Day 8 of Summer 2024 Trip ~ Canton, Ohio & the Pro Football Hall of Fame!

In case you didn't know, I'm a football fan LOL! 

My mother, a HUGE sports fan, always dreamed of going to the Football Hall of Fame, so imagine my joy of being able to do this for her!

Yep, I firmly believe she was with me in spirit the entire time we strolled through this amazing maze of football legends and all-time greats! Call me crazy but, I even wore her necklace so that I could feel her presence.

We browsed through aisles and corridors of the museum in awe of the many great players and teams represented here. My favorites of course were the GOAT Drew Brees and the awesome Taysom Hill of the New Orleans Saints.

Several other Saints players are in the Hall of Fame like Archie Manning and Jim Thorpe, but those were before my time as a Saints fan.

If you look closely at the picture, you'll see an overpass boasting of the Pro Football Hall of Fame which I found to be a beautiful tribute to this great sport.

There is a lot more to see in Canton, OH but for us, the Pro Football Hall of Fame was the main reason for visiting this city.

Oh and the bathrooms here? Definitely singing a happy tune!

Hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane and that you'll check back weekly for another adventure.

Until next time, safe travels!

PamT

Day 7 of Summer 2024 Vacation

 

In one of my earlier posts, I promised I would share information on more than RV parks and campgrounds.

Today let's take a trip through the fairy gardens at the Rest Area at Mile Marker 167 - Mineral Wells, WVA.

One advantage of pulling a camper while traveling is that you always have a bathroom with you. A disadvantage is that you don't always have a large enough shoulder in order to get far enough off the highway to use it.

Therefore, you're always looking out for a nice rest area or truck stop.

On our way to Ohio, we pulled in to this rest area, glad to find a nice brick building and neat sidewalks. Everything was well kept and clean. The ladies' room was tile and marble, (or granite), and stocked with toilet seat covers (always a PLUS!).

The facilities were clean which always makes me sing a happy tune but the lovely grounds had me dancing along to that tune.

Walking amongst the flowers and fanciful gnome and other fairy creatures made for a truly restful experience even though we only stayed long enough to take care of our business then get back on the road.

If you're ever in the area, and have time to truly stop and rest, this is a wonderful place to do so.

Hope you enjoyed this little pitt stop and that you'll check back weekly for more travel experiences on Bathroom Blues travel blog!

Until next time... Travel safe.

PamT

Day 1 of Summer 2004 Trip

Good Morning Friends and Welcome back to Bathroom Blues!

In an earlier posts, I shared my love of travel, why I started this blog and the West Coast vacation I took in 2017. 

I explained why I named the blog Bathroom Blues and talked about my trip to New York City.

Today I'm going to begin posting about my 2024 Mid-Eastern US trip we took in June.

I had every intention of telling you about this trip when I first initiated the blog but then my UK Vacation came up so I started there.

Hopefully from here on out, I'll post as I travel. 

Anyway, this past June my traveling partner and I headed out for a 3 week trip up the middle-eastern states visiting national parks and other areas of interest.

First stop was Wilderness RV Park in Robertsdale, AL. We arrived in the rain and it continued to rain most of the night.

My initial reaction upon seeing the campground restroom was... Oh no, here we go. 

Based on the exterior I was a little hesitant to venture inside. However, when I did, I was pleasantly surprised!

The place was really clean (I LOVE it when I can smell bleach or lemony/orangy cleaning chemicals when I walk in). The floors and walls were tiled as was the countertop. The shower and toilet stalls were a little tight but nice and shower curtains free of mold or mildew.

Being out in the country, we saw some wild ducks, but since we only stayed the one night, I can't really testify to the many types of wildlife that may roam throughout the park.

My only complaint was the (IMHO) rather large gap between the bottom of the door and the cement which had me humming the blues.

The thing that scares me the most about rural campgrounds and state or national rv parks is the possibility of snakes and that gap was plenty big enough for one to crawl up in there.

Would not be a good thing!

Other than that, Wilderness RV park is a lovely place to stay. Check it out next time you're ready to stop around Mobile, AL.

I hope you enjoyed today's travel details and that you'll check back weekly for more.

Until next time, happy camping.

PamT

Day 4 of Uk Vacay - Chawton, Bath

 

Day 4 of our UK Vacation started out early. After breakfast, my cousin and I met with our driver for the day, Geoff (pronounced Jeff) who picked us up in a Jaguar to take us from London to Chawton and on to Bath. 

Unfortunately my picture of this was "live" which means it's actually a short video - UGH - I've said before, I am NOT a photographer, and I'll apologize again LOL!

Anyway it was a thrill riding in such luxury.

We left shortly after nine and headed out. 

Geoff was a wonderful guide, regaling us with stories and history every mile. 

We arrived in Chawton at Jane Austen's house/museum (upper left pic) and enjoyed a brief tour then on to "the great house" as she described her brother's Chawton House Estate. On stumps throughout the gardens/grounds you could find these little tributes to Jane's work with quotes from her books or poems or prayers. 

The tour guides inside the house were very knowledgeable and also told lots of stories regarding the history of the house and the people who lived and visited there. We also got a tour of the library which houses books that are thought to be rare, one of a kind, and only avialable here.

One thing I loved about this house was the bathroom (toilet) still contained some of the original plumbing and the toilet itself had a pull-chain to flush! I tell you this quaint restroom had me singing a happy tune.

We also stepped back in time when we visited Chawton House's lovely church. 

As much as I enjoyed these two stops on our way to Bath, my greatest thrill of the trip was passing Stonehenge! Y'all had I known we'd be passing this Historical landmark, I would have made sure we had time to stop.

I cropped the picture included in my collage to cut out the people and this photo was taken from the car. 

Can you imagine how majestic these stones must be!?!

I can.

Geoff assured us the magic never dims and he'd been there over 400 times.

Hope you enjoyed today's post outlining my UK vacation and that you'll drop by next and travel along with me into Bath for the Jane Ausetn Festivities.

Until next time, happy trails...

PamT

London Day 3

 

Sorry this post is later than promised but last week, I got a chance to fly to Phoenix, AZ to visit my 2 brothers, nephew. cousins, and Goddaughters!

I'll share that trip with you at some point but for now....Continuing our exploration of London...

On Day 3 we visited Buckingham Palace. Again, pictures or collages don't do this magnificent structure justice. 

Filming and photographs are prohibited inside the palace but we visited many staterooms and ballrooms and other interesting places within the palace where the royal family meets dignitaries or simply entertain friends, collegues and allies.

Of course there is a huge gift shop and cafe at the end of the tour where you walk out along the grounds which are absolutely beautiful.

Next up on Day 3 in London was Westminster Abbey, the royal church where Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses are wed. Within it's stately walls, this beautiful, holy place houses the Grave of the Unknown Soldier. This is where many royal brides place their wedding bouquet after the ceremony.

After visiting these two sites, we caught another ride on Tootbus, (the hop on/off tourbus) where we enjoyed a ride through the city and saw so much more of Hyde Park and other fascinating places filled with History such as Big Ben - the huge tower clock built in 1834/35.

As with every other tourist fascility we'd visited, bathrooms were few and far between. Usually in the basement, down a long corridor, around a large corner or at the end of the "tour." 

There is so much to see and experience in London, 2 or 3 days is really not enough but all the time we had. Which is why a 2 or 3 day pass on a tourbus is an absolute necessity to enjoy as much as you can.

Next up will be our trip to Chawton and Bath for Jane Austen festivities so stay tuned!

Until later....happy traveling.

PamT

Day 1 in London...

After leaving the states at 8pm ET on the 19th, we arrived in London around 8am on the 20th. Luckily our driver had been watching the flight so we weren't waiting too long before heading to our destination, London House Hotel, which would be home for the next few days.

Since it was too early to check into our rooms, the wonderful folks in reception stored our luggage for us and allowed us to use the restrooms to freshen up so we could head out for the first sight-seeing adventure of our trip: Hyde Park and Kensington Palace.

Hyde Park itself is amazing and takes up 350 acres of Westminster, Greater London. There are numerous entrances into the park from any number of locations throughout this area.

But since we'd been flying all night, we stuck to the roughly 2 mile walk to Kengsinton Palace (the birthplace of Queen Victoria) where we toured the palace itself as well as the grounds and had lunch at The Orangery located within the palace next to the gift shop.

Kensington Palace is the official home of the Prince and Princess of Wales along with other members of the Royal family. One thing that really touched my heart was the memorial to Lady Diana her son's had installed near a pond on the grounds of what is formally known as the Sunken Garden (now called The White Garden).

The beauty of Kensington Palace can not truly be described with mere words. The furniture, draperies and artwork are stunning so, please forgive my pitiful depiction - I am not a photographer LOL!

This excursion certainly made for a wonderful day.

Met by a misty rain that afternoon, we ventured out to dinner where we both had fish and chips (what else for your maiden visit, right?!) then on to Selfridges where my cousin shopped till she/we dropped. Well, almost. But that is certainly possible in this 540,000 sq. feet smorgasboard of designer apparel and accessories, beauty and wellness shops, fine dining and all sorts of venues to explore and be inspired. 

As you know from my last post, I am not a shopper to any degree but experiencing my cousin's joy of being there made trouping through the rain worthwhile.

We got an Uber ride back to our hotel and tiny room and even tinier bathroom (which had me humming the blues due to its size) and settled in for the evening. When I say "tinier bathroom" I mean.... S-M-A-L-L. Seriously, you had to back up and turn around to change your mind LOL! 

Alas, it served its purpose.

Not bad for our first day in London, right?

Stay tuned weekly as I continue to share my UK Vacay with you!

Until next time, happy traveling.

PamT

 

Heathrow International Airport, London...

 

In my last post, I mentioned my cousin and I were heading off on vacation to London/Bath and Ireland. 

This will be the first of many blog posts outlining our trip, the places we visited and what we experienced.

We flew out of New Orleans 9/9 on a puddle-jumper (ie: small) plane to Charlotte, NC then connected on a larger flight to Heathrow airport in London.

Since we basically began our trip at Heathrow and ended up there again on our way home ten days later, (and edured a 7 hr. layover!) I thought I'd tell you something about this airport. 

AND, since this blog is about bathroom blues, you'll get a glimpse into the restroom facilities at this    h-u-m-o-n-g-o-u-s  airport that covers nearly 5 square miles of property.

Filled with shops such as Cartier, Chanel, Dior, etc., a layover might be a shoppers dream. You definitely won't go hungry or be bored if you love to browse.

Me? I'm not a browser or shopper so I simply put on my headphones to block out the background noise of thousands of people sitting, walking and talking from every direction and read 2 books LOL!

Although I am not big on shopping malls (and they have one at each of their four passenger terminals), I was very impressed at the availability and cleanliness of the bathrooms.

One feature that made my heart smile was the hand dryers on the same fixture as the water and soap!

You simply washed your hands and then spread them apart a few inches to each side and the dryer would come on.

This avoids so much water on the floor which is wonderful for putting down purses or carry-on luggage.

BRAVO, Heathrow!

Your bathrooms had me singing a happy tune during my ridiculously long layover.

Stay tuned friends for more on my UK trip.

To find out more about this amazing airport visit heathrow.com.

Until next time, happy traveling.

PamT

*image courtesy of pixabay*

Not Just RV Parks and Campgrounds....

When I first thought about starting this blog my intention was to focus on RV parks / campgrounds, etc. 

However, the more I travel, the more I realize that cleanliness in any/every restroom is essential!

Therefore, I'll be posting information on restaurants, truckstops, rest areas.... In other words, bathrooms everywhere.

But before we get much furhter into our bathroom blues, let's talk about things you might need to carry when you are going to be using the bathhouse at a RV park or campground...

We know the basics (shampoo, conditioner, soap or body wash, washcloth and towel, brush or comb, hand/body lotion). You'd be surprised at how many times I got to the restroom and realized I forgot something. LOL!

I like to wear cheap flipflops while in the shower. We don't realize how very porous our feet are and, well, I just feel better with something between me and all those germs on the shower stall floor.

Another good idea is to carry a can of disinfectant spray. Especially if the thought of what all might take place in a shower stall gives you the heebeejeebees. I'm not going to get graphic with this but any number and kind of cooties could be lingering on those walls and floors.

Disinfectant wipes are a plus also for wiping the toilet seat down before you use it. These are great to carry in your purse or vehicle and grab a couple when you stop anywhere and use the restroom.

If you implement either of these last two ideas, be a sweetheart and spray/wipe the facilities down after your use for the next person's safety. Or at least their peace of mind.

I know some folks who use baby/flushable wipes instead of or addition to the toilet paper provided (which is usually the thinest, lowest quality, cheapest to be found). Be careful if you choose to do this. Not every restroom has a trashcan in the stalls. Although many of these wipes claim to be biodegradable, they're not always the best option because they don't break down as easily as toilet paper. That could cause problems for the campground's sewer system.

And, of course if you're tent camping at a RV park or campground, you'll want to include toothbrush, tooth paste, floss, etc in your toiletries. Most have electrical outlets so blow dryers can be used if you worry about that while camping.

Just a few travel bathroom tips for you today.

Until next time, remember public/personal safety is your responsibility just as much as the next guy's. 😊

PamT

Why Bathrooms When You Travel in/with a Motorhome/Fifth-Wheel

 

You might be wondering why public/rv park restrooms would even matter to someone who brings their own with them. Lot's of reasons!

If a park doesn't have full hook-ups which include sewage, you might want to use the bath house. Especially if you're only staying 1 night. Saves you having to dump or carry the extra weight with you to your next stop.

Trust me, we've done both and the smell is awful even using extra toilet tabs.

Reason #2: If you're staying long term at an RV park that does not have sewage hookups, using the public restrooms prevents you from having to carry and dump a portable tank or hooking up the camper to go dump in the middle of your stay.

Reason #3: Sometimes the camper bathroom is just too damn small. Or the hot water doesn't get/stay hot or....there are any number of reasons to worry about the state of public RV park bathrooms.

Until next time, happy trails!

PamT

Welcome to My New Travel Blog

 

By boat, train, airplane or automobile, I LOVE to travel! I've been more places and visited more states in the last ten years of my life than the 50 yrs. before.

You may wonder why I chose to call my blog "Bathroom Blues."

Well, let me tell you.

Having worked in the healthcare industry, the correlation between cleanliness and healthiness was strongly instilled in me. Which was unnecessary as the one thing I can't stand is a filthy bathroom. I used to feel that strongly about a dirty kitchen too, but as it's just me living in my house, I've lightened up on that.

Though, I will not let dirty dishes stay in the sink for long.

Anyway, I've wanted to do a travel blog for quite sometime, but had no clue what to name said blog. I played around with this idea for years and thought Bathroom Blues would be a catchy title given my penchant for sanitary restroom conditions.

My original plan was to show pictures of the facilities at different campgrounds, etc. but due to our sue-happy society decided against it.

Instead I've decided on a simple way to gauge those I mention.....

Not Up to My Standards: Singing the Blues

Mediocre: Humming the Blues

Outstanding: Singing a Happy tune

**Please note these are MY standards. Not everyone feels the way I do about restroom facilities!**

Know too, that this blog will be about more than bathrooms. I'll be sharing highlights of the many places I visit, things I see, and activities I enjoy.

I hope YOU'LL enjoy traveling with me!

PamT

PS: Bathroom Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay