Idea #2 for retirement

Day 2 of my retirement.  Not yet really feeling it, but I think that is natural.  One retired friend (female), let's call her The Chaplain told me that the first few months it doesn't really hit you.  She said that everyone (I'm sure she only meant women!) spend the first two weeks cleaning the house.  That is exactly what I think I'll be doing, except that in less than one week I am going on a bike trip in northern Italy.  Cleaning will continue after that.

The last three days have been busy and filled with good wishes from family and friends.  I was pretty much overwhelmed by the outpouring of good words about me and my career.  That was much appreciated.  My family came in for the ceremony, which was great because I don't think they ever knew what I did for a living.  My plans for the next day or two are to sort out the many gifts and write thank you cards, which will never sufficiently explain how thankful I really am.

Anyway, I spent today with Hizzoner, my oldest friend who is also a fabulous writer and an amateur historian.  We traced part of the path of John Wilkes Booth after he murdered Lincoln.  Sounds boring, doesn't it?  But it wasn't.  That surprised me.  I only went along with him to visit, but at the end of the day visiting Mary Surratt's tavern in Clinton, MD, and Dr. Mudd's house a few miles from there, I was hooked.  So now I am reading James L Swanson's Manhunt, a New York Times bestseller about the 12-day chase for Lincoln's Killer.

This has also given me IDEA NUMBER TWO FOR RETIREMENT.  I'm going to figure out something that will intrigue me enough to follow a trail like we did today.  I'm not sure it will necessarily be an historical trail such as this, but again it might.  Maybe I'll become a Civil War buff, or maybe I'll search out the best outlets on the east coast, or the most beautiful gardens, or potters.  Who knows?  The bottom line is that I really enjoyed getting out into the countryside on this quest to follow John Wilkes Booth's getaway path, and I want to do it again.  I have a bit of experience with this because I read Irving Stone's The Agony and the Ecstasy (a biographical novel about Michelangelo) before I went to Italy the first time.  I was intrigued with finding all of Michelangelo's artwork in the cities we visited.  I remember that I cried when I saw the David in Florence.  I was so overcome by the beauty but also by the quest.  Let's add this quest to my retirement list.

#2 - Identify a topic, research the physical locations that fit that passion and follow them.

Please comment if you have any ideas.  I'm open for any and all suggestions.