Back From Summer Vacation

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I’ve just returned from our annual summer vacation to Hilton Head. I managed to do a whole bunch of nothing (besides sitting by the pool reading). Hopefully, I’ll have some time to write something a bit later in the week (after digging out from under whatever has piled up in my inbox).

For those who were looking forward to this year’s Twitter travelogue, I’m sorry to have disappointed. In previous years, we traveled with my in-laws and, believe it or not, my mother-in-law drove allowing me to sit in the back, read my book(s), and tweet to my heart’s content. However, this year, the in-laws didn’t accompany us (my father-in-law turns 90 next month and wasn’t feeling well enough to join us). I discovered that it is difficult to tweet a funny travelogue while driving. It is even harder to read a book while driving. Oh, well.

There was one thing that I have to share. On our way home, we stopped in Newport, Tennessee, because my wife saw a sign for Sonic and she really wanted one of their shakes (she tried one on the way home from Washington last year) and the kids really liked the burgers and hot dogs. Unfortunately, we quickly realized that the restaurant wasn’t right next to the Interstate but we decided that we’d already gotten off the highway, so we’d go ahead and drive the 2 miles to the Sonic. On the way, in front of a store called … get this … “God’s Warehouse Thrift Shop and Food Pantry” was … put down any drinks that you may be holding … seriously … a drive thru convenience store. And when I say drive thru I really mean drive thru. Don’t think of a fast food restaurant or even a drive thru pharmacy. Nope. This was a small warehouse-like building that you actually drove through … as in right through the middle of the building. As we passed by, we could see coolers full of drinks and shelves with stuff of some kind or another. We tried to take a photo, but couldn’t get the right angle. I tried to get an image through Google street view, but their photo was apparently taken before the drive thru convenience store was built.

I’m looking forward to a drive thru Fresh Market or maybe a drive thru Best Buy.