chain. When we got to the end, we picked up I-64 and then to Skyline Drive, the road through Shenandoah National Park that follows the Appalaichian Mountains. At the end of Skyline Drive is the Blue Ridge Parkway, which winds its way through the Appalaichians to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee. We got as far as Asheville, NC before we had to head home.
This year, I'm taking a stay-at-home vacation. My wife doesn't have enough accrued vacation time to go anywhere; most of it was spent taking care of the baby this past year.
If I could get away by myself for a week, where would I like to go? Two places come to mind: Put-In-Bay, OH and the Chautauqua Institution, in Chautauqua, NY. Both are relaxing, get-away-from-it-all places.
Put-In-Bay is on South Bass Island, in Lake Erie, near Sandusky (about 1/3 of the way between Toledo and Cleveland). I've been here three times already, and have a strong desire to go back. While the "downtown strip" is known for where lots of people get drunk, the rest of the island is very peaceful and laid-back. I can see myself renting a cottage for a week, hanging up the hammock, lay in it and watch the world go by. The only media I'd have would be the weather radio -- no TV, phone, or Internet. Well, maybe not the Internet -- I'd have my laptop computer with me. (And I can tell the workaholic in me to shut up.)
The Chautauqua Institution is in Chautauqua, NY -- 15 miles north of Jamestown -- in the southwest corner of New York State. It's been there for over 100 years, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. There are lectures, seminars, concerts, plays -- it's kind of like a university with a heavy emphasis on the arts, education, and religion. Again, the only media I'd bring with me would be the weather radio and laptop computer.
Then again, there's always next year. I'd better start making plans.
