Vacation Recap: Part 1

 In the time of Covid, we have been limiting our vacations to ones where we can self contain ourselves in a vehicle versus flying with many others. So we have been crossing off some long road trips that would have been further down our list of things to go see had times been different. One of the things my wife has always wanted to see was Savannah, Georgia and so that became our goal for this trip. But as I stared at maps looking over routes, it became clear that we could combine other things into this trip since we would be already nearby.

But two days before we were set to leave, Tropical Storm Elsa made her presence known and apparently was heading for many of the same destinations as we were. Fortunately however, at the time we were packing up getting ready to leave, she was visiting a couple days after us so we decided to proceed with the trip but with some alternatives in case she sped up her arrival or we got delayed.

Our first official stop was going to be to visit with my brother at his house in Alabama but since he was away fighting wildfires, we didn't push to make the 12 hour drive all in one day and instead swung a bit wide and ended up in Tupelo, Mississippi our first afternoon. Although not high on my list of things to see, it seemed a shame to waste the opportunity so we drove to see Elvis's birth home (after the museum and other activities on site had closed for the day) and just walk around the area now preserved. 

Even at six in the evening, it was still blazing hot out so we didn't linger long unless under some shade. The above statues show the progression of Elvis from a boy to man.

The next day being Sunday, we were looking to find a church along our route and found the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament seen above. I had no idea of the significance of it or Mother Angelica who founded it but it meant a lot to my mother-in-law and so it made her day. We attended mass, walked around a bit and then hit the road towards my brother's house. Although he wasn't there, his wife was and so we planned to spend the evening celebrating the 4th of July with her.

I received this in a meme and couldn't help but think of Yorkshire Pudding. 

We spent the day with my sister-in-law who fed us and allowed us to stay for the night in her guest room and the bedrooms of her two adult children who no longer stayed there. The girls swam themselves out in their swimming pool and I helped her shoot off a small fireworks display purchased for the occasion by my brother who couldn't ended up being gone on a fire detail. All in all, it was a good start to our vacation.