Late October into December 2022

We followed our routine of returning to the Philadelphia suburbs for about a month in the fall. This time off the road gives us an opportunity to reconnect with family and friends. No matter how carefully we plan, we always run out of time for visiting before we run out of folks we’d like to see. We feel lucky to still have so many wonderful friends from our life in Delaware County.

On the more mundane side, we use time back in the area to take care of business and see our doctors for yearly appointments.

John works on the van and I start to get organized for the year ahead. We rent an Airbnb as a home base and I rent a car for a few weeks, so that we can go in different directions and make the best use of our time.

We spent Halloween, which is also John’s birthday, with my sister Kathy, her husband Ed and their family in West Grove.

Their Halloween ritual is a chili cook-off. I will tread carefully and not hurt anyone’s feelings by declaring a favorite. Actually, everything, including a surprise birthday cake, was absolutely delicious.

My friend Sue treated me to Longwood Gardens visits to see the Bruce Monroe light exhibit, and then a bit later, the Chrysanthemum Festival.

I’m actually in that sometimes-considered-odd group of people that enjoys the scent of chrysanthemums. I had such a fragrant time!

A warm, sunny afternoon set the stage for a marvelous visit. It was my first time back in the gardens since my retirement and it was fun to bump into dear friends along our walk.

I enjoyed seeing Longwood’s improvements and also how much has remained the same, especially the high level of design and horticultural expertise. The carefully groomed floral specimens, the wide variety of flower forms, and the color combinations were remarkable.

In between business and doctor appointments, John and I raced around the area, visiting with neighbors we’ve known for more than 30 years, former work colleagues who’ve remained dear friends, and family who always welcome our visits with open arms. Many thanks to everyone who provided us with lovely lunches, dinners, and warm hospitality.

We spent a few evenings relaxing at Stoney’s British Pub, which is just a two block walk from our Airbnb in Talleyville.

This little pub has become a favorite haunt. Mike Stone, the British owner, promises authentic British food like his mum used to make: fish and chips, toad in the hole, Yorkshire pudding, and potato leek soup.

The place is decorated with mementos of his time as a music promoter, including pictures with greats – all looking much younger in those early days: the Beatles, David Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, Lenny Kravitz, Smashing Pumpkins, Van Halen, and the Rolling Stones (note: bless his soul, but Keith Richards has never looked young…)

There are photos and accolades from Guy Fieri, who featured the pub on his TV show. It has the vibe of a true English pub. Neighborhood regulars drop in to enjoy a pint, hear live music, debate current events, or watch international soccer on the TV.

Near the end of our stay, I was lucky to snag a pair of tickets to see Les Miserables at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia.

My friend Sue and I went to a matinee near the end of the show’s run.

Such a fabulous show in one of the most beautiful opera houses in the world.

It was a wonderful reminiscence of my time working in the performing arts in Philly. It’s such a great arts town. The show was a good finale to my Philadelphia visit!

We waved good-bye and left the area to start our trek south. We had a great family gathering in Mooresville, NC, near Charlotte. John’s sister Diane and her husband Ric hosted Thanksgiving dinner for family and friends in the area.

It was great to catch up with folks we hadn’t seen since last fall. Lots of good food and conversation!

From Mooresville, we worked our way over to the coast of North Carolina. We were ready to head toward warmer weather and fresh seafood. We stayed at several familiar parks: Carolina Beach, and then further south, at Huntington Beach State Park in Murrell’s Inlet, SC, and Skidaway State Park near Savannah, Georgia.

Huntington Beach State Park is in a good location. The beach is a quick walk from the campsites – and it’s very quiet after Labor Day.

The town of Murrell’s Inlet, with all the shops and restaurants you’d want, is five minutes away. We had lunch at Russell’s Restaurant, a favorite from other visits.

Brookgreen Gardens, which was also part of the Huntington estate, is right across the highway from the state park. Last year, I wrote about the history of Archer and Anna Huntington, so I won’t repeat that. This year, we hoped to see the Night of a Thousand Candles, the holiday lights display at the Gardens.

Our early attempts to purchase tickets were fruitless. Everything looked to be sold out. Luckily, one last search on our final day in town turned up some availability, and we bought tickets to see the lights that night.

This turned out to be a fabulous evening. The light displays were truly stunning. In one allee of Southern oaks, there were hundreds of strands of lights hanging from high in the trees – like lit up Spanish moss.

The garden’s true purpose is to showcase American figurative sculpture, and there is a vast collection of fabulous sculpture on display.

Accented by night lights, the artwork takes on a different aspect, which was so different from our daytime experience.

And…they do have a thousand candles. Every night during the holiday display, a crew of volunteers comes in to help light a thousand real candles throughout the gardens.

The candles are hung in the trees, floating in the ponds, and nestled in nooks and crannies along the pathways.

It’s hard to describe what a magical evening this was.

In Georgia, we stayed at Skidaway Island State Park, which is about half an hour from Savannah.

We spent a tourist day in Savannah, taking in some of the sights.

We also made sure to have a dinner at Castaways in Sandfly, GA.

Chef Kirk Blaine turns out world class cuisine in this tucked away, rather unassuming spot near a shopping plaza.

We also went hiking along the river. The landscape of the savannah is so pretty. It’s hard to believe it’s so close to neighborhoods full of huge fancy houses and lots of golf courses.

From Georgia, we dropped into Florida. We stayed at Tomoka State Park near Ormond for a few days.

This is a nice park, one of Florida’s earlier ones, but one that was new to us.

We had fun chatting with fellow campers and enjoyed some biking and hiking. This park also has a sweet cafe’ – the Tomoka Outpost- where you can sit by the water and enjoy the sunset.

My cousin Linda and her husband Greg live in nearby DeLand, so we stopped to see them on our way to Dade City.

We chatted over lunch and caught up with family activities on the Bolles side of our family. I’m glad we’re staying in touch, and we look forward to having our paths cross again.

December 22, 2022

We just left Dade City, where we’ve been volunteering as Care-A-Vanners for Habitat for Humanity.

John and I were on a team working to rehab an older Habitat house for resale.

John was able to apply his cabinetmaking skills to help fix up the kitchen; I helped with cabinet clean-up and painting.

The volunteers stay at a campground owned by the local Habitat affiliate.

The campground is only a few blocks from the houses under construction.

There’s a community house at the campground that’s just for the volunteers.

The amenities include a screened in meeting room, a full kitchen, showers, and laundry facilities. Kris, one of our volunteer team leaders, used the kitchen to make Christmas cookies, which she shared. Russian tea cakes with pecans and powdered sugar…a sweet holiday treat! Especially for Care-A-Vanners without an oven in their rig! 😉

There’s a nice fire pit area, where we gathered in the evenings to chat, laugh, and get to know each other.

One night, a group of us went into Dade City for Mexican food at Del Carmen. Care-A-Vanners know how to have fun.

Habitat has been a significant positive force in this community, building more than 150 houses for folks who need a hand up with housing.

As we mentioned when we did our last build in Louisiana, a common misconception is that the houses are given away. This isn’t true. Volunteer effort, donations, and proceeds from the Restore retail store help Habitat be able to offer these homes to qualified buyers at reasonable rates with manageable terms. The applicants work hard to complete the process (and it’s not a quick process) and become proud homeowners. The motto is that Habitat is not a handout, but a hand up.

This build went well for us. The volunteers, the supervisors and team leadership were super. We met some wonderful people whom we hope to see again. We enjoyed it so much that we’ve signed on to return in March for another two week stint!

And so 2022 is quickly coming to a close…

It was an amazing year full of travels, new and renewed friendships, and one in which we learned a lot about ourselves. Like everyone else, we encounter bumps in the road, but we continue to enjoy our journey and look forward to more adventures.

Working as Care-A-Vanners for Habitat for Humanity has underscored how fortunate we are to be able to help others by using a bit of time, know how, and elbow grease.

And our New Year’s message for you has been inspired by our time working with this crew to build houses. We were working on houses. It’s up to the new owners to turn them into homes. Homes are different from houses. Houses are really just buildings. So what makes a house a home? The answer to that is different for all of us.

John and I have a home that’s on the road, in a van that’s not very big.

Our 72 square feet of living space is our home because it’s comfortable for us; it’s where we’re spending lots of meaningful time together; and it gives us the opportunity to explore new places, meet new people, and manage what the world throws at us. It’s our happy place and it goes where we go. At three years in, we still believe that this lifestyle was one of the best decisions we ever made.

So as 2022 rolls into 2023, we invite you to think about what home really means to you. What is it that makes it “home” for you? And then we encourage you to build more of whatever that something special is, into your life in the coming year.

We hope the New Year brings lots of joy and happiness to your home!

Cheers!

John and Sally