Two days ago, my husband Matthew says, “they have a slot in Zone 5 at Canterbury Woods from 2-3.” Are you confused? So was I! A slot for what? He reminds me that we wanted to see how swimming works in our community during the pandemic. Our county closed all of the public pools for the season; since our community pools were open we wanted to try it out.

Our Home Owners Association set a limit of 100 people per 1-hour time period. The pool is divided into 10 zones. Each zone is limited to the 10 people from one group/family. You must fill out a waiver that states that you may be exposed with communicable diseases and you fully accept the risks. You hold harmless the Association. You also have to declare you are healthy and, to ensure the safety of yourself and others, you haven’t been to or around any risky people/places in the last 14 days.

I was anxious about the waiver. What if someone lies, is asymptomatic, thinks it’s just allergies…

But we went. And it was glorious! Why? For the following reasons:

1. Reservations – you get to choose what time and what zone you wanted. This needs to be permanent in our Association.  Most people want the places where you would be able to sit against the wall. I was pleased that no one wanted the middle of the pool where our little could still touch the bottom and feel comfortable swimming. 
2. Limited to 100 people in the pool. Most families do not have 10 people in their family. So, 10 families with 4-6 people in the pool. At most it’s 60 people.  No random kid squirting water from their noodles, jumping in while you’re diving in or swimming next to you. Just your own weirdos that you brought with you.
3. Face Coverings Required in the pool house. You have to have a face covering when going through the restrooms to get to the pool. Use your towel if you forget. The goal is to slow the spread and help to keep people healthy as possible.
4. Constant cleaning and sanitizing. Every time there was a lifeguard rotation, there was another person in a mask sanitizing the lifeguard chair and area.
5. Limited to 1 hour. No need to argue with your 8-year-old who is part mermaid that we need to go home. No lingering around the deck. No lounging in the chairs. No break times every 45 mins.
6. Focusing on the family – We got to focus on the family group and not divided into friend groups. Our pool outings are usually connection with our friends that we catch up with at the pool.  Instead we were ‘forced’ to swim together. This was fun. There are no chairs, so I got in. We ALL played and swam with one another.
7. One way – you only go through the pool house to get to the pool – you leave through the gate. It’s less opportunity to be exposed to someone coming in or exposed by you coming out.
8. I enjoyed getting the exercise and playing with my kids. I didn’t realize how much I missed the pool. Our family is at the pool daily during the summer, it is so weird to not be swimming every day. A little bit of summer normalcy in an upside-down crazy time.

So, if you live in a community that has opened the pool with restrictions you should try it! You can get some exercise, go into the out, continue to bond with your family (or friends if you want to coordinate times), and still have time to relax at home where you’re comfy.

Thanks for reading!

<3 Tatana

Tatana Todd

Chief Education Officer of Todd Homeschool Academy, teacher, history lover, recovering news junkie and lover of politics and truth – which does not have to be an oxymoron. I love Jesus,  vacationing with my family, baking, reading cool children’s books, playing violin, and watching crime shows.

You can reach me on Facebook 

Hi. My name is Tatana and I’m an introvert. It has been 2 weeks since we returned home from Williamsburg, VA. We vacationed during Phases Two and Three.  Living in Northern Virginia, the area is more congested than the rest of the state and we were given an additional week to catch up with the remainder of the state.

Williamsburg is one of our favorite places in the Commonwealth. We visit many times during the year, going to Water Country USA, Busch Gardens, Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown for day trips, and we even have a timeshare that we vacation with annually. During the global pandemic our trip was different. There was no Busch Gardens or Water Country USA. At. All. The sign outside of Busch Gardens said “CLOSED” which is something I had never seen in my life. Outside the entrance of Water Country USA were cones diverting you from the entrance. While this was expected, it still stung a little to be in the out and not be able to be in. Yes, I said that. It stung that we couldn’t go into the parks and be normal.  No go and get the caramel apples and cotton candy. No enjoying the end of the Busch Gardens’ Food and Wine Festival. I missed getting the Bangers and Colcannon, sage cheese or that mousse from Ireland. Those are my favorites!!! Nothing.  Just memories of previous years.  But it is possible to vacation in Williamsburg and have fun without going to Busch Gardens and live to tell the tale.  

We stayed at the Historic Powhatan Resort, one of our favorite places. When we arrived in our suite, we cleaned everything. Yes, the staff cleaned, but we cleaned afterward because we wanted to be sure that we were comfortable. We used our own cleaning products and re-washed the dishes, linens, all of the surfaces, wiped the bathrooms down as well. We Lysol’d the soft surfaces like chairs and cushions. Anything that may have been touched by someone else was cleaned. Truthfully, we usually wash the dishes and check the linens for cleanliness when we arrive anyway, but this was over the top. The benefit was that it smelled like home. We were not trying to get sick.  

While at Powhatan, we would usually be able to borrow games, books, movies, swim inside or outside and participate in the events that the resort puts on to help visitors enjoy their stay on the property. Not this time. Mini golf was B.Y.O., and there was minimal face-to-face contact with the resort staff. Thankfully we brought our own games, movies and our inflatable pool. We barbecued, played games and played outside; we really enjoyed the family time. The playgrounds were available; however, we did not use them because we were busy doing other things. 

We visited Colonial Williamsburg, one of our favorite places. Masked interpreters explained that while we were outside, we did not have to cover ourselves against the plague, but if we go inside any of the buildings, we must use a face covering.  We enjoyed listening to George Washington explain and take questions about his farewell address, go to sites that we don’t frequent often such as the brick yard, and, we visited the blacksmith, the kitchen and the courthouse. Hubby and kids nibbled on the chocolate and shopped with the grocer while I sat on the stoop and relaxed in the cool breeze that made it bearable to be outside.  While we enjoyed our visit, it was so different. There was no one engaging us in a friendly game of trap ball. There wasn’t the fife and drums or the smell of the ginger cookies and our favorite sites (such as the stocks outside the courthouse, Tucker House, Mrs. Shield’s Tavern and The King’s Arms) were closed.  

On this vacation, we spent considerable time at the Jamestown Settlement. We social distanced on the ships, as well as played a new card game but the name given escapes me, however, the interpreter said to look up Maw – which you can learn about here: https://www.parlettgames.uk/histocs/maw.html . This made me smile because we learned how to do something that we never learned before and can play at home. Once the kids were too hot, Matt and I dropped the kids off and we went back out for an after-hours event at the Jamestown Settlement from archaeologist and senior curator of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, Bly Straube.  It was great to be inside, socially distanced and learning more about the artifacts found in a well that was pretty much used as a trash can and how it was used 400 years ago.  We were the only people there, which made it feel like we had a private showing – even though the event was open to the public. My favorite piece was the German stoneware that was found.   It led us to our next adventure, Jamestown Fort which is where the artifacts she shared were found. 

Jamestown Fort was interesting. The actual place where the settlers landed, where John Smith told those bamma’s that if they don’t work, they don’t eat, where Pocahontas was kidnapped, where enslaved Africans were sold for provision in the New World for their natural born lives. It was exciting, interesting and sad.  We went on a tour of the island and enjoyed hearing from the second-generation Jamestown interpreter and archaeologist who started as an intern.  

Next, we journeyed on the free trolley that travels around Yorktown and we visited the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown. They had exhibits outside that were interactive that we enjoyed. I was able to take pictures of recipes. It was physically distanced and informative. Loved the guns. But we miss the cannon demo with “Molly Pitcher” in the amphitheater where the audience participates; but the plague.  My favorite part was the exhibition of the “Forgotten Soldier” which invites visitors to shift their gaze to uncover the faces of the African Patriots who served with Washington, and also those who, with the promise of freedom, surrendered to him at Yorktown. I always get emotional when I enter places that show my ancestors who survived the middle passage, chattel slavery and still thriving. There is a mix of pride and pain. My ancestors are superheroes. 
 
Lastly, our family went to Yorktown beach. My family enjoyed the water. I enjoyed a good book and the shade.  
 
We ate to-go from Zoe’s Kitchen (we miss Zoe’s!) and Food for Thought, Menchie’s (my favorite! With sanitized hands, gloves, masks and toppings in containers), and had outdoor seating at Honey Butter’s Kitchen. It was great having most people in masks, sanitizer abounding and social distancing. I kind of wish all vacations could be like this.

No weirdo’s sitting next to you, just the ones that you brought.  

Tatana Todd

Chief Education Officer of Todd Homeschool Academy, teacher, history lover, recovering news junkie and lover of politics and truth – which does not have to be an oxymoron. I love Jesus,  vacationing with my family, baking, reading cool children’s books, playing violin, and watching crime shows.

You can reach me on Facebook