Welcome home to the LIE

At 4:10 PM Daylight Savings Time, we pulled into our driveway in Mineola, and officially ended our 11 day road trip to Florida and back. It was a wonderful trip, as you know, if you have been following along, and while it’s good to be home, we’re both a little sad that it’s over! There was a lot of traffic today as we skirted Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, and got into the Philly/New York area, but it moved, so it wasn’t bad at all. Frankly, once we hit exit 11 on the NJ Turnpike, we were in familiar territory from 4 or 5 hundred weekend trips back from Ocean City, and we have had a lot worse traffic than we had today!

If you remember, our big plan today was a slight detour to Total Wine in Claymont, Delaware to see if the stories our friends told us about the great wine prices were true. Well, they were definitely true, as we saw and bought a lot of great deals! For example, we found 14 Hands Cabernet that Krissi and Kenny like for $8.97, when the best prices we find for that locally is $13.99. Also, their Red Blend for $7.47, when we think $9.99 is a good price here. It’s only about an hour and a half trip from Ocean City, so we definitely will be heading there again. I’d say we got about $400 of wine for $225! Thanks to our OC Family members Doc and Denise for telling us about it. Can we get you anything there?

So we pulled into the driveway, having traveled 2439.2 miles since we pulled out of the same driveway on Thursday morning, March 3rd. We had lots of fun along the way, loved being in Florida spring weather for a week, and verified that we do love road trips and all that’s involved in them. It’s fine to hop on a plane and rent a car at the other end, but there is something so connected about driving from place to place, sampling local customs, foods, and scenery, and the thrill of reaching your destination is great. Perhaps Frank has read John Steinbeck’s Travels With Charlie too many times, or perhaps Mr. Steinbeck was right when he talked about the wanderlust that exists in all Americans. Like those who went before us on the Oregon Trail, perhaps its our destiny as Americans to explore our country.

So, we are home, we are unpacked, we have started on our “Welcome Home” Martinis, and the Chinese food has been ordered and is on it’s way! What a wonderful way to end a wonderful vacation. Back to work tomorrow…well, yes and no…that means we have laundry to do, bills to pay, and need to get back to Ocean City! Great work, if you can get it!!