Safe Travels!

What can a person write on the evening before departing for vacation? (I'm composing this on Sunday, the 12th.) My mind is already there, it’s just my feet holding me back. Plans changed at the last minute due to the death of my niece’s husband, Dan. So I’ll drive the first day to my brother’s house in Ohio (about eleven or twelve hours) and then drive the next day to Indianapolis (about five hours more) where my niece Lori lives. Two days in Indy, and then I’ll head back to Ohio to begin the vacation.
 
I have a sister who lives in Ohio year-round, as well as a brother and another sister who spend the summers there. I haven’t seen them for nearly two years, so it’s good to get back to my home town and spend some time with them. When I was newly ordained, priests were given three weeks of vacation, but if your family lived outside of the Diocese, you received an extra week, because visiting family was not considered vacation. There’s some wisdom in that.
 
We have set up a special Mass in the Church where we grew up: Saint Sebastian’s in Akron. I was Baptized across the river in Cuyahoga Falls, but made my First Communion and Confirmation here, attended the parochial school for Grades one through eight, and finally celebrated my First Mass here. We will combine a celebration of my 40th Ordination Anniversary with my sister’s 60th Wedding Anniversary. Later, we’ve rented out all the rooms in a B&B on the shore of Lake Erie for two nights. We’ll take a ferry out to the islands and drive around in golf carts.
 
Our favorite spot is South Bass Island. This is where the decisive battle of the War of 1812 was won at Put-in-Bay. Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry surprised the British in the Battle of Lake Erie, which was the turning point of the war. This is commemorated by the Perry Victory & International Peace Memorial on the island. The world’s tallest Doric column, it rises 352 feet above the water and is visible from the mainland. You can take an elevator to the top where you receive a wonderful view of the lake and the several nearby islands. Canada’s Pelee Island is visible from the top, but you can’t see mainland Canada, since the lake is 57 miles wide at this point.
 
I’m taking a few books, which I’ll read on my brother’s porch. We have a few favorite restaurants and wineries to visit as well as other hometown haunts. We’ll do a day-trip to Amish country, about an hour south, where my sister will look at quilts, and I’ll look forward to their wonderful restaurants with tremendous desserts. Living without electricity or cell phones seems to have made the Amish into wonderful cooks and bakers. They sell handmade crafts and candies as well. I’m praying for good weather, and am taking my Holy Card of Saint Christopher in the car, in hopes of safe travel. See you in a few weeks…