While I really like being spontaneous and just traveling to see what is around the bend. But sometimes you really have to have a plan and today the planning for my 2018 NCAA Tournament Vacation started coming together.
Every year since 2001 I have attend the First and Second Rounds of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament as various locations throughout the country. Some years I have stayed close to home, traveling to places like Greensboro, Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina. Other years I venture a little farther to places like Dayton, Ohio, Nashville, Tennessee and Greenville, South Carolina.
Every year has been a new adventure. He is a list of the tournament sites that I have visited over the years:
2001 - Greensboro, North Carolina 2010 - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
2002 - Greenville, South Carolina 2011 - Charlotte, North Carolina
2003 - Birmingham, Alabama 2012 - Greensboro, North Carolina
2004 - Orlando, Florida 2013 - Kansas City, Missouri
2005 - Nashville, Tennessee 2014 - Raleigh, North Carolina
2006 - Dallas, Texas 2015 - Charlotte, North Carolina
2007 - Winston-Salem, North Carolina 2016 - Raleigh, North Carolina
2008 - Birmingham, Alabama 2017 - Greenville, South Carolina
2009- Greensboro, North Carolina
As you can see for the past 4-years I have been staying close to home. So in 2018 it will be time to hit the road and head west. When I first looked at the 2018 Tournament sites, one location immediately jumped out at me. So in March 2018 I will be hitting the road and heading to Dallas Texas.
Up until today, it had kind of been up in the air as to where I would be going for March Madness, as in the past, I had pick a tournament site only to have that site come up with very limited or no tickets available for public sale. Most years I have received and early buy access code for the NCAA which allows me to buy tickets before they go on sale to the General Public.
I received my early buy access code this morning an was able to log into the American Airlines Arena - Ticketmaster website and about about 20-minute I was able to select and purchase my 2018 Tournament Tickets.
After purchasing my tournament tickets, I went ahead and reserved my hotel room. As I said before, I am a fan of hotel reward programs and my preferred hotel is the Choice Hotel Brand (Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Sleep Inn and Quality Inn). In the past it has really paid off to make my hotel reservations early before they raise their rate based on a special event.
When making hotel reservations I always go through the CHOICE HOTELS WEBSITE where I can check the rates and reviews. Before making a final choice and confirming my reservation I also check the reviews on Trip Advisor. If the hotel get excellent or exceptional reviews on both sites then I go ahead and finalize my reservations.
One thing about travel reviews. If a review is too good then I tend to throw it out as it is more than likely written by the hotel or a friend of the hotel management. I also tend to throw out extremely bad reviews because they are written by someone who has an ax to grind or is basically just a totally unreasonable guest and wants to make matters worse than they actually were. I do contribute reviews to both sites and I never write a review while I am angry or upset. I always wait until I calm down so that I can be reasonably objective.
The hotel that I selected for my Dallas Tournament Stay is located about 5-miles away from the American Airlines Arena, for less than $100 a night. The one thing that I don't like about this years tournament in Dallas is the Games are Thursday - Saturday which means my off day is Friday and I will have to deal with Dallas Traffic when exploring. But it does give me an extra day on Sunday to explore the downtown area around Dealey Plaza where I want to return to The Sixth Floor Museum and visit the sites associated with the Assassination of President Kennedy.
Another reason that I wanted to go to Dallas is that the Final Four is also in San Antonio and while I don't have Final Four Tickets I can attend some of the fan events around the area that are associated with the Final Four.
My plan is to spend about 3-4 weeks touring around Texas. This will be my first major trip since I retired and I don't plan on having much of a schedule. The only place that I have to be is in Dallas for the Tournament in Mid-March. The rest of the time we will just see what is around the bend.
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
A HAUNTING EVENING
Over the last several years a bunch of haunted houses have popped up in the area around Halloween. Each year there seems to be more and more. Each claiming to be bigger and better than their competition.
One of the first in the area was the Major Graham Haunted Mansion near Fort Chiswell in Wythe County. The mansion was the home of Major David Graham who fought for the 51st Virginia Infantry during the Civil War. The mansion was the center piece of the 6000 acres plantation owned by the Graham Family.
Legend has it that Confederate officers held secret meetings in one of the rooms in the attic, which is known as "The Confederate Room." The mansion has a dark history that that includes murdered slaves, imprisoned servants and ghost stories.
One of the ghost stories centers around a man who were murdered by slaves on the Graham property. Before the the Graham Mansion stood on this site, a cabin belonging to Joseph Baker stood here. In 1786 Baker was murdered by two of his slaves. A few days later the slaves known as Bob and Sam were hung from a hickory tree that still over looks the mansion property. Legend has it that Bob and Sam still roam the property today and may have been seen inside the mansion. The completer story of The Murder of Joseph Baker can be found here.
The haunted legend of the Graham Mansion is known far and wide and in 2012 "Ghost Hunters"
visited the site and officially declared the Mansion and surrounding area as "Haunted."
For the past several years the Haunted Graham Mansion has been one of the areas most popular Halloween attractions. The 45-minute tour features props and live actors who set about to scare visitors as they make their way through the mansion and adjacent buildings.
Every Friday and Saturday Night in October more than 2,000 people a night pay $20 a person to take the scary tour through the Major David Graham Mansion. This year a couple of friends an myself were among the visitors.
Sunday, October 22, 2017
THE ROAD TO RETIREMENT - PART 2
Well, things are moving along toward my impending retirement and the day is getting closer that retirement will become a reality. I have worked for the Commonwealth of Virginia for 43-years, beginning my employment with the state directly our of high school in 1974. This has been the only full time job that I have ever had, so it is only natural that second thoughts about this decisions have surfaced.
When something has been apart of ones life for such a long period of time, it is hard to just walk away from the stability of a regular pay check. But there were a few other thing that I considered other than the regular hours with a pay check. The first thing that I know that I am going to really miss is the people that I work with. Since 2008 I have been the supervisor of communications and I have been really lucky to work with a great group of people. I am truly going to miss the daily interaction with these people who I genuinely respect, like and enjoy being around. These folks have become friends and I am going to miss seeing them on on a regular basis. I am not going to sugar coat things, this is my number one concern and the thing I anticipate missing the most.
The second thing that is giving me second thought is boredom. What am I going to do with all the extra time. Not having the structure of having to drive to the office ever day is going to be a tremendous adjustment. I have never been one to sit around and do nothing. I have to be active and have to be doing something. I am fortunate to have a variety of interest; photography, hiking, rail-fanning and travel are just a few things that I enjoy.
I am also very fortunate to enjoy my on company and have no problem being able to amuse myself. Photography is something that I have enjoyed for a number of years and have been lucky enough to sell and have some of my photos published.
I am very lucky to live in the State of Virginia, which is one of the most history areas of the United States. I love history and I love to travel. I am not going to sit hat home day in and day out. Day trips along the back roads of Virginia with just a picnic lunch and a camera will most likely take the place of the daily trips to the office.
Several years ago my doctor suggested that I lose some weight. It seemed that years of a less than healthy diet and sitting behind a desk had taken its toll and my weight had swelled to an unhealthy state. Lifting weights and the added cost of a gym membership did not appeal to me. But I knew that I had to get active and drop some weight.
It was at that time that I discovered the joys of walking. It's a free form of exercise and something that I could do most anywhere. So I began walking for exercise, starting out with only a mile or two a day for about 30-minutes. But I soon found that I actually enjoy walking and increased my pace, and stamina.
I found that I looked forward to my daily walks. I am lucky to live in an area that features a number of places like the Huckleberry Trail, Bisset Park, and Pandapas Pond where I can get get in my daily walks without it becoming bored. I have come to enjoy walking so much that I usually take my camera long, which allows me to combine two loves.
Also I am very lucky that residents of the Town of Christiansburg enjoy free access to the Recreation Center. So on days that the weather prevents me from walking outside, I can get my daily steps in there. The rec centers features and 8th of a mile track and a few pieces of fitness equipment. So spending an hours or two at the rec centers breaks up the boredom of a rainy day. Finally, I live close enough to the Blue Ridge Parkway that on days I am feeling particularly adventurous I can tackle one of the many hiking trails.
Finally, a few years ago the Roanoke Transportation Museum brought a historic steam locomotive back to life. After sitting in a museum for more than 20-years the J-611, Spirit of Roanoke roared back to life. On the day that she returned to Roanoke under her own steam, I drove to Danville and photographed the ole girl at several locations as she made here way back to the Star City after undergoing extensive repairs at the Spencer Shops.
I manage to "chase" her from Danville to Bedford grabbing some great photos along the way. During this "Chase" I met some great folks who introduced me to something known as "railfanning." Over the past few years I have developed an interest in photographing trains, especially the Norfolk-Southern Heritage Units. Living in an area rich with rail heritage, I have found that I enjoy visiting such popular railfanning locations as the Historic Montgomery Tunnel, The Christiansburg Grade in Shawsville and the coaling tower at Vicker Switch. For whatever reason, I find it quite relaxing to sit at one of these location with a good book waiting for a passing train to come by. Like I say it doesn't take much to amuse me.
I will be able to occupy my time once retirement set in. So those second thought have been push to the side.
So where do I stand as I continue marching down the Road to Retirement.
On September 12, 2017, I drove to Richmond and met with my Personnel Office and officially completed and submitted my retirement papers to be effective January 1, 2018. Due to the unique way the State of Virginia does it pay periods, my last official day of employment will be December 24, 2017. Quiet a Christmas present that I am giving myself.
On October 10, 2017, I submitted my application for Social Security Benefits. I have decided to draw my Social Security Benefits in order to supplement State Retirement Income, which will allow me to NOT draw on my personal investments, allowing them to hopefully continue to grow.
Finally, The State will only pay me for a small amount of my leave. I will be loosing a large amount of sick leave as the state will only pay me $5000, but I am not one to use sick leave when I am not sick. Even though I am losing a large amount of sick leave, I am not going to lose my vacation. So in order to get my leave down to where I can get paid for the maximum, I found that I had about two and a half month of leave that I will need to take before December 24, 2017.
So on October 12, 2017, I worked my last scheduled shift. Over the next two and a half months, I will only have 6-days that I can work without losing any leave.During those 6-days, I plan on wrapping up some pending projects and turning my duties over to the other two supervisors.
Over the next several weeks, I will be adjusting to the leisurely pace of retirement while still drawing a full pay check.
The march toward retirement continues....
When something has been apart of ones life for such a long period of time, it is hard to just walk away from the stability of a regular pay check. But there were a few other thing that I considered other than the regular hours with a pay check. The first thing that I know that I am going to really miss is the people that I work with. Since 2008 I have been the supervisor of communications and I have been really lucky to work with a great group of people. I am truly going to miss the daily interaction with these people who I genuinely respect, like and enjoy being around. These folks have become friends and I am going to miss seeing them on on a regular basis. I am not going to sugar coat things, this is my number one concern and the thing I anticipate missing the most.
The second thing that is giving me second thought is boredom. What am I going to do with all the extra time. Not having the structure of having to drive to the office ever day is going to be a tremendous adjustment. I have never been one to sit around and do nothing. I have to be active and have to be doing something. I am fortunate to have a variety of interest; photography, hiking, rail-fanning and travel are just a few things that I enjoy.
I am also very fortunate to enjoy my on company and have no problem being able to amuse myself. Photography is something that I have enjoyed for a number of years and have been lucky enough to sell and have some of my photos published.
I am very lucky to live in the State of Virginia, which is one of the most history areas of the United States. I love history and I love to travel. I am not going to sit hat home day in and day out. Day trips along the back roads of Virginia with just a picnic lunch and a camera will most likely take the place of the daily trips to the office.
Several years ago my doctor suggested that I lose some weight. It seemed that years of a less than healthy diet and sitting behind a desk had taken its toll and my weight had swelled to an unhealthy state. Lifting weights and the added cost of a gym membership did not appeal to me. But I knew that I had to get active and drop some weight.
It was at that time that I discovered the joys of walking. It's a free form of exercise and something that I could do most anywhere. So I began walking for exercise, starting out with only a mile or two a day for about 30-minutes. But I soon found that I actually enjoy walking and increased my pace, and stamina.
I found that I looked forward to my daily walks. I am lucky to live in an area that features a number of places like the Huckleberry Trail, Bisset Park, and Pandapas Pond where I can get get in my daily walks without it becoming bored. I have come to enjoy walking so much that I usually take my camera long, which allows me to combine two loves.
Also I am very lucky that residents of the Town of Christiansburg enjoy free access to the Recreation Center. So on days that the weather prevents me from walking outside, I can get my daily steps in there. The rec centers features and 8th of a mile track and a few pieces of fitness equipment. So spending an hours or two at the rec centers breaks up the boredom of a rainy day. Finally, I live close enough to the Blue Ridge Parkway that on days I am feeling particularly adventurous I can tackle one of the many hiking trails.
Finally, a few years ago the Roanoke Transportation Museum brought a historic steam locomotive back to life. After sitting in a museum for more than 20-years the J-611, Spirit of Roanoke roared back to life. On the day that she returned to Roanoke under her own steam, I drove to Danville and photographed the ole girl at several locations as she made here way back to the Star City after undergoing extensive repairs at the Spencer Shops.
I manage to "chase" her from Danville to Bedford grabbing some great photos along the way. During this "Chase" I met some great folks who introduced me to something known as "railfanning." Over the past few years I have developed an interest in photographing trains, especially the Norfolk-Southern Heritage Units. Living in an area rich with rail heritage, I have found that I enjoy visiting such popular railfanning locations as the Historic Montgomery Tunnel, The Christiansburg Grade in Shawsville and the coaling tower at Vicker Switch. For whatever reason, I find it quite relaxing to sit at one of these location with a good book waiting for a passing train to come by. Like I say it doesn't take much to amuse me.
I will be able to occupy my time once retirement set in. So those second thought have been push to the side.
So where do I stand as I continue marching down the Road to Retirement.
On September 12, 2017, I drove to Richmond and met with my Personnel Office and officially completed and submitted my retirement papers to be effective January 1, 2018. Due to the unique way the State of Virginia does it pay periods, my last official day of employment will be December 24, 2017. Quiet a Christmas present that I am giving myself.
On October 10, 2017, I submitted my application for Social Security Benefits. I have decided to draw my Social Security Benefits in order to supplement State Retirement Income, which will allow me to NOT draw on my personal investments, allowing them to hopefully continue to grow.
Finally, The State will only pay me for a small amount of my leave. I will be loosing a large amount of sick leave as the state will only pay me $5000, but I am not one to use sick leave when I am not sick. Even though I am losing a large amount of sick leave, I am not going to lose my vacation. So in order to get my leave down to where I can get paid for the maximum, I found that I had about two and a half month of leave that I will need to take before December 24, 2017.
So on October 12, 2017, I worked my last scheduled shift. Over the next two and a half months, I will only have 6-days that I can work without losing any leave.During those 6-days, I plan on wrapping up some pending projects and turning my duties over to the other two supervisors.
Over the next several weeks, I will be adjusting to the leisurely pace of retirement while still drawing a full pay check.
The march toward retirement continues....
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