Kicking off Summer 2020... From Home

It's summer!... and there's currently only so much we can do about that.

In our respective homes in Virginia and Illinois, things are still in a semi-state of lockdown. Ginger's back in the office, and Kara — well, works from home so technically she hasn't ever left the office. But even though we're currently not able to do our usual summer stuff, we're looking for the next best thing. Here's a handful that might work for you, too.

Catch the Solstice on the Rebound

There was no gathering at Stonehenge for the Summer Solstice this year, but the English Heritage YouTube channel livestreamed the iconic structure at both sunrise and sunset. (The latter is slightly more picturesque thanks to a clearer sky late in the day.)

Note that these are real-time rather than time lapse, but that means they're nice to put on in the background for a bit of indoor outdoor scenery.

Get Ready for Some Baseball

Wrestling fans and viewers of late-night comedy have been getting accustomed to enjoying their pastimes without a live audience on site. Next up is sports — including baseball. The good news is, there will be baseball.

The season is expected to start on July 23 and 24. If you don't usually watch, it might be a good summer to start... and if you don't have a team to root for, consider throwing your support behind Ginger's hometown Cubs.

Make a Virtual Theme Park Visit

One of our favorite places to go in the summer is Busch Gardens in Williamsburg — which is, unsurprisingly, functioning on a somewhat different schedule now. While the park will be largely open, park capacity will be carefully monitored and not everything will be open. And if you're out of town, it'll be difficult to get there anyway.

In the meantime, the Busch Gardens YouTube channel has virtual rides and behind-the-scenes videos to enjoy — including a 360 POV ride on the wooden coaster InvadR!

When it becomes feasible, of course, we encourage you to get to BGW in person. It's absolutely beautiful and full of great rides.

Enjoy a Book Outdoors

We are slightly biased as this is the website for a book series — but even if you're not picking up one of the Owl's Flower books (which you should, especially considering the first one's free), it's definitely worth it to take a book outside and soak up some vitamin D.

If you've got an apartment with a balcony, why not set up a reading nook out there? Just take a citronella candle or three as summer wears on.

Travel may be off the books for now, but we've got a few summery things to keep us going in the meantime! What about you? How are you making some summer fun for yourself this year?