Are you the newbie on the social committee but aren’t sure when to contribute and what you can say? Are you the new couple on the block and don’t know how to get connected yet? We are way past our Kindergarten shyness and those new connections are worth the work to enjoy fulfilling new friendships.
Guys and gals alike, there’s plenty of reason to look for ways to engage. Getting past the initial chats and tee-time laughs, soon you’ll be ready for the adventure of doing more together! But there’s an art to traveling with friends you’re just starting to know.
A good place to start is with day trips, and the First State offers plenty of options. This is one area of interest that we’re constantly doing research on. Travel clubs, whether or not you are familiar with them are a good example. Deciding as a group is a good step in the right direction to perfect your destination’s enjoyment.
Cheryl F. provides a great example of a personal Travel Club success story: plan and do it! Spearheading her own ladies’ travel club, Cheryl and the gals do everything from tea parties in January, even wearing silly tee shirts that read “Girls Day Out,” to enjoying festivities of festivals.
Meeting for tea each Jan, the group charters their collective calendar with an outing planned for each month of the new year. The “girls” are fun-loving, adventurous and willing to venture for a day trip to things not usually on their agenda. They pay attention and organize their decisions and schedules based on agreement. With Cheryl as the conductor, the ladies steamroll ahead, even wear celebratory tee shirts emblazoned with “Girls Day Out” (in a beautiful pink, of course).
She shares several ideas for anyone interested in forming such a group or finding one nearby. She also points out that there are a multitude of local destinations for great day trips, so many that the well of ideas is running over even after three years of monthly excursions. Each year, Delmarva boasts over 70 seasonal festivals which can offer a great spark to ignite your creative planning:
- The club recommends the Lewes’ annual Sea Glass Festival, which celebrates such local arts not found elsewhere.
- The group’s plan always includes the “pilgrimage,” as Cheryl describes it, to the Delaware State Fair. The crew “eats their way” through the fair, given the abundance and variety of food trucks and other vendors.
- Adding trains is a great BONUS with plenty of options and themes across Delaware. The girls love to hit Wilmington’s annual Italian Festival provides an assortment of culinary and ethnic traditions wrapped up in one great event. Some other local excursions are covered in the Wilmington & Western train ride. Pack a picnic and learn about Delaware’s rich history of the state’s railroad legacy!
- And if ceramics and art are what you’d love to share with your friends and neighbors, or better yet, if you crave local oysters, they suggest you take your travel gang to the Milford Oyster and Arts & Craft festival, an incredible feast of arts meeting culinary talent, this year on August 21.
All of these festivities are certainly not just for women, but if you’d like to operate a group like Cheryl does – and makes sure all of the events are scheduled and/or reserved – a travel club just might be in the works for your new friends in Delaware. Why not start with the Delaware Retiree Connection CONNECT GROUP to see who you can connect with: https://delawareretiree.com/connection-groups/travelers/
