A Dirty Little Secret

     I've been traveling, away from home for nine days, and so far it has rained every single day, except one -- the very first day of my trip. Today, my last day, the sun peeked out for a while; but then the clouds blew in and brought yet more showers.

I like Hampton Inn

     I'm not complaining, though. I wanted to play more golf, for sure, but I did accomplish at least one of my goals for this vacation: I left the cold weather behind and greeted spring a few weeks earlier than I would have otherwise. I wonder how far spring has advanced at home -- there won't be any trees out, but maybe the daffodils and the forsythia. And when I talked to B she said she'd been sitting outside on the deck in the afternoon.

     Anyway, what's the dirty little secret? That traveling is not always what it's made out to be. It's not always sunshine and silken beaches. Not always luxurious golf resorts, or well-kept historical sites. Sometimes it's just the mundane monotony of the tourist traps and the American road, with fast-food joints, gas stations and chain hotels.

But I love KFC!

     Today, driving back north along the I95 corridor, I saw lines of cars and vans returning north, presumably from Florida. Obviously, retirees. The license plates read Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts.

     The rear windows of the SUVs were packed to the roofline. There were a few RVs; and many cars sported a trailer on the back with extra paraphernalia. I even saw a big Chevy Tahoe pulling some kind of homemade conveyance with a golf cart strapped into it.

     I spent a week at a golf-and-beach resort with my friends. But I also confess to staying over at a Best Western (no good); a Hampton Inn (I liked), a Homewood Suites (I liked even more). I have not stooped to dining at a McDonald's; but I plead guilty to Hardees (yuck); KFC (I'm sorry, but I like their chicken); and I've twice dined at a Cracker Barrel.

     So now you know that I'm no gourmet . . . another dirty little secret.