Many who live at Friends House are seasoned travelers, at home in foreign capitals, tropical paradises, and America’s national parks alike. We love to share memories of youthful adventures even as we plan for our next trip or vacation. With aging, though, our traveling is more cautious. We shop for affordable educational tours, and we become experts in using services available for people with limited mobility, like wheelchairs in airports. And the Friends House bus makes it easy to explore locally and enjoy staying close to home in the company of friends.
In the summer of 2023, with many COVID restrictions lifted in the U.S. and abroad, and some Friends House organized activities on summer hiatus, some residents left for destinations near and far: there were visits with family and friends in California and the Carolinas, Oregon, Massachusetts, Iowa, and Maine, bringing back happy news of brothers and sisters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Families gathered in houses at Atlantic beaches and in Florida, as well as traveling to the Sandy Spring area, sometimes using Friends House guest apartments. And some residents traveled farther afield, touring the northern British Isles, the south coast of Italy, or the Cyclades Islands of Greece. With phone messaging so easy, electronic postcards were easy to send home to Friends House.
The Friends House bus is everyone’s favorite way of exploring our own region without having to worry about parking, traffic, or accessibility. A weekly bus trip to the grocery store is an appreciated service, but more excitement surrounds the “lunch bunch” trips to local restaurants – where the conversation is even better than the food. As organized by the residents’ tour committee, in the early Spring the bus takes us to see the azaleas at Brighton Dam, and it provides transport to Smithsonian museums and galleries, botanic gardens, and concerts. Recently it helped the Arts Committee set up an artist-led tour of a brilliant one-person exhibition at the Sandy Spring Museum.
Friends House is open to the region and the world. The safe and comfortable home life we enjoy here is enriched by memories, images, communications, and experiences from everywhere.
