Where Am I?

I’m on vacation. Yes, I know, some people ask: How can you be on vacation when you’re retired? Well, trust me, pre-retirees and other people still working, and as my fellow retirees can attest . . . you can.

I was in Florida for a week or so, then met up with my wife for a few more days in Florida, and then we started driving. I won’t say how far we drove, because, as a test of your geography skills, you can try to figure out where we are from the directional signs below.

In case you can’t read the sign, we are 619 miles from Cleveland, and 4270 miles from Amsterdam. I have not verified these distances, but I’m pretty sure they are reasonably accurate.

If it helps, we are also 7369 miles from Tianjin, China, and 8100 miles from Guam. But, for sure, we’re still in the U. S.

Don’t ask me why the homeowner chose these landmarks as a reference — except, as far I’ve heard, a lot of people from Ohio do like to vacation here.

If this is not enough to go on, I ran across another house about a mile down the road that has a more comprehensive series of signs. From this next one, you should surely be able to triangulate where I am spending my time.

We’re 765 miles from Toledo — see, I told you a lot of people from Ohio come here — and 832 miles from Ann Arbor, Michigan. We’re also 382 miles from Knoxville, Tennessee. And for you Anglophiles, we are 6548 miles from London, England. And then a dead giveaway, the arrow points south to Savannah, Georgia, which is 113 miles down the coast.

So, yes, we’re at the beach. But mostly we’re here to visit our children and grandchildren. Is there any other reason for us grandparents to go anywhere, anytime?