Lesson 2: Boondoggles are completely appropriate

"Oh, it was another one of your mother and her sisters' boondoggles."
This is a phrase is hear from my father on a constant basis. 'Boondoggles' are road trips of seemingly no importance, taken just because you're bored and want to get out of the house and usually involve some kind of shopping for a special something that you can't get anywhere else.
Take for example, when my uncle died, my mother and I went to visit my aunt for a week, a mere 6 weeks before my wedding. Of course, this included a boondoggle from the second we got off the plane in Louisville, Kentucky. It included valet parking, the Marriott downtown, the Hard Rock Cafe (check another off in my endless goal to reach all the Hard Rock Cafes) , and of course, a visit to Louisville Stoneware. This was the crown-jewel in our boondoggle.
Pottery-an icon of the south (yes, Kentucky considers themselves The South. Fine by me). Pottery by Louisville Stoneware and Hadley Pottery are the quintessential places to go to understand only part of the south's rich culture. Used for years in my grandmother's home, they are durable, beautiful and extremely useful-like I said, a description of the South, but more importantly of Southern Women.
So we visited both places, which are rooted so deeply into our historical and genealogical beings, to gain some comfort in the trials of life. It is no surprise that we find shopping and great hotels rooms comforting, but shopping for pottery is how my mother, my aunts and I find comfort when we're together.
As for our other boondoggles? Those are stories just waiting to be told.

Lesson 2: Treat yourself to road trips for fun.