Memorial Day weekend. The weather is turning. You can put away the winter coats and break out the warm weather clothes. Shorts. T-shirts. Sandals. Summer time is here!

June is only a week away. It’s a big month in our humble abode. The significant other retires on the fifth. No more waking up at 5 am. No more working on the weekends. No more of kids not doing their homework. It’s a very big deal!
A few days later is my birthday. Not anywhere close to the retirement thing, but making it through another year during a pandemic is a reason to be at least somewhat happy.

How do you celebrate? No big trips are planned…at least not anymore. The cruise was cancelled. We’re not getting on an airplane anytime soon. Even the restaurants will only be partially open. And then I said these magic words….

“Let’s take a road trip to Lake Geneva!”

I figured we’d go in the middle of the week. How busy could it be on a Tuesday or Wednesday, right? In the middle of a pandemic, it should be close to empty, right? We don’t even have to get out of the car. Just a little more than an hour to get up there. Cruise around, look at the sites, come back home. If nothing else, it kills the day. A nice celebration and nothing very dangerous.

We hadn’t made a final decision, but were leaning to no. Even if it’s only a minor risk, why take that chance?

And then we saw the pictures from the weekend!

The town was packed! Apparently people had the same idea as me, only they weren’t waiting until June.

The lineup of cars trying to find parking went on for blocks. You could see people standing in long lines without masks. Nothing resembling anything close to social distancing. Sure they were having fun, although I don’t know how much fun it is to stand in line for hours, but at what risk? The risk of getting coronavirus? The risk of getting hospitalized? The risk of passing it on to someone more vulnerable?  The risk of death? All that for an afternoon of entertainment?

Here’s a solution for all you folks waiting in that long line. I’m going to assume you were hoping to get some ice cream or a cold drink. Skip the road trip. Skip the line. Go to your local grocery store. Put on your mask. Keep your distance from other shoppers. Pick out a couple of quarts of ice cream. Grab some soda and beer or wine. Splurge a little and buy all of it. Then take it home and eat it in the confines of your house. It’ll be safer and more comfortable than those long lines in Wisconsin. No coronavirus. No hospitalizations. No deaths!

Now about that road trip in June….I guess Lake Geneva is out. Do you think the lines are long in Kenosha, at Mars Cheese castle and the outlet mall?

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