I thought I was being smart. Take the day off, go to the sailboat show on Friday instead of Saturday when — I assumed — most people would actually be going.
I was so, so wrong.
Like many others, I've been stuck working in my basement for the past year. Fortunately, I have generous friends, and one of them offered me the use of their summer house for a few weeks. Some people go south for Spring Break. Me, I went north to the frozen shores of Lake Winnipesaukee.
Given the crazy state of the world, trying to find activities that allow for social distancing isn't the easiest thing in the world. I enjoy rolling around the countryside on my motorcycle, but part of the fun is stopping in a bar or other attraction and soaking up some of the ambiance. Several places are still closed so that doesn't work much anymore.
I wouldn't say that it's an end-goal in my travel adventures, but I definitely want to learn to sail. Thanks to websites such as SV Delos, Gone with the Wynns, and Monday Never (among several others), I was bitten by the sailing bug about three years ago. I keep wanting to learn, but finances, time, or friends who say they can teach me but then end up being super busy, keep thwarting my efforts. But it'll happen some day. And in the meantime, what better way to keep that flame burning that going to visit the nation's largest in-water sailboat show?
My goal for the day was two-fold; I had an invitation to go see a friend's play at The National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts (she was finishing up her last year there), so that was number one on my list. Number two was visiting The Anderson House, which is the international headquarters of The Society of the Cincinnati. To be quite frank, I was more interested in the house than learning about the actual Society — I'm a bit of an architecture admirer — but the history behind the Society and house itself was quite interesting.
In 2015, my buddy Craig and I hopped on our motorcycles, and spent nearly two weeks traveling up through New England. We went past the Finger Lakes and through the Adirondacks in New York. Through the Green Mountains in Vermont and the White Mountains in New Hampshire. Spent an evening with relatives in Maine, then turned around and headed back home. It was amazing.