While enjoying a short vacation in Savannah over the weekend, our daughter in law, Ryan and I had a stroke of genius regarding a possible new business we could not only start, but actually enjoy doing together.
It started with a walking "ghost tour" we (Walt, Ryan and Wesley and I) took together. I asked our tour guide how many evenings a week he works and he answered "three". Then he volunteered that during those three nights a week, he makes enough to pay his mortgage!
He also works as a Jr. High History teacher during the day. I wondered, but of course didn't ask, if maybe he makes almost as much with job as a tour guide as he does as a teacher.
That tidbit of information was enough to get the wheels a'turnin'.
Walt is a natural born story teller, and having been on several tours of Savannah (ghost and otherwise) in the past we decided he would make a great tour guide. Given the various renditions of the stories we've heard over the years, we came to the conclusion that a lot of the stuff is made improvised. Mr. Taylor would be great at that!
Meanwhile, Ryan and I would disguise ourselves as specters by wearing floaty white dresses and hanging out around one of the many town squares at night. We figure we could enlist people to take Walt's undoubtedly unique walking tour at ten or fifteen bucks a piece. That, with additional tips added would surely bring in enough money for us to buy an old "fixer upper" which we could restore and use as a house museum to bring even more additional funds.
Of course, with all these plans we will need other family members to participate so we are inviting them all to join us there. Grand-kids, Esther, Philip, Shaina, Kayla and Jayden would be great at portraying any of the number of "mischievous" child specters reported to be roaming Savannah's historic hotels. For a few months, the new grand-child due to arrive in August could also participate as the baby claimed to be sought after by his mother, "Alice" ... an 1800's servant who was hanged in the square shortly after giving birth. Her ghost is reported to have been seen walking around town searching for the little guy for the last 200 years. We figured my daughter, Angel could also don a white floaty gown and carry the baby around at night telling everyone she is the famous "Alice" and she's finally found him!
With all of us involved, the possibilities would be endless!
At the very least, I believe this idea merits further investigation, oh say .. at least a weekend a month spent in Savannah for the next year, to scope out the town and collect more information. (All tax deductible business trips, of course.)
Yes, I do believe we're on to something here! We are going to be RICH! Filthy RICH, I tell you!
Stay tuned for future updates! ;^)
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Lazy, Hazy, CRAZY Days ... Summer '09
Perhaps it's because I was born in August and therefore a "summer baby", that I love this season so much. Growing up in Ohio, I learned to savor the long hot summer days , knowing even longer cold winter months would follow all to quickly on my favorite season's heels.
As a child, I felt sorry for kids who had winter birthdays. What fun could that have been? The possibility of celebrating my birthday at (gasp!) school was unthinkable. The chance of being cooped up inside the house, or having my celebration postponed due to waist deep snow and impassable roads, unfathomable!
No! I very much enjoyed the fact that my birthday always landed in the midst of summer break. Better still, our family often traveled over my birthday, so I frequently enjoyed celebrating the day in style, somewhere far away from home ... usually in the mountains, because by August, my parents would always be ready to retreat from the southern Ohio heat and humidity.
After 48 summers, heat and humidity still doesn't bother me a lot. I still very much prefer it to winter's frigid bite, and seek out the sun whenever possible. It's during the bleak winter months that I especially long for a climate where beaches abound and the temperatures never drop below 70 degrees!
I love summer. I miss it when it isn't here.
This summer has been different, and not in a very good way. It's almost July and not only have we not taken a real vacation in nearly a year, (that's a record!) but we've only been on the lake twice this season. To make matters worse, the schools here in the southern states resume the first week of August, which means that in a little over a month any possibility of taking a vacation will be at the mercy of the school system.
Unless something changes quickly, the summer of '09 will go down in my personal history book as more crazy than lazy or hazy.
I don't like that idea at all. I must do something to change it before it's too late!
As my father always said, "Where there's a will, there's a way."
I ... must ... find ... summer, while there is still time.
Later today, as soon as Mr. Taylor gets home from his Harley ride through the North Georgia Mountains, we will sit down and devise a plan with which we will escape for a few days. I hear Hawaii is nice, and neither of us have ever been there.
Not only is Hawaii nice, but it's also far, far away. Far, far away sounds very appealing to me right now.
Summer '09 will not be a lost cause.
Ready or not, here I come! If summer cannot come to me, I will go to it!
As a child, I felt sorry for kids who had winter birthdays. What fun could that have been? The possibility of celebrating my birthday at (gasp!) school was unthinkable. The chance of being cooped up inside the house, or having my celebration postponed due to waist deep snow and impassable roads, unfathomable!
No! I very much enjoyed the fact that my birthday always landed in the midst of summer break. Better still, our family often traveled over my birthday, so I frequently enjoyed celebrating the day in style, somewhere far away from home ... usually in the mountains, because by August, my parents would always be ready to retreat from the southern Ohio heat and humidity.
After 48 summers, heat and humidity still doesn't bother me a lot. I still very much prefer it to winter's frigid bite, and seek out the sun whenever possible. It's during the bleak winter months that I especially long for a climate where beaches abound and the temperatures never drop below 70 degrees!
I love summer. I miss it when it isn't here.
This summer has been different, and not in a very good way. It's almost July and not only have we not taken a real vacation in nearly a year, (that's a record!) but we've only been on the lake twice this season. To make matters worse, the schools here in the southern states resume the first week of August, which means that in a little over a month any possibility of taking a vacation will be at the mercy of the school system.
Unless something changes quickly, the summer of '09 will go down in my personal history book as more crazy than lazy or hazy.
I don't like that idea at all. I must do something to change it before it's too late!
As my father always said, "Where there's a will, there's a way."
I ... must ... find ... summer, while there is still time.
Later today, as soon as Mr. Taylor gets home from his Harley ride through the North Georgia Mountains, we will sit down and devise a plan with which we will escape for a few days. I hear Hawaii is nice, and neither of us have ever been there.
Not only is Hawaii nice, but it's also far, far away. Far, far away sounds very appealing to me right now.
Summer '09 will not be a lost cause.
Ready or not, here I come! If summer cannot come to me, I will go to it!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Speaking Of Traveling ...
Let's just say I took the concept of traveling to a whole new level in my life today. For several months I've been pondering the idea of actually becoming a travel agent of sorts. Like I posted in my last entry, I enjoy looking for travel bargains, even if I'm not going anywhere. Given that fact, what could be better than getting paid to help other people travel?
OK, I can think of one thing and that is the fact that I will have to travel myself in order to "review" certain destinations.
Cool beans, huh?
Another great thing is, I can do this along with my Life Coaching business! Me .. a mega-multi-tasker.
Who'da thunk it?
I really am excited about the prospect. Truly I am, and I wanted to spend the evening studying all the ins and outs of the trade ... but I can hardly hold my eyes open much less actually THINK or remember anything I read for more than two seconds.
So, the studying will wait until the weekend when I might have a few hours down time again.
For now, I will just hope to fall into a decent enough state of slumber tonight that I will dream of all the exotic places I will go! That will have to do, until I actually have the chance to plant my feet in the hot white sand of the Caribbean again.
Oh, I am going to have that beach house yet! Just you wait and see!
And when I do, you're all invited to come visit me there!
OK, I can think of one thing and that is the fact that I will have to travel myself in order to "review" certain destinations.
Cool beans, huh?
Another great thing is, I can do this along with my Life Coaching business! Me .. a mega-multi-tasker.
Who'da thunk it?
I really am excited about the prospect. Truly I am, and I wanted to spend the evening studying all the ins and outs of the trade ... but I can hardly hold my eyes open much less actually THINK or remember anything I read for more than two seconds.
So, the studying will wait until the weekend when I might have a few hours down time again.
For now, I will just hope to fall into a decent enough state of slumber tonight that I will dream of all the exotic places I will go! That will have to do, until I actually have the chance to plant my feet in the hot white sand of the Caribbean again.
Oh, I am going to have that beach house yet! Just you wait and see!
And when I do, you're all invited to come visit me there!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Dangerous
It's no secret to those who know me well. I can be dangerous when I'm bored.
I don't mean "dangerous" in the sense that I'm likely to hurt someone or anything like that. The kind of "danger" that is born of my boredom is more of a fun sort of creature.
I say all this because I love to spend my "down time" surfing the internet. I check my email accounts first (I believe I'm up to five of them now) After that I have a forum or two I visit, followed by a quick look at places like "MySpace" or "Facebook" to see what's going on in the lives of my hundreds of cyber friends.
It isn't unusual for the process to take a couple hours, depending on how sociable I'm feeling at the time.
If I am not feeling particularly sociable, or find myself in a rather blue mood, I'll inevitably end up on some discount travel site searching for the best possible vacation deals on the planet. Seldom am I actually planning to go anywhere, I just like to window shop via the miracle of the world wide web!
This almost always backfires on me.
Let me explain. It seems I am "gifted" at finding good travel deals. Seriously! I can almost always find vacation arrangements that would truly cost my husband and I less than we would spend if we stayed home. For instance, two days ago I came up with a five day cruise for less than $200.00! I don't remember the details, like where it went, what ship it was on, etc. Those are only minor considerations.
What I do remember is that for under 200 bucks apiece, we could have five bliss filled days of lounging on a pool deck overlooking beautiful blue waters a thousand miles (or more) away from telephones, housework, barking dogs and all the other pesky little things involved in NOT being on vacation.
The same couple hundred dollars would also cover nearly a weeks worth of maid service, all the food a person could ever dream of ingesting, waking up in some brand new exotic location every morning (or afternoon, if that's what we'd prefer) .. nightly entertainment, dancing ... I could go on and on.
So, there I'll be with my mouth gaping in amazement at the computer screen wondering how in the world we can afford NOT to take advantage of the fabulous deal displayed before my eyes, when reality rears it's ugly little head.
Ugh!
It takes a lot of work to go on vacation. There's the house to secure, the dog to get to the kennel, the cats to arrange a sitter for ... and the boy, who happens to be enrolled in a public school that frowns on absences due to fun things like cruising to foreign countries.
Oh, and work. I almost forgot about work. *sigh*
If no one works, then there's no money to indulge in even the most inexpensive voyage.
So, for the time being I suppose we'll be staying put.
Don't be surprised though, if at some point in the not too distant future I write to report that I am just back from a wonderful bout of island hopping in the Caribbean where I soaked in the sun and drank sweet little concoctions topped off with tiny umbrellas, to my hearts content!
Indeed! My resolve seems to be melting away even as I type this entry. If I listen closely enough, I can already hear the sound of a steel drum band warming up for the sail away party that's about to begin.
I'll just plain kick myself if I miss out on the fun ... now where did I put my passport????
I don't mean "dangerous" in the sense that I'm likely to hurt someone or anything like that. The kind of "danger" that is born of my boredom is more of a fun sort of creature.
I say all this because I love to spend my "down time" surfing the internet. I check my email accounts first (I believe I'm up to five of them now) After that I have a forum or two I visit, followed by a quick look at places like "MySpace" or "Facebook" to see what's going on in the lives of my hundreds of cyber friends.
It isn't unusual for the process to take a couple hours, depending on how sociable I'm feeling at the time.
If I am not feeling particularly sociable, or find myself in a rather blue mood, I'll inevitably end up on some discount travel site searching for the best possible vacation deals on the planet. Seldom am I actually planning to go anywhere, I just like to window shop via the miracle of the world wide web!
This almost always backfires on me.
Let me explain. It seems I am "gifted" at finding good travel deals. Seriously! I can almost always find vacation arrangements that would truly cost my husband and I less than we would spend if we stayed home. For instance, two days ago I came up with a five day cruise for less than $200.00! I don't remember the details, like where it went, what ship it was on, etc. Those are only minor considerations.
What I do remember is that for under 200 bucks apiece, we could have five bliss filled days of lounging on a pool deck overlooking beautiful blue waters a thousand miles (or more) away from telephones, housework, barking dogs and all the other pesky little things involved in NOT being on vacation.
The same couple hundred dollars would also cover nearly a weeks worth of maid service, all the food a person could ever dream of ingesting, waking up in some brand new exotic location every morning (or afternoon, if that's what we'd prefer) .. nightly entertainment, dancing ... I could go on and on.
So, there I'll be with my mouth gaping in amazement at the computer screen wondering how in the world we can afford NOT to take advantage of the fabulous deal displayed before my eyes, when reality rears it's ugly little head.
Ugh!
It takes a lot of work to go on vacation. There's the house to secure, the dog to get to the kennel, the cats to arrange a sitter for ... and the boy, who happens to be enrolled in a public school that frowns on absences due to fun things like cruising to foreign countries.
Oh, and work. I almost forgot about work. *sigh*
If no one works, then there's no money to indulge in even the most inexpensive voyage.
So, for the time being I suppose we'll be staying put.
Don't be surprised though, if at some point in the not too distant future I write to report that I am just back from a wonderful bout of island hopping in the Caribbean where I soaked in the sun and drank sweet little concoctions topped off with tiny umbrellas, to my hearts content!
Indeed! My resolve seems to be melting away even as I type this entry. If I listen closely enough, I can already hear the sound of a steel drum band warming up for the sail away party that's about to begin.
I'll just plain kick myself if I miss out on the fun ... now where did I put my passport????
Thursday, August 21, 2008
The Good Old Summer Time
I remember summer.
I speak in past tense because I've noticed that summer is getting shorter as the years go by. In fact, I find that summers today only vaguely resemble those of my childhood.
Summer seemed to last forever back then. As a little girl, I looked forward every year to three full months of being out of school, enjoying long hot sunny days spent riding my bike, swimming with friends, picking tomatoes from the garden with my Dad, and hanging out at the county fair. Those glorious days arrived faithfully at the end of May and lasted until after Labor Day.
I also recall having mixed feelings as mid-August arrived, bringing along with it my birthday. That was back when I actually liked the idea of growing a year older, but in my mind the date was bittersweet as it also symbolized the beginning of the countdown to the start of a new school year. After August thirteenth, we only had a few weeks left. That aspect of my birthday never failed to dampen my spirits a bit. It was then, I'd begin feeling somewhat nostalgic about one more summer that was about to slip through my grasp, and start making efforts to squeeze every bit of enjoyment possible out of what was left of it.
Oh to have that kind of summer back again!
When we moved to Georgia a few years ago, I was excited over the idea of living in a warmer climate than my home state of Ohio had to offer. I imagined how much I'd cherish what would surely be the extended summers here.
Little did I know.
As it turns out, southerners don't embrace summer time in the way I am accustomed.
Maybe it's because they don't experience the same harshness of the winter months. They don't know what it feels like to look forward to mid-March when the official thaw begins every year.
Not once have they been stuck inside their house for days on end, or felt the pain of stepping outside and taking in a lung full of bitterly frozen winter air.
They have no idea how thrilling it can be to wave to the neighbors for the first time each spring as they emerge from their houses after months of seclusion.
No, instead I've discovered that most people here (my husband included) actually dread the summer months.
As if that sort of mindset isn't depressing enough, our school systems seem compelled to go above and beyond the call of duty towards screwing up the summer months. Remember, I said I use to consider mid-August the beginning of the official countdown to the end of the season? Here, the kids are back in school BEFORE my birthday even arrives.
It makes no sense to me at all. It's a hundred degrees outside and what do we do? We put our babies on buses and send them off to school in the sweltering heat!
About the time I am ready to really sink my teeth into the good old summer time, it's over! No more out of town vacations, no more spending weekdays on the lake, no more staying up late and sleeping in.
It ends as quickly as it began. Summer is gone! No more! Zilch! Disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Shoot! The stores here stop selling summer merchandise shortly after the first of July. In fact, instead of using my birthday as the all important marker of the "beginning of the end", I now start my countdown over Independence Day weekend.
In my ever so humble opinion, there's something very wrong with that!
I say, BRING SUMMER BACK! Instead of pushing our kids out the door the first week of August, let's fix another pitcher of sweet tea and head for the front porch swing. Let's stand in the yard and talk to the neighbors over the back fence until dark, without worrying about getting the kids to bed "on time". Instead, let's give them mason jars and tell them to go catch lightning bugs or hand them flashlights and send them out to play "flashlight tag".
Autumn will be arrive soon enough. The leaves will turn brown and fall, leaving the trees naked and gray. It will be dark by six o'clock every night and we will be turning on the furnace and staring at our calenders, not believing there are only "x" number of shopping days until Christmas.
Until then, C'mon people! Let's get out there enjoy the beautiful freedom of the summer days while we can!
I speak in past tense because I've noticed that summer is getting shorter as the years go by. In fact, I find that summers today only vaguely resemble those of my childhood.
Summer seemed to last forever back then. As a little girl, I looked forward every year to three full months of being out of school, enjoying long hot sunny days spent riding my bike, swimming with friends, picking tomatoes from the garden with my Dad, and hanging out at the county fair. Those glorious days arrived faithfully at the end of May and lasted until after Labor Day.
I also recall having mixed feelings as mid-August arrived, bringing along with it my birthday. That was back when I actually liked the idea of growing a year older, but in my mind the date was bittersweet as it also symbolized the beginning of the countdown to the start of a new school year. After August thirteenth, we only had a few weeks left. That aspect of my birthday never failed to dampen my spirits a bit. It was then, I'd begin feeling somewhat nostalgic about one more summer that was about to slip through my grasp, and start making efforts to squeeze every bit of enjoyment possible out of what was left of it.
Oh to have that kind of summer back again!
When we moved to Georgia a few years ago, I was excited over the idea of living in a warmer climate than my home state of Ohio had to offer. I imagined how much I'd cherish what would surely be the extended summers here.
Little did I know.
As it turns out, southerners don't embrace summer time in the way I am accustomed.
Maybe it's because they don't experience the same harshness of the winter months. They don't know what it feels like to look forward to mid-March when the official thaw begins every year.
Not once have they been stuck inside their house for days on end, or felt the pain of stepping outside and taking in a lung full of bitterly frozen winter air.
They have no idea how thrilling it can be to wave to the neighbors for the first time each spring as they emerge from their houses after months of seclusion.
No, instead I've discovered that most people here (my husband included) actually dread the summer months.
As if that sort of mindset isn't depressing enough, our school systems seem compelled to go above and beyond the call of duty towards screwing up the summer months. Remember, I said I use to consider mid-August the beginning of the official countdown to the end of the season? Here, the kids are back in school BEFORE my birthday even arrives.
It makes no sense to me at all. It's a hundred degrees outside and what do we do? We put our babies on buses and send them off to school in the sweltering heat!
About the time I am ready to really sink my teeth into the good old summer time, it's over! No more out of town vacations, no more spending weekdays on the lake, no more staying up late and sleeping in.
It ends as quickly as it began. Summer is gone! No more! Zilch! Disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Shoot! The stores here stop selling summer merchandise shortly after the first of July. In fact, instead of using my birthday as the all important marker of the "beginning of the end", I now start my countdown over Independence Day weekend.
In my ever so humble opinion, there's something very wrong with that!
I say, BRING SUMMER BACK! Instead of pushing our kids out the door the first week of August, let's fix another pitcher of sweet tea and head for the front porch swing. Let's stand in the yard and talk to the neighbors over the back fence until dark, without worrying about getting the kids to bed "on time". Instead, let's give them mason jars and tell them to go catch lightning bugs or hand them flashlights and send them out to play "flashlight tag".
Autumn will be arrive soon enough. The leaves will turn brown and fall, leaving the trees naked and gray. It will be dark by six o'clock every night and we will be turning on the furnace and staring at our calenders, not believing there are only "x" number of shopping days until Christmas.
Until then, C'mon people! Let's get out there enjoy the beautiful freedom of the summer days while we can!
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