You can always come home!

My family and I recently took a summer vacation trip to the Outer Banks, NC.  My son and I had never been there, and my wife hadn't been there in years, so it was set to be a special summer vacation.  Plus, this would be our son's first opportunity to see the ocean.  People were very friendly there, the food was great and the ocean was incredible!  I think that for many folks, the "vacation trap" is that we visit a really great place and begin to feel badly about our home.  We wish we could stay there, move there to live, work and play.  "Anything would be better than boring old home!!"  I've had that happen on other trips, I can relate.

But, this trip was different for me.  As amazing as the Outer Banks are, as beautiful and relaxing as the beach is, I was ready to be at home by the time we left.  It wasn't because we were having a bad time, or because the weather wasn't cooperating.  No, we actually had as perfect a trip as a family could expect.  The weather was great, the motel was perfect, we didn't even buy too many souvenirs and trinkets.  We avoided the worst traffic both coming and going, the car ran great and nobody even argued!

Home in the Golden Triangle has come to be a very special place, and I was reminded of that as we drove through numerous communities on our way to and from our vacation spot.  Our towns are clean and neat.  Our businesses are propserous and community-minded.  We're committed to providing a good education and safe, reasonably fun place to live for our families. We're welcoming to visitors without "selling our souls" to attract tourists.  We are who we are: a tough, kind, giving, hard-working bunch.  At the end of the day, we can sleep at night based on how we live, work and play. 

This isn't to say that our region is home to the only nice places in our country.  But I think we've built something very special around here, and I hear it time and time again at the Chamber of Commerce, when people from out of town visit.  Visitors marvel at the cleanliness, the architecture, the businesses, the homes and how nice everyone is.  And, the visitors I'm referring to aren't always just friends and family.  These visitors are often here on business, or traveling abroad from Europe and Asia.  They've been out and about and have seen many places.  They can compare us to the world, and they are always very impressed.

It's great to go visit really nice places, but it really is a treat to be reminded of just how nice we have it around here.  It's nice to be sitting on a beach, looking forward to returning to our home here in SW Auglaize County.