The Route 66 Chick

On Monday morning, January 4, I took off for home. Crazily, I argued with myself most of the first day on the road over which way I was going. Dixie Highway all the way? Drive over to the Florida West Coast and follow the coast up, then up through Alabama? Do any of you do this? From Tom and Nicole's house, I drove east through Pompano Beach and picked up the Dixie Highway. Apparently, the argument was at least temporarily over. It was drizzling just a bit (note raindrop on windshield in photo), but the forecast predicted clearing. First stop was Boca Express Train Museum in Boca Raton. It was Monday, so predictably they were closed. The highway was jammed as I drove north through the picturesque towns. (Why weren't people at work?) It was too early for ice cream but I snapped photos of one of the Carvel's Ice Cream locations. After hours of driving on U.S. 1, my enthusiasm and energy waned, and I finally realized what was going on. I was sad ab...

I arrived at Tom and Nicole's on Christmas Eve afternoon and was greeted warmly by them and also by two very excited dogs. (They know their grandma loves them.) Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were full of love, good cooking, and fun watching the pups (Six and Scout) open their presents. They have that down pat. Speaking of good cooking, Tom and Nicole are both excellent cooks and bakers, and made many wonderful dishes, including a tomato gratin and from-scratch cherry pie. We self-confessed foodies also visited several excellent restaurants in the area while I was there. Several of these I have been to before and always look forward to visiting again.  Ethos Greek Bistro  is a delightful restaurant with both indoor and outdoor seating. The evening we were there was slightly cool and very comfortable. Billed as "a modern take on healthy Greek cuisine," this is a very popular place, and you can usually count on a little wait time for a table. It's definit...

Every year I head for Florida for two or three weeks, yes, partly because of the weather, but mainly to visit my son Tom and daughter-in-law Nicole and their two playful and affectionate dogs. I often plan my visit to coincide with baseball spring training season, but this time I headed south for the Christmas and New Year holidays. With the unseasonably warm temperatures in mid-December, I anticipated the trip down would be a breeze. (Maybe that's the wrong choice of words.) But not only was it warm, it was wet. So, three of my four travel days were rainy and foggy. The rivers I crossed and the lakes I saw were high on their banks but I took very few photos. And my adventures, besides navigating the weather and heavy traffic, were few, as I needed to get to my son and daughter-in-law's on Christmas Eve day. Fog and rain at Carlyle Lake IL. (Day #1) Fog and rain in downtown Atlanta GA. (Day #2) My lodging of choice is often a cabin at a KOA or other campground. I...

Looking back at my blog posts from last year, I realized the most popular ones were not all of one category - event press releases, my travels, my fiction, or my own personal stories. The top ten were a mixture of all those. So in case you missed any of these, here they are in reverse order: #10  Looking back, looking forward (December 31)   http://route66chick.blogspot.com/2015/12/looking-back-looking-forward.html #9    Day #1 of another road trip - few signs (September 9)   http://route66chick.blogspot.com/2015/09/day-1-of-another-road-trip-few-signs.html #8    A fairy tale genealogical story? (August 24)  http://route66chick.blogspot.com/2015/08/a-fairy-tale-genealogical-story.html #7    Tentative schedule for Miles of Possibility:  the Edwardsville Conference (March 11) http://route66chick.blogspot.com/2015/03/tentative-schedule-for-miles-of.html #6    Three trips in 12 days, or, how does this happen.....

Well, 2015 is about to make its exit. And this transition, this marking, this passage, of one year into the next urges us to reflect on what we've accomplished, how much love we've shared with family and dear friends, what storms we've weathered, who we may have lost from our lives, and what we hope to look forward to in the coming year. Following are some of my 2015 highlights, and then some of the things that I hope will happen in 2016. Looking back on 2015: Good travels! At least six trips to SE Kansas for the Route 66 in Kansas book. One trip to ABQ to visit daughter and son-in-law, and oh darn, had to take Route 66 part of the way. Currently, on my second trip of the year to Florida to visit son and daughter-in-law, and oh darn, it's warm and sunny down here. Back in June, Steve got a nice vacation from the newspaper and his piano tuning business and we escaped to Michigan and Wisconsin for close to two weeks. We attended his family reunion and mine, visited t...

Here's my 2016 Christmas story - enjoy! Christmas Eve at the Starlite Motel Silent night .... The radio crackles. Outside, the snow falls thick and heavy, silently piling up in the quiet road. It's late afternoon, and the bad weather has finally slowed the usually-heavy traffic on this highway. It's been a slow day in the motel office. Just three check-ins. One was a young couple, Bibi and Sean, who had eyes and hands only for each other. There hadn't been much conversation with them. They just wanted to be alone. I remember what that was like, 20 years ago. But you could see they were excited to be traveling the route – they did say that this is their third trip the length of Route 66. They unzipped their parkas in the warmth of the office, and underneath their coats they sported Route 66 souvenir t-shirts from earlier stops. They were a charming and attractive couple. Sean had a wild mop of red hair and Bibi had lovely dark eyes and shiny dark hair...

This is one of my flash fiction pieces that did NOT place in a contest, so I'm free to publish it here on my own blog. Enjoy! CURTAIN CALL I am in my Chartreuse Room. It's my favorite place, except for the stage itself. I have a little time before my next performance, and I am relaxing before a final check of my make-up and costume. Reposing contentedly on my chaise, I let my eyes travel around the room. Framed sheet music and show posters on the walls. A rack in one corner hanging full with dresses and costumes, alternately shimmery, sweet, sparkly, or diaphanous. Yes, diaphanous. I did work burlesque for awhile. Below the dresses rests a rack with shoes, some high-heeled, some with taps. In another corner my trunk stands open. Of course, I haven't needed it in awhile, since I've had a nice run here. But it's ready to go in case I go on the road again. You know, it could happen. It's only been, what, a few years? since I was the hit of the c...