Back Roads, Charming Towns : Retirement, Relocation, Vacation : Back Roads, Charming Towns Blog : Vikki Grodner

In their July/August issue, AAA World explores the topic of sisterly excursions in "Getting Away With 'the Girls" a growing tourist trend. 

My own recent girlfriend getaway was with my sister Sheri and friend Helen to visit Stirling, who is in college in Asheville, North Carolina. We stayed at the Biltmore Inn on the grounds of the magnificent Biltmore Estates. Even though the trip was in mid-January and snow flurries had apparently followed us from New Jersey, it was still a terrific bonding, chicks-only experience.

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OK, so two days ago I was lamenting the legions of lines I encountered on my trip from New York to San Jose for the BlogHer '06 conference. While I don't take back any of the aggravation I was feeling, I must admit the one thing that travel by car or train cannot capture is the aerial majesty of the American landscape.

                                

Right now we are soaring over the Rockies on the way back East. While the views are certainly impressive from the ground, they do not compare with the views to be witnessed from overhead. So maybe I won't give up air travel after all . . . .

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CA: After the circuitous ride down a makeshift road kicking up dust on bald fields, the first thing you notice in climbing off the bus is the smell. It is not an offensive or over powering scent, just one that is clearly present. But after all, this is the Gilroy Garlic Festival.

Considered one of America’s premiere food events, the festival -- now in its 28th year -- was started when local garlic growers pitched the idea to the town of Gilroy, California. No one expected much that first year. So when attendance far exceeded expectations, the pungent fest was born. In 2006, the Gilroy Garlic Festival is expected to draw 130,000 guests.

As soon as I arrived, I was on the lookout for the infamous  -- and interesting-sounding -- garlic ice cream.

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Today at the BlogHer conference, I had a moment's pause in my master plan to buy a PT Cruiser convertible next year to take on the endless road trip. The reason for my hesitation? The folks from Saturn were on hand here in San Jose and gave us the chance to test drive their cars (smart corporate types, appealing to use women car buyers!), including the oh-so-sweet Sky convertible.   

                                    

In addition to its fabulous handling, nice sound system and sharp good looks (this one had red and black leather seats --hot!) it was just a truly fun drive.

Perhaps I'll be rethinking my decision after all . . .

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Today I flew to the BlogHer conference -- my first, their second. It wasn't a quick trip -- New York to San Jose, California -- all for 36 hours of wisdom about this new world of blogs into which I am venturing, from a female perspective. (PS just a few short hours in, it has already been so worth it). What was aggravating, however, was not the distance travelled but the mode and manner in which the travel occurred. It is during trips like these that I come to remember why I much prefer leisurely car or even train travel to crowd-crazed air travel (UGH). Continue Reading...

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NY: On the approach into Woodstock, New York, it would be easy to overlook the sign pointing you towards the Hawthorn Gallery and Red Barn Antiques. But don't make that mistake -- this is one place you won't want to miss.

Tucked in next to the gas station-turned-Sovreign Bank is
Elwyn Lane. Follow this road around the bend and through a residential area and all the sudden in a clearing to your right, the red barn that houses The Hawthorn Gallery beckons. On first approach, what immediately catches the eye, beyond the striking red building, are the intricately carved wooden and stone architectural fragments that lean against walls, nestle into ground covering and rise mystically from overgrown flower beds.

And that is just the beginning of the treasures to be found
in this unique place.  Continue Reading...

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• I never tire of seeing rolling fields of shimmering
  crops, old white farmhouses, rusted metal roofed barns and grazing cows. Conversely, I am bored and saddened by the McSubdivisions springing up in the middle of nowhere and ruining those same views.
•  Although my taste in music is wide-ranging, I listen to country music most often when on road trips. Songs about pretty girls, pick up trucks, greasy cheeseburgers and beer-drinking horses make me smile as I traverse the back roads of America.

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I am on the way to pick up Stirling in Asheville, an 11-12 hour drive from our home in Basking Ridge. I started the drive last night to get a few hours under my belt. I have started early again today to give us time to load up the car and then continue on to see family in Birmingham, an additional 6 hours away. Now, two hours into my drive, it is 7:45 a.m. and I am trying to shake the sleep out of my eyes and to find a place to pick up batteries for my camera and some hand sanitizer

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Thinking about buying a second home -- a place to get away on weekends or during vacations, a future retirement location, a long-term family compound to be passed on to your children and grandchildren? According to The National Association of Realtors (NAR), you are not alone. 

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Somehow it seems appropriate to begin this blog in conjunction with a holiday associated with family, friends and fun, all things we hope will be enhanced by your visits to Back Roads, Charming Towns.

With my sister and daughter in tow, we took a 12-hour road trip today, the Saturday of Independence Day weekend. We ruled out the beach (we knew that would surely be a shore bottleneck) and the Amish country (the "monsoon of June" had just swept the Delaware River over the banks of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, leaving a soggy, muddy mess by Saturday). We opted for the Catskills and specifically, the village of Woodstock. While there was the anticipated traffic on the New York Thruway, it was only when we got to Exit 16 that matters went from bopping to bleak.  

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