Birthday/Anniversary/Burn-Out Prevention Trip

Saturday and Sunday my husband and I got to take a trip!  He’s usually the vacation planner, and he’s great at it.  He saves a bit at a time, so he can splurge on vacation.  He researches options, but doesn’t plan strict itineraries.  He’s also the one who thinks big in our home, and I’m the one who thinks details.  For example, he sets us up to save money for our kids’ college; I save us 35% at the grocery store.  But this time, it was my turn to plan the vacation and to try to think big.

He seemed pretty impressed with the “big”ness of our trip.  Here’s our hotel:

The hotel, the Gaylord National, sits on the Potomac River in Maryland.  We could see the Washington Monument and the Capitol from the windows.  Thanks to Groupon, we stayed in an executive suite that was over half the size of our house. 

I managed to stay awake for most of road trip, which is quite an accomplishment.  I’m a girl who gets carsick and who has spent an inordinate amount of time on the 400 miles of road between my divorced parents’ homes.  My coping mechanism is simple—sleep.

After checking in, we walked through beautiful weather and a beautiful tourist trap to a late lunch at McCormick and Schmick’s seafood restaurant.  Seven years ago, on the day of our wedding, we had reservations at McCormick and Schmick’s (different location, same restaurant).  We were going to eat dinner there en route to Dulles International Airport where we were catching our flight to Paris.  We got stuck on the great parking lot called Interstate 95.  We had to call and cancel our reservations, at which time I found out a special table and personalized menu had been prepared for us.  It took us seven years, but we made it back.

We walked, sat, and talked on a pier.

We tried on hats at a boutique.

 

The hotel’s renowned steakhouse was booked solid, so we ordered room service.  We re-arranged our living room so that we sat on the couch, feet propped up on chairs, and pigged out on buffalo wings, sliders, and quesadillas while watching VCU throw away their NCAA tournament game (two words:  foul shots).  We watched my team, the Kentucky Wildcats, until they were sufficiently annihilating their opponent.

We went to a club on the top floor of our hotel late in the evening.  We’d never been to a club before, and the people watching was immensely entertaining!

Before we left Sunday, we enjoyed an insane buffet.  They call it a brunch buffet, but it’s a breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert buffet complete with pastries, carving stations, crab legs, made-to-order omelets, and tiramisu.

Most importantly, we talked, and we napped, and we relaxed, and we slept in.