Ready to Travel!

It's no secret that I love me some Waffle House.  In fact, as much as I wish they would open one nearby, it's probably for the best.

Therefore, it sets up the opportunity for a road trip.

At Sean's request.

Tomorrow, after school, we will hit the road for a late birthday present.  Yes, I know, his birthday is in February.  Hear me out.

Sean has been yelling at me to take him back to WH for a while.  Believe me, having lived through the horror of watching Lisa eat at one in Florida with her equally horrified parents (and their mocking of me), I know to choose my Waffle House companions carefully.

The Scranton, PA area has not one, but two (Moosic and Clarks Summit).  But there needed to be more to this trip to make it worth it, right?

Yup.  Trains.  Steamtown National Historic Site.  Plus the Lackawanna County Coal Mine Tour.  Plus the Electric City Trolley Museum.  And Krispy Kreme donuts.  And (rebuilt) PNC Field, home of the Scranton-Wilkes Barre RailRiders.  And pizza in Old Forge.

And, if that wasn't enough, Sean said, and I quote: "Can we go to Wawa?"

I'll find one (actually, I found two, off of Interstate 80)!

All of this is his doing.  His trip.  Not mine.  OK, maybe it's our trip.

Trains. trolleys. Swimming.  A hotel (not sure the last time he stayed in one).  ROADS!  Win! Win!

Sean feels like he's living large!

And we're going alone.  I was told Lisa could go (alas she has to work).  Otherwise, he wanted this to be him and Daddy.

Initially, I thought maybe we'd make it a day trip.  Then I toyed with the idea of grabbing a room via Priceline.

But no.  I've booked us a room at the SpringHill Suites Scranton (in the back yard of PNC Field).  For our wheels, I've rented a car via Enterprise (at a crazy good price).  Again, he had a say in all of this.

For those who know the area, I could have stayed at the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel but, with the exception of the lobby, it's not obvious that you're staying in an old train station.  If you see the outside of the building and walk around in the lobby, you get the idea.  Plus the price isn't great.  Plus parking.  Plus it honestly didn't blow me away when I stayed there a year ago.  However it was the place where some of the idea of this trip began.

So we'll visit that.

But the calendar worked against us.  We were aiming for mid-March, but discovered the coal mine (which stays pretty cool) didn't open until April 1.  Then I saw that neither the trains or trolleys weren't having riders until late April.  Oh, and I don't see Sean every weekend (though, to his mothers credit, we probably could have worked something out).

So this weekend was truly the first opportunity to go and have the full effect.  Sean has been very patient.

I'm pumped.  Excited.  Thrilled.

I know, some may scoff.  How could we go to Scranton?  Home of "The Office."  Home of...er...not much.  Why not go somewhere else?  Somewhere more glamorous?

It's about the experience.  And hey, I found some cool things to do.  True Americana!

It's reminiscent of a trip I took to Ohio back in 1999.  My brother and two of his kids drove out and met us.  We went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  I went to Pro Football Hall of Fame.  We went to a big basket building!  I drove the Y Bridge of Zanesville!

We drove into Pittsburgh and I visited Three Rivers Stadium and saw the four (at the time) shiny Lombardi Tropies! (In case you need a reminder, they have six now.)

I loved it.  Loved. Loved. Loved it.

It doesn't have to be big for me to make me happy.  It's about the adventure.

Next month, Lisa and I are going to Virginia Beach.  We'll be road tripping for that too.

Sean won't be with us (damn school and all) but I still can't wait.  Beach.  Maybe baseball (Norfolk...we'll see).  Beach.  Roads.  Beach.  Food and fun (and I'll sneak out for Waffle House and Krispy Kreme).

(And yes, I'm quite aware that a great place called Richmond has Waffle House - excuse me, Waffle HOUSES - and Krispy Kreme and Wawa.  I want to get there, too!)