The Meandering Vacation: Chapter 1

So the idea was that since all our lives we Michiganders (Our law makers say “Michiganians” but most of us prefer Michiganders, which by the way Spell-check also prefers!) drive to Florida in the winter and try to break land speed records on the way. Our men are often heard saying things like “Yeah, I made it to Orlando in 22 ½ hours” or “I made it to Key West in just over 25 hours” which we know is a lie. The problem is that not only does that make for a painful trip down for the rest of the family, as well as our bladders, but there are so many great tourist destinations on the way that are always missed.

The romantic version: My Dear Husband and I decided to drive slowly from Michigan to Florida and stop to smell the roses on the way. We would drive a whole 6-7 hours to Kentucky on the first day, wake up the next morning to take a tour through Mammoth Cave in the morning, stop at the National Corvette Museum and if we had time at the Corvette assembly plant down the street in the afternoon. I set up to meet friends for lunch in Nashville on Tuesday, which was a whole 1.5 hour drive from the Corvette museum. We downloaded and talked about many other touristy things to do in Tennessee and Georgia. We decided that the highlight of our journey would be seeing the mermaids at Weeki Wachee Springs on the Gulf coast of Florida, which Ron had seen as a child, and had taken his kids to see years ago, but I had never seen. We would then spend a couple of days with friends on Pine Island further down the coast, and end up in Key Largo. All of this would be done at the leisurely pace of 10 days. Ahhhh.

The not-so-romantic version: My parents asked us to drive their car to Florida for them so they could fly down.

With digital camera in hand we planned our vacation. Over the next few days you’ll find out how it went. Cross your fingers! And yes: I did bring my knitting with me.