Not traveling for the past 2 years has been tough. It seems we were just getting into the swing of navigating our time share resort catalog… culling the ordinary and finding some fabulous spots… and then Covid slammed the door. While I’d be up for getting back on the road, my husband is still hesitant so we’re sticking close to home for now. I’ve been slowly researching some New England escapes my spouse might be comfortable with and the other day I came across this:
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Let me state for the record… unequivocally and without a doubt… I am not a camper. I have absolutely zero pioneering spirit and require hot and cold running Egyptian cotton sheets.
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While I love nature, the outdoors and hiking during the day, ( before my knee injury, damn it ) I prefer to sleep in air conditioned comfort on a king sized pillow top not sweltering in a 12×6 wagon with mosquitoes large enough to carry you away.
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Trust me, it’s not. And I wouldn’t.
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The words magical wagon and camp grounds are not used in the same sentence, not in my world.
And when I heard they rent for $1,500 a night? Yeeha! That’s a hard pass.
While I enjoy a sweet treat as much as the next girl, and am seriously pro dessert…
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The word dump tends to take a little bloom off the rose for me.
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Lord Dudley Mountcatten. He tries to hide, but isn’t very good at it.
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A very clever use of faucet handles to be sure. And now that I think about it, a spring flower that even my dastardly woodchucks couldn’t eat.
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Facebook. It’s annoying… but still the best way I know to keep up with old friends. And speaking of old, this was my FB memory from the other day. A photo of me and the hubs in the French Alps many moons ago. Yes, I was rock climbing in flip flops. Oh to be young and stupid again..
There’s a page you can follow on Facebook called “Only In …”. It profiles restaurants, resorts, scenic hikes and fun places to visit in whatever state you choose. I’ve found quite a few hidden treasures in Maine this way… but now Vermont is bootlegging my feed in an attempt to lure us over the border again.
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Hmmm..
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Staying in a Hobbit house sounds interesting, and the view is lovely.
Like it isn’t bad enough we haven’t travelled anywhere since Christmas 2019.
As if I don’t miss the annual large trip and three smaller vacations we used to take every year.
Because Covid hasn’t made life as sedentary and boring as possible? Facebook has to twist the knife in a little deeper with their constant “memories” feature.
On this day three years ago you were happy!
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On this day three years ago you were exploring Sedona Arizona!
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On this day three years ago you had no idea life would soon come to a screeching halt!
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So cut it out Facebook!
I don’t need to be reminded how much I loved traveling… I realize it every time we treat walking over to the man cave/Barn Mahal like a weekend getaway.
While I normally roll with the punches, I have to admit sitting here on the last day of 2021 has got me a trifle depressed. Our lives have been put on hold for too long and I’m more than ready to disconnect the pause button.
With that in mind, reading the news probably wasn’t the best idea… but what the hell. How much worse could it be?
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*Note to self – don’t ever ask that question*
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Of course it will. I would expect nothing less.
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I’ve never been on a cruise, and to be honest that type of vacation never interested me. ‘Floating petri dish’ has done nothing to change my mind.
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Apparently NASA is going to rent space stations from private companies in the future. I don’t even want to know how many billions of dollars will literally go up in smoke when the current station goes poof.
We’d never been… and though we’re long past the heart shaped red velvet mirrored honeymoon beds the area is known for, 6 years ago we decided to take off for the mountains and spend Christmas there.
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I booked a week at an amazing place, full of atmosphere. ( Think the Overlook Hotel in Stephen King’s The Shining, minus Jack, his ax and the twins )
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It was old, built of stone, and so huge I couldn’t get a photo of it in one shot.
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It was an old resort like you see in the movie Dirty Dancing. Rich people would escape summer in the city and live here for months. It had multiple dining facilities, a spa, a theater, game rooms, multiple bars, a library, a stable and even its own post office… complete with a personal hotel zip code.
The best (read weird) part? We had the entire place to ourselves.
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I’m not kidding, we were there for a week and didn’t see another guest until Christmas Day. Talk about eerie.
And while the interior of this grand old dame was impressive…
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It was beyond strange being the only inhabitants.
Have you ever eaten dinner by yourself in a dining room that seats 400?
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Or breakfast in a room that seats 300?
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Trust me, it’s a little creepy.
Thankfully we weren’t murdered in our bed, but in retrospect the odd accommodations turned out to be the highlight of the trip.
For a full week we toured the area and never found anything the least bit scenic. Rows of strip malls, trash lined roads and extremely tacky “family fun resorts”?
There were plenty of those. And in true “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em… we’re going to have a good time if it kills us” fashion… we bar hopped every tacky resort we could find.
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Indoor purple waterfall?
Check!
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Bizarre robotic decorative Santas?
Check!
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Elephant driven sleighs at an African themed resort called Kalahari?
Check!
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Giant topiary squirrels?
Yeah, those too.
And while the husband and I manage to have a good time wherever we go?
The Poconos are definitely at the top of our been there, done that, don’t need to do it again list.
So how about you? To what place are you never returning…