Not the one in Tennessee. We’re on our annual vacation somewhere between here and NC. We have friends who live near Raleigh, and we’ve visited them a couple of times, but mostly they’ve come to visit us up in NY. Mostly because they at one time had family in the area, but as the years passed and people aged and (as happens) passed on themselves, the need for them to travel to us has become less and less. So, we’ve taken to finding Airbnb’s to rent and share somewhere between. Last year was a bust, as I had 2 bouts of kidney stones that ate up the availability for the year, between hospital stays and surgeries.

My wife is the one who does the initial search; she has the most idea of what things cost, what we can afford, and what we’re all looking for in a property before we start asking around to see if everyone is ‘ok’ with it. There are certain things that we cannot do without (pool, hot tub), so any property that doesn’t have them is already a no-go. By and large, sightseeing isn’t the real reason we’re getting together anymore, as my wife is getting on in years now and’s less ambulatory than she used to be. For the most part, we’ll stay on the property, going out only once or twice to shop or eat at a restaurant. However, a serviceable kitchen is another must, since three of us enjoy cooking and are capable of preparing meals for the others.

I have to say that we more or less hit it out of the park with this property. It certainly ticks all the boxes that we needed, though it is a bit pricey, and we were unable to book for more than 1 1/2 days total (leaving home on a Tuesday and returning on Thursday). The trip down was uneventful, even though we didn’t leave on time; the 4 1/2 hour drive really went by pretty quickly. It was a sort of test-out for the new Murano and I have to say it’s a pretty comfortable ride. Additionally, it has an intuitive Google-based navigation system, which is quite advanced, and a step up from the system we had in the Outback, and even more advanced than the one we had in our ’19 Murano.

The only negative I had with it was that you sort of have to give the system its ‘head’ per se, when it gives you options for routes; it suggests ‘Shortest Time’ or ‘No Tolls’ or essentially ‘No backroads’. And when you choose one of the offerings, you sort of have to keep to the route, unless you know of a shortcut or other road that might be faster, or better traveled, or something like that. Seeing as it is a Google-based system, it does interact with the Waze app, and we received warnings from other drivers about construction or police activity ahead of us. Very intuitive, and a boon when you’re working your way through heavy traffic and not able to have your head on a complete swivel for that sort of thing.

Once we were here, though, it’s been pretty smooth sailing. The owner of the property has been easily reachable when we’ve had an issue, like when I was relaxing by the pool and leaned back in one of the chaise lounges and the strap to the pillow broke in two. Granted it was a bit old, and looked like it needed to be replaced, but rather than skulk away and try to pretend it didn’t happen, I contacted her through the AirBnB app and explained the situation, along with pictures showing the issue. I offered that we could pay for the damage/replacement, because that’s what responsible people do. She messaged back a couple of hours later, essentially saying, “These things happen” and “it was old and due to be replaced anyway,” and reiterated that we wouldn’t be charged for it. Classy.

We’ll be leaving here in a day, and heading back home to NY. It’s been a pretty idyllic time away and it’s really nice catching up with friends, enjoying good food, a really nice piece of property and it was a good trip here. Not sure if we’ll ever stay here again, but at least I have a lot of good pictures of the property and the surrounding area. Maryland is a very nice state to visit. I wish we could have gotten to Baltimore, it’s been 50 years since I’ve been there. I know the Constellation is still there, I wonder if it would remember me the way I remembered it. Only one way to find out I guess.