“Our Experiences & Suggestions of Travel During Covid19”
We ring in 2020 with high expectations for new adventures. In early February, we are plotting a calendar of planned excursions while also seeking unplanned short trips for exploring. Things are settling in our lives and we are ready to travel. Initially trips are a week visit to our Nation’s capital in March then a multi-week trip for May/June to the North Carolina Mountains to a late summer cruise. It looks like all is falling into place for a great year of travel for the Mixa’s.
As the end of February approaches, the news is rife with issues in Europe of the deadly Corona Virus. Seeing and learning the impact this disease has had on Asia and Europe, we reassess our immediate travel plans. We cancel the trip to Washington, DC and instead add a visit to Charleston, South Carolina for a few days following a family visit to North Carolina. With the international influence in Washington, DC, and potential closing of Museums, Washington is not the place to visit.
THE PANDEMIC HITS THE U.S.
A few days after our return to Florida, the news of the Corona Virus in the United States and its potential devastating impact is being blasted in the news media. Immediately schools are closed, businesses (non-essential) are closed, restaurants are closed, and churches are closed! We watch our nation shutdown. Like many family and friends we hunker down in our homes. For the first time in our 26 years of marriage, we eat all three meals at home. We carefully plan our meals over the upcoming weeks. Visits with family are all by phone, text, or Facetime. There are no sports to watch. So Richard and I seek movies to fill our evenings and reading more books. Initially our days are busy with projects around the house from making curtains to a deep house cleaning to yard work and more. Thankfully, living in Florida we can for go walks in our neighborhood and local parks. Hurrah! We can play golf which is a major activity to fill our days.
As we move into April, our Granddaughter’s First Communion for May is postponed. The Pandemic continues so we cancel the multi-week rental for the North Carolina Mountains. It seems any plans for travel are on hold and no idea when this will end. In May restrictions are slightly lifted with restaurants now at 25% capacity, social distancing and masks required. We venture out to a few restaurants “testing the waters” to see how safe we feel. Then into June other restrictions are lifted.
SHORT TRAVEL EXCURSIONS
Our first travel adventure is two nights in Siesta Key in late June for our 26th Anniversary. We especially like that it is only an hour from home, the Inn on Siesta Key features 6 apartment units, and is across the street from the Siesta Key Beach. We like the idea of being in an apartment, the smallness of the Inn will avoid crowds, and the beach is away from the public beach creating a private safe area. The getaway is terrific, – we are safe and most of the time other than dining out, it’s just the two of us. We had the isolation we seek. The cleanliness of the Inn and their CoVid19 precautions are excellent. This gives us confidence in doing some traveling during CoVid19.
Our second travel adventure is a one night stay at Mission Inn, in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida (article) and an afternoon of golf. The Inn and the Golf Course practice very good safety and health for this visit. The remote control and hair dryers are even sanitized and in sealed containers. Most of the time we are the only ones around so there is plenty of privacy and social distancing.
A ROADTRIP AND MULTIWEEK GETAWAY
It’s August and Florida is HOT! Temperatures are continually creeping into the low 100’s! We are ready to get out of this heat. While there is still concern and restrictions with the Pandemic, we feel it is safe and time to get away from the Florida heat. We plan a driving trip that will include an overnight near Savannah, a couple of nights in Greenville, South Carolina, a vacation rental for 10 days in Black Mountain, NC and a 3 week rental in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. The vacation rentals give us the security of being in one place where we can assure it is clean and safe. Our only traditional hotel stays will be near Savannah and in Greenville. It will be interesting to see how the Pandemic is impacting the hotels and their safety precautions.
HAMPTON INN GETS AN A+!
The Hampton Inn & Suites Savannah Airport gets an A-Plus for being on top of cleanliness and necessary safety precautions. Each hotel room is literally “sealed” once it has been cleaned and inspected. To enter the room we “break” the seal. Additionally, the remote control is in a sealed bag to verify it is sanitized. Impressive! This definitely gives a true sense of following the proper guidelines for safety and sanitizing. With the Corona Virus, the complimentary breakfast is DIFFERENT. No buffet type foods. Everything is “packaged” for safety. The challenge here is the foods pretty bland. Overall it works and we understand the reasons. Definitely admire all that Hampton Inn is doing to assure all are safe during this Pandemic.
DOWNTOWN GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA
Complimentary hand sanitizers on Greenville Aloft Hotel in downtown, Greenville is practicing safety features of masks for staff and guests. We opt for the two nights (Sunday and Monday) of our stay not to have housekeeping services. This assures that we are the only ones in the room once we check-in. Greenville has sanitizers throughout the city and numerous signs “reminding and encouraging everyone to wear a mask and social distance.” The city really encourages wearing a mask at all times while out in the city. On Sunday the city is crowded, restaurants are busy, and people are strolling the shops and Park. Impressive that everyone is adhering to the masks rules and the restaurants stay on top of both the social distancing for tables, masks for staff, and requiring masks for diners.
On Monday the city is basically shut down. Only the Mast General Store is open, and all other shops are closed. Many restaurants are also closed on Mondays. While it is not a ghost town, there are few people on the streets and not much do. The Pandemic is definitely changing the hours and days of operation for restaurants and retail businesses. Additionally, Museums are still closed limiting tourist type attractions. Thankfully, Greenville has the beautiful Reedy Park that keeps us entertained with safe and healthy walks.
THE NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS IN SEPTEMBER
Staying in a vacation rental to us is the best way to travel during the Pandemic. Being in one place that we can control provides the confidence and security of it being clean. We brought sanitizing wipes with us to use when we arrive at the rental and usually do a bit of extra cleaning even though we know it was cleaned prior to our arrival. Here we are in control so it is up to us to follow proper safety, health, and sanitizing standards. Spending a month in the cooler mountains, we learned several things to share with anyone planning a road trip or travels during the pandemic.
Outdoor Activities:
With many beautiful mountain trails and drives, outdoor activities are the main attraction for visitors to the mountains. Whether driving the Blue Ridge Parkway, visiting the North Carolina Arboretum, taking a hike, crossing a mile high bridge, or climbing to a waterfall the mountains provide a plethora of options for outdoor activities. On our visit other than dining, our activities are all outdoors.
What we learned:
1. Always have a mask with you.
2. Practice social distancing
3. In some of the towns – it is easiest to wear a mask the entire time. These small towns get “crowded” on certain days so social distancing is a challenge.”
4. Weekend crowds are HUGE! Arrive before 11:00 AM or after 3:00 PM to avoid the crowds. At Catawba Falls outside Black Mountain, NC the parking lot was overflowing by 10:30AM. When we left after around noon, cars were parked all down the road. Also, on a Sunday at the Moses Cone Memorial Park off the Blue Ridge Parkway the parking lot is full, cars are parked all along the Parkway in any space one can squeeze into. Whenever possible visit the popular attractions on weekdays.
5. Some attractions, specifically Grandfather Mountain requires preregistration for entry. Admission tickets are On-line only.
6. Crowds are not good at social distancing – so you are responsible for being sure you and your family stay safe.
7. Golf is still a great option for an outdoor activity. Courses either have individual carts per golfer (unless a family member) or plastic partitions in the golf carts. There are no rakes in bunkers, no sand for divots, and flags have Styrofoam circles to prevent ball falling in cup. All the golf courses we visited had very good safety standards and mask regulations for protection of employees and golfers.
Impact of The Virus In “Towns”
- Store hours and days of the week are fewer. Most stores are only open Wednesday to Sunday often from 11:00AM to 5:00PM. Shoppers will need to verify store hour before heading out.
- All businesses and restaurants require a mask to enter. This policy is consistent in most states we.
- Museums are still closed in many states so that eliminates major tourist activities in these areas.
- Restaurant hours are different- again many are only open a few days a week with a shorter time frame. Restaurants were often only open from Wednesday to Sunday, as mentioned with retail stores. Sunday can be a difficult time to find a restaurant open. In Black Mountain only a couple of restaurants are open on Sunday and there are “slammed” with over 1+ hour waits. Note: We carry sanitizing wipes with us when dining out. We wipe off the table on our arrival (the menus if it is a hard copy and not disposable) and also our hands. It’s just an extra precaution we take for sanitizing where we are dining – at least the table and us. We also use either hand sanitizer or sanitizing wipes when we get back to the car to wipe off our hands, etc.
- Several restaurants that had been favorites in the past are still closed. It is difficult to know if these restaurants will open again or go out of business. Luckily, there were only a very few that were closed permanently.
- Get the QR Bar Code App is essential as many restaurants have the “bar code menu” instead of a hard copy. Get use to using it and it quickly becomes easier to use, as well as safer.
- Restaurant food choices on their menus are more limited. Be prepared! Your favorite restaurant may not have the extensive food choices from the past. A couple of restaurants didn’t carry our favorite dishes any longer. Plus many restaurants have “not currently available” across the menu. A restaurant in Black Mountain that specializes in burgers and hot dogs – didn’t have hot dogs available.
- Make reservations for dining, especially dinners and weekends. Most restaurants now use Open Table or another app that allows making reservations on-line. Take advantage of this. It saves frustration and disappointment being a walk-in to find a long wait time.
SUMMARY
First we thoroughly enjoy each of our travel excursions the past few months even with the Covid issues. The short trip to Siesta Key is a relaxing beach getaway and Mission Inn provides a memorable golf experience. Each are a refreshing reprieve from just being hunkered down at home. Then our multi week trip provides a most enjoyable couple of days in Greenville, South Carolina. While the North Carolina Mountains live up to our expectations of cooler weather and exciting outdoor adventures. We quickly learn that the Blowing Rock area has much cooler temperatures in September than the Asheville area. Additionally on our Blowing Rock visit there are several extremely foggy days and rain. As we are leaving Blowing Rock a neighbor shares that the really nice Fall weather is coming soon. We achieved our goal of getting away from the “record breaking” Florida heat and enjoying mountain activities.
For travels during this time of the Corona Virus, be prepared as things are “different.” Each of us have to determine our comfort level with traveling during this unusual time. Many are avoiding group travels of flying, bus tours, and cruises. That leaves options of Road Trips for many others. Utilizing a Vacation Rental is a great option for having a secure place to stay. Hotels and motels seem to be doing an excellent job with providing safe environments for visitors. For others, we are seeing that Motorhomes are becoming a preferred option as it provides the opportunity to travel in a contained environment. Determine your personal comfort level for travel whether local or long distance.
There is still plenty to do and see especially in the Good Ol’ USA. Consider visiting local or National Parks for an exciting and healthy vacation as a couple or family. Research the desired areas to determine any possible restrictions. While in an area check out the restaurants, stores, hours, and days of operations ahead of time. Make reservations for restaurants especially for weekends. Even though we are still in the Pandemic, as restrictions slowly open up, it is amazing the number of people roaming these small North Carolina towns. Whether these are locals or visitors taking advantage of the beautiful weather the crowds are out. Amazing! It is not even “leaf season!”