Road trips are a good thing. Whether they are planned well in advance or spur of the moment, I always enjoy hitting the road. First, a road trip shakes up your routine by doing something different and is especially good for a change of scenery. Around these parts, you don’t have to go far in any direction to find something interesting to do, but you will need a boat to head south.

After 48 years of marriage, Hubby Jim was not too concerned when I suggested he let me plan our anniversary weekend. It may have been because my birthday had just passed two days before, and he thought, “Whatever suits her, suits me.” But I stopped trying to read his mind years ago.‍

Fairhope is a wonderful place to live, but sometimes I just need some Culture, with a capital C. (theater, music, architecture, etc.) A trip to New Orleans satisfies this craving every time, and it is so easy and fun. Broadway in New Orleans has always been my motivation, and in January I was lucky enough to attend two shows on tour, Hell’s Kitchen and, more recently, Hadestown.

There weren't many vehicles in the parking lot on this weekday at the B.B. King Museum, but all of them had out-of-state license plates. Foreign accents from a few of the visitors reinforced the enormous reach of this Mississippi Delta native, who is perhaps the most famous blues musician of them all.

On a recent trip to the Emerald Coast, Linda and I went to the Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park in Destin / Fort Walton Beach. This was my first time visiting the park in about 50 years, but it certainly felt familiar. It was Fall Break, and there were lots of families enjoying the beautiful weather. Of special note, the park is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.

“It’s like someone just plopped a town down in the middle of a National Park”, says the driver of the shuttle. This is true as the city is surrounded by towering, sculpted red rock formations that are incredibly vivid against the clear blue sky. Compared to the Gulf Coast, I felt as if I were on another planet. Every driver we had, and we had a lot of them, marveled at the landscape and called sites to our attention. “ Look at the Spaceship clouds!’ Becky, with Intown Rides, said. Known as lenticular clouds, they are stationary and appear to hover in the sky. 

Bucket list items, a quick getaway, and time with friends were the motivations for a 4 day/3-night trip through the Big Bend area of Florida’s Forgotten Coast. I had been to Apalachicola a few times, but I had always wanted to explore the area further South. A seven-hour drive, Crystal River was our destination to swim with Manatees and dive for bay scallops. 

Well, summer break is winding down. The kids are probably tired of going swimming. All the camps are over, and school is just around the proverbial corner.