Traveling During COVID
Traveling around the country during the COVID pandemic has been interesting. Things are changing rapidly and it is hard to keep up with new guidelines. About a month ago I ordered my ticket to tour the National WWI Museum in Kansas City, I was about two weeks about from the visit. When I ordered the ticket the elevator to the top of the Liberty Monument was still closed due to COVID according to the website. The museum also had all of their mask and social distancing rules in prominent view on the website and printed on the ticket. Everyone 2-years and older was to wear a mask at all times. In between the time I purchased the ticket and the day I went to the museum, the CDC had updated their mask guidelines saying that anyone who was fully vaccinated did not have to wear a mask. I checked the website for the museum out the night before I went and they had the same guidelines as before, so I assumed I would be wearing a mask and prepared myself to do so. However, when I arrived the guidance on the door of the museum now conformed with the CDC guidelines, and thus very few people were wearing masks, however, most were trying to maintain some sort of social distancing when possible. Immediately following the WWI Museum I went to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art where the wearing of masks was mandated for everyone. I complied, as did everyone else I saw.
Just the other evening I went to a dinner show in Branson. On the ticket that I picked up the morning of the show it was stated that everyone would be required to wear a mask anytime they were not seated at their table, that included entering, exiting, and going to the rest room. The ticket explained they knew about the CDC guidelines, but also knew they could impose their own restrictions which they were electing to do. Before leaving for the theater, I made sure I had my mask, but when I got there virtually no one had a mask on. As I got nearer to the entrance, I could see the signs had been revised to reflect the CDC guidelines. One thing the theater did was leave an open seat between each party, therefore I had an open seat on each side of me, for which I was grateful.
My point in all of this is that COVID restrictions/guidelines are changing rapidly. While mask mandates are easing, social distancing is still encouraged where possible. Things are getting better, but I’m not sure we will ever get back to the normal we knew before the pandemic.