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Destination Wichita Falls Texas

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This week I begin a new 4-part series on my recent trip to visit family in the Wichita Falls Texas area. (I actually returned home just a few nights ago, but I’ll cover that in Part 4.)

I planned this trip back in mid-June, and I actually made my airline reservations for it a full 2 weeks before I made my airline reservations for the Northern Virginia & Washington D.C. trip that I chronicled in here for 7 weeks through last #TravelThursday.

I actually left home early last Wednesday morning (September 24TH 2025). After a fun (and regularly-scheduled) weekly social and lunch downtown with my museum friends of the Sebring Historical Society – I departed for Tampa. This would be my second trip to Tampa in exactly 9 weeks, and for the second time in a row – I stayed at the same exact hotel as I stayed at last time. Unlike the previous trek to Tampa – the weather was spectacular – nothing but blue skies and sunshine.

I took a bit of a different route into Tampa. I took Florida State Road 60 from Mulberry straight into the heart of downtown and out the other side, and then I made a right onto Westshore to my hotel. It’s a route that I’ve taken many times before to see concerts and hockey games, visit the aquarium, and even go on a cruise. (SR-60 runs a few blocks north of the Channel shopping, dining, and entertainment district.)

Fun Fact: From Mulberry westward to Westshore – the 35½ miles of Florida State Road 60 goes by several names – Canal Street, Brandon Boulevard, Adamo Drive, Channelside Drive, and Kennedy Boulevard.

I drove right past the front of the studios of my favorite TV station in the region – FOX-13. I watch them – particularly their news shows and personalities – more than any other station by far. (Sebring and Highlands County is an outer fringe county in the vast Tampa Bay viewing area.)

I made the right onto Westshore, and there it was – Westshore Plaza – Tampa Bay’s first enclosed and air-conditioned shopping mall. It opened a few months after I was born in 1967. When I lived in Tampa part-time from mid-1993 to early-1994 – Westshore was my go-to shopping mall. It was thriving back then, as were most shopping malls in the U.S.A. 32 years later – the mall is in its last days, as there are plans to demolish it and redevelop the 54-acre property that it sits on.

Once I checked-in at the hotel – the front desk clerk / sales director saw my address and remarked that he was born and raised in Sebring. We talked about what Sebring is like today versus what it was like when he lived there during the 1990s. (It hasn’t changed much since then.)

After a good night’s sleep and a good breakfast at the hotel – I took their shuttle to Tampa International Airport (#TPA) for my second consecutive round-trip flight. This time I knew what to expect, as I was just there for departure 9 weeks earlier. I had aisle seats from Tampa to Dallas (#DFW), and also from Dallas to Wichita Falls, so I couldn’t do my favorite thing while flying – and that is – studying the weather and the landscape below. Both departures and arrivals were early, and my arrival at Wichita Falls Regional Airport (#SPS) was very early – like over a half-hour early. I had to wait awhile for one of my family members to pick me up.

We’ll pick-up with the family adventures in the Wichita Falls area next #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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The Long Trek Back Home

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. We’ve made it to Part 7 of my 7-part blog series on my recent trip to and from Northern Virginia and Washington D.C. It was my first trip back to the area in exactly a decade (to the date).

So my family’s Southwest flight back to Dallas Texas (#DAL) was cancelled due to weather. And my American Airlines (#AA) flight back to Tampa Florida (#TPA) was also cancelled. My family was on their way to northwestern Ohio in the very same Avis rental SUV that we drove in all around Northern Virginia. I took the Avis shuttle to the airport to determine my next move.

I soon received a text notification from #AA stating that I was rebooked on the very same flight 24 hours later (on Monday night). So my next move was to book a night at the very same Hampton near Reagan National Airport (U.S. 1 in Crystal City) that I pointed out to my family as we drove by it on our way to Avis. The hotel shuttle picked me up from the airport, and I checked in for the night.

Hotel Room View Of U.S. 1 In Crystal City Virginia

Fun Fact: I paid for 2 Hampton rooms for the same night (including the one outside #TPA that was non-refundable within 5 nights prior). I’ve never done that before. At least I got the Hilton Honors points for both rooms. I think next time I have a flight scheduled to arrive late in Tampa I won’t book that hotel room in advance in the event that the flight back is cancelled. I’ll just hope that a hotel room is available, or if not – then I’ll just drive 2½ hours home.

After I checked-in to my cozy hotel room I decided to get smart with the #AA app. I really did not want to hang around the hotel until checkout time the next day (12 Noon) and then hang out at the airport for 7 to 8 hours after that waiting to board my early-evening flight back to Tampa that has a long history of departing late (or not at all). I soon rebooked a flight back to Tampa for earlier in the day (mid-afternoon), and then a little while later I discovered even earlier flights available – so I rebooked yet again for a late-morning flight. As it turns out – at least with #AA – if your flight is cancelled – then you can rebook as many times as you wish using their app as long as seats are available on the flight of your choice. There is no charge to do so. (I don’t know if other airlines have the same policy, but I’m glad that #AA does since I fly them almost exclusively.)

My packed flight back to #TPA departed and arrived early. I called the hotel (where my car was parked at) to have them send their shuttle my way to pick me up, and there was a bit of confusion on the telephone. After a bit of waiting for the receptionist and hotel manager to get their act together – they finally requested an Uber to be sent to pick me up, as their shuttle was either out of commission, on another assignment, or the driver was out to lunch. The Uber arrived in a white Kia SUV, and the driver was courteous and friendly. He couldn’t figure out why his GPS kept saying that he should go to the hotel when he was requested to go to the airport at a specific location to pick up a customer (me). I explained what happened – that the hotel contacted Uber on my behalf. We talked about Ubers and Kias all the way to the hotel.

I got in my car (a Kia), and I drove home on that Monday afternoon. My 122-hour adventure was complete !

What a wonderful trip this was with my family – brother, sister-in-law, and two nieces. Me and my brother enjoyed our trip down memory lane in Langley, McLean, Tysons, Falls Church, Vienna, and into Annandale. It was fun to take the Metro into D.C., take a 2-hour tour, and then visit a Smithsonian museum. And then there’s all of the good food that we enjoyed together. And finally – the main reason for this trip – to place our Mom’s urn next to our Dad’s urn inside the niche at the columbarium at Arlington National Cemetery.

As I hinted in a previous installment of this blog series – me and my brother have already discussed a future trip back to the Washington D.C. area (both Maryland and Virginia) to do a “deep-dive” into our roots there from the late-’60s (me) to the mid-’90s (my brother). Maybe we’ll get back there as early as later next year in conjunction with a Washington Capitals or Washington Commanders game. Maybe we’ll just talk about it for years to come. (We still haven’t returned to Las Vegas, and we’ve been talking about that off-and-on since our last visit over 20 years ago !)

Later this morning I’ll be at #TPA on my way to my next destination, and so next #TravelThursday – I’ll begin a brand-new multi-part blog series to and from and all about that next destination out west. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Cornhole & Mini-Golf

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. It’s Part 4 of my 6-part (possibly 7-part) blog series on my recent trip to and from Northern Virginia and Washington D.C. It was my first trip back to the area in exactly a decade (to the date).

Last week I wrote about our 3+ hours at Arlington National Cemetery. After that we headed back to McLean (our family hometown of 16 years in the ’80s and ’90s), and we ate at a local deli for late-lunch. We continued our trip down memory lane through McLean and into Falls Church. My brother knew where he was going because he used to drive those streets from 1991 to 1996, and before that he was our Mom’s passenger in her car, and he told her how to get to different places around the region (even into Maryland). Aside from downtown McLean I was pretty much lost, as I only drove around the local area for a little over a year 40+ years ago.

We drove over or under I-66 dozens of times. We lost count of the number of times that we did so. It became a running gag as we drove around the local area. “Oh look – it’s I-66 again !”

I remarked that they don’t build new roads in Fairfax County. They were the same roads that we drove on in the ’80s and ’90s, and those were the same roads that our predecessors drove on in the ’60s and ’70s. They simply repair, repave, and restripe the existing roads. And now more vehicles than ever before drive on those same roads. They also don’t cut down forests in Fairfax County to build new neighborhoods. They cut down old houses in existing neighborhoods to replace them with new houses.

Me and my brother took a side-trip to nearby Annandale to visit a store that he used to visit 30+ years ago. (It’s still in the same shopping center but at a different location.) A few hours later we (as a family) took a trip to nearby Vienna, and we ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant that my brother used to enjoy eating at back in the early-’90s. (It’s been there for 50+ years.)

After dinner we headed north up to Tysons for some Friday family fun. We went to a place called The Perch. None of us knew what to expect there, but at least me and my brother were mesmerized by it all. Think of a 2½-acre public park with plenty of green space (including a dog park), gardens, trees, benches, picnic tables, food trucks, drink kiosks, a biergarten, LIVE concerts, cornhole, and an 18-round mini-golf course. Now picture all of that 11 stories up high atop the roof of a 1,600-seat performing arts center and attached to a large 300-room hotel – surrounded by much taller high-rises. It was cooler, breezier, and refreshing up at the park in the sky, and the views were spectacular (where not obstructed by the surrounding office buildings).

I haven’t played much cornhole in my life, but I think I did pretty good at The Perch. And then our 18 rounds of mini-golf after that ? It was perhaps one of my best performances of my lifetime. I was doing so good that my sister-in-law – the scorekeeper – gave up about halfway through on recording the scores. Mini-Golf is a 30+ year vacation tradition for me and my brother. This particular course was a bit on the bland side, but you can only do so much with limited space high atop the roof of a building. (No caves or waterfalls.)

Me and my brother have already discussed staying at that 300-room Watermark Hotel when we possibly revisit Northern Virginia next year. It’s steps away from the McLean Metro station on the Silver Line !

And speaking of the Metro – we take it into Washington D.C. – next #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Arlington & Fairfax County Virginia

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. It’s Part 2 of my 6-part (possibly 7-part) blog series on my recent trip to and from – Northern Virginia and Washington D.C. It was my first trip back to the area in exactly a decade (to the date). Back during the final week of July 2015 we (family) visited Ocean City Maryland, drove through our old 1970s neighborhoods in Prince Georges County Maryland, and visited a lot of memorials and monuments in Washington D.C. On this trip 10 years later – we spent most of our time in Northern Virginia, but we also spent a fun day inside D.C.

I believe that the last time I flew into Reagan National Airport (#DCA) was in 2003 when I flew from Columbus Ohio (#CMH) to Reagan to visit my Uncle, Aunt, and Grandmom in Charles County Maryland. I remember that the only vehicle available to rent was a big SUV, so I drove that for a couple of days – including on the Beltway (I-95 / I-495) – back when I was still boldly driving on the Interstates.

As our flight descended into the Washington D.C. area (from #TPA) I spotted the first landmark – the 555-foot Washington Monument. It was the only landmark that I could discern from my left-side window seat. (Eventually other notable landmarks would come into view.)

My flight landed on the tarmac at 1351, and we got to our gate at 1403. I was off the plane at 1414, and I was on an Avis shuttle at 1423. At 1430 – I joined the rest of my family – my brother, sister-in-law, and two nieces. They were waiting for me in our big SUV rental – a Ford Explorer.

Fun Fact: The only reason why I know those exact times above is because I was keeping my family updated via group text on my forward momentum towards them. (They were waiting for me to arrive via the Avis shuttle.)

Let’s head home – or at least our family home for 16 years from 1980 to 1996. I lived there for just the first 5 of those years. (I turned 18, moved away, and began my USAF career in June 1985.)

We took the George Washington Memorial Parkway straight to McLean (Virginia State Route 123 / Chain Bridge Road / Dolley Madison Boulevard). We drove in to our old neighborhood off 123. That’s when me and my brother realized something quite shocking. It seems as if more than half of the original houses were torn down and replaced by much bigger all-new houses. Our old neighborhood was mostly built in the late-1950s and early-1960s to support housing for CIA employees and their families. (Their headquarters complex is a couple of miles away, and it was built at the same time.)

We did not recognize much of our old neighborhood. Our 1959 house was still there (although noticeably remodeled), and me and my brother reminisced about it as we sat in our big SUV out front. Our childhood neighborhood was half gone, but our memories were still vivid. It impacted my brother more than me, as he lived in that neighborhood from age 5 to 21. I only lived there from age 13 to 18.

After that we drove around downtown McLean where we used to ride our bikes all around to visit various stores. We stopped for an early-dinner at Rocco’s – an Italian restaurant that’s been there since 1977. We used to eat there on special occasions (like birthdays). We also stopped in at the 7-Eleven next door (another childhood favorite). From there we visited the grounds of our former high school – Langley. I attended from 1981 to 1985, and my brother attended from 1989 to 1993. We were both Saxons.

After a Target run we checked-in to our hotel for the next 3 nights in the up-and-coming neighborhood of “West Falls” which lies in a far-northwestern pocket of what is known as the independent city of Falls Church Virginia.

I visit Arlington National Cemetery for the very first time in my life – next #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp