Local

Last summer, the planets aligned, and my wife had vacation time all in a clump rather than spread out. It was especially favorable that My work schedule decreased at the same time. That rare event occurred, and we had time off together.

Having other responsibilities and a non-abundant supply of cash, we decided on a host of day trips throughout our region. And that’s how we made a succession of wonderful day trips in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Southern Maine to visit cities that we had mostly passed en route to other places.

One small city surprised me. We sat in a restaurant for lunch, and the bulb went off. I recognized the street scene from sometime in the sixties. There’d been a coffeehouse there, and a short interlude years ago. Pleasant memories flowed.

In Manchester, New Hampshire, we were captivated by Cat Alley and the Cat Alley coffee shop and gift shop. Visit if you can, if only to see the Cat Alley paintings in the alley.

It’s common to plan a vacation around distant places. And build expectant images of what you will find when you arrive. In our case, we were time and money-limited, but had rewarding experiences within two hours of home. Of course, the most important thing was that we were together, which, with divergent schedules, is too rare an event.