Travel During Pandemic

[Ericandblueboy]

I feel like I'm losing a year of my life.  There's some work, but not a full load.  In any case, my compensation has been reduced.  And I can't travel freely and visit the restaurants of my choosing.

So what are some good ideas for traveling during pandemic?  My thoughts are, rent a place out so you can buy food and cook it yourself.  So what are some places that you can drive to that offer outdoor recreational opportunities, great locally grown food, and not catch the Rona?

[DonRocks]

1 hour ago, Ericandblueboy said:

So what are some good ideas for traveling during pandemic? 

I have one: not Hong Kong.

[lion]

We had a couple of friends and their families drive to upstate NY and the finger lakes, rent out cabins and enjoy their experiences. In those experiences, they brought all their own food and were isolated the entire trip. 

One family member drove up to CT to visit with friends who have also been social isolated right after school closed. 

Yesterday, I was doing curbside pickup at REI and the line outside to get in was over 30-40 people. It would appear locally most people are going to parks and camping.

[Tweaked]

We just got back from the Blue Ridge Mountains (Afton, VA area). We rented a place on Airbnb that was located on a 70 acre plot of land. It was just us and the family who live on the property. The only time we saw them was when the owner meet us to give us a run down of the property.

The area wineries are open. Veritas winery was busy on a Friday afternoon around lunch time. But they had good spacing/social distancing policies. 

Blue Mountain Brewery was also open. Some of the smaller places had reduced hours. 

On Wednesday and Thursday the hiking trails around the Blue Ridge Parkway were not that busy. We did a long hike from the property up to Hump Back Rocks and had no problems.

On Friday, we drove back along the Sky Line Drive and by the afternoon the popular trails were busy. But it was also July 3, so I would guess a lot of people had the day off.  Most of the pull off overlooks were quiet. 

We brought our own food and picked up beer at Blue Mountain Brewery and wine at Veritas.

[Rhone1998]

We just got back from two weeks in the Outer Banks. It was a great vacation. Tons of outdoor activities to do, with an obvious focus on the beach and the water— fishing, clamming, jet skiing, kite sailing, that sort of thing, and obviously just lazing about on the beach.

The food scene is not great. With a few exceptions, which I will post later, most of our restaurant meals were pretty bleh. But there is great local seafood, and produce this time of year, so cooking in your rental is definitely an option.

Restaurants are allowed to do indoor dining there, and some are choosing to do so while others are not. Many are 100% take out only, but lots of places have outdoor seating already in place so if you’re comfortable with that it’s an option in many restaurants as well.

[DonRocks]

[Please keep posting - I'm dying to get out of here, and haven't dined in a restaurant in four months.]

PS - Corduroy is open Wed-Sat (not tonight), and needs your business. It has been dead there.

[Tweaked]

The Wash Post is running an article about the lack of tourists visiting Maine this summer. 

Looks like most out-of-state tourists need to take a coronavirus test before arrival or quarantine upon arrival, and, of course that would be a long drive, but certainly doable in a day. 

[Pool Boy]

1 hour ago, Tweaked said:

The Wash Post is running an article about the lack of tourists visiting Maine this summer. 

Looks like most out-of-state tourists need to take a coronavirus test before arrival or quarantine upon arrival, and, of course that would be a long drive, but certainly doable in a day. 

I read this as well. Not havong been tested yet, I wonder how long it takes to get results back if you do or do not have it. A quick skim indicated it is usually a week or more before you get your results - that means, unless you can find a place that turns your test results around very quickly (probably at increased expense to you), you are not going to be able to vacation in Maine.  And by vacation, I pretty much mean just renting a cabin or small home , stay there to eat all meals, but at least be able to get out to walk the rocky shores of Maine to recharge.

[Tweaked]

Testing turn around taken into consideration (I have no clue if one can get a quick turn around on a test), I guess it depends upon what sort of tolerance one has for activities and contact. And what businesses are open.

But...

We have rented kayaks up in Maine, you could rent bicycles, hiking in Acadia NP, many of the waterfront restaurants have outside seating. A couple of the breweries we visited also have outside seating.  Or clambering on rocks along the shoreline!