You may have noticed no blog posts over the weekend. That is because I went away for the weekend with my little family and some of our best friends and their kids. I was sitting in the hospital with Nana on that Saturday she was discharged still reeling over the emotional roller coaster we just went through. Hospitals move at the slowest pace possible especially when you are waiting for someone to be discharged. My stress level is at an all-time high. I am dealing with the repercussions all this stress has reeked on my body, especially my stomach.
I am playing on my phone and I happen to see a Groupon deal for a motel that is right on the beach. I look at the pictures and think it’s no Ritz Carlton but it would do to just get away and be with my husband and son. So, I book it for this past weekend. I figure it would be something fun for my son’s 13th birthday. I need to get away. A spur of the moment decision. After Nana finally comes home from the hospital and she is settled I text my best friend and tell her of the deal and ask them to come with us. Being around her and her family fills me with such joy and I know a few laughs over drinks with my best friends is exactly what I need. That and the beach. I love the beach. I love the sun on my skin, I love the warm weather, I love the sand and the sound of the waves crashing.
She books a room at the same resort and off we go to the beach Friday after work. My husband is a little leery of the “great deal” I booked for us. He says the motel looks a little sketchy. I tell him it’s just for two nights and it looks like an old Florida beach motel. I am sure it will be fine. We make great time getting to the beach. Our Waze’s app navigates us around traffic and it was pretty much smooth sailing. We stop at a restaurant to eat because we are starving. I get a juicy burger and French fries. The server sets my meal in front of me and I tell my husband how nice it is to be able to eat my dinner while it’s still hot. Typically, I have two plates of food to make at home and by the time I have cut meat up, seasoned plates and gotten drinks my food is cold.
We finish up dinner and head to the motel. The Waze app is navigating us through what looks like a rough part of town. My husband is getting nervous and I admit I am too. We get to the motel and it looks Ok. We get checked in and make it to our room. It is small, smells like smoke, and only has two double beds. My hubby immediately starts shaking his head. While he is in the restroom my son turns on the lights by the bed. He immediately spots two dead bugs on the lampshades. He mouths to me “Don’t tell Daddy” this causes us to laugh in fits of hysteria.
We finish getting settled and my hubby turns on the TV. It’s broken and does not work. He says he doesn’t think he will be able to stay. More and more laughter. I tell him to suck it up. Let’s focus on spending time together with our best friends and make the best of a bad situation. I tell him one day we will look back on this trip and laugh. He begrudgingly agrees. We get to the pool to await our friends. The show up and get settled and the boys come running to the pool.
My hubby is sitting in a chair at the pool and isn’t looking happy. My best friend says something to him and he just shoots a look. This sends us into a fit of laughter. Just what I need. My hubby and her hubby leave to go for a walk and to get us dinner. At this point we know there is no way we are getting the boys out of the pool. They come back with 3 large pizzas. This makes the boys jump out of the pool and eat. By now it’s getting late so we retire for the evening. My hubby always needs a midnight snack and takes some of the left-over pizza back to our room. I jump in our double bed and pass out. I am exhausted and I am sure those Cucumber vodkas and sparkling water drinks I was downing played a part in my exhaustion. My hubby attempts to heat up the left-over pizza in our microwave and it doesn’t work either. My son and I burst out laughing my hubby does not think it is so funny.
The next morning my hubby asks me to see if we can’t move to an ocean view room. Our room really is horrible so I tell him I will. Fortunately, there is an ocean view room available right next to our best friends. This makes him happy and was certainly worth the $20 up charge to change rooms. We get settled into our new room, tv still doesn’t work but at least we have a balcony that overlooks the beach.
This “resort” is a riot. We see clumps of people’s hair in the pool, police were called out twice, a lady fell down the stairs and the ambulance was called and they had to shut down the pool for a bit because they thought electricity was in the water! I can’t make this stuff up!
We enjoy the beach and have a good lunch at the pier. Overall it was a good weekend and my hubby settled in and made the best of it. He took the boys back to the beach to go body surfing and was throwing them in the waves. They had so much fun. We all did despite the accommodations. Fortunately, my best friend is a trooper and could laugh off the horrible “resort”. Although she did say she was picking the hotel next time.
We got up with the sun on Sunday and packed up to head back home. We had had enough and was ready to get home. It was such a needed break from everything. I was very blessed to get it!
Have you ever gone cheap on a quick weekend get-a-way and it blew up in your face? I’d love to hear about it! Leave your story in the comments below.
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