Writer's Workshop: Dave-style Getaway

MamaKat's chosen prompt works perfectly for me today, it's almost unfair: 1.) If I sent you four hundred dollars today what is ONE thing you would spend it on and why. PS. I want my change.

I felt the need to make you laugh today, and, I'll be honest, I needed to laugh myself, after the emotionally charged remembrance of which I shared. We are heading out of town tomorrow, ironically to the same locale of which I spoke; the very locale which conjured up such bittersweet memories as late.

We're heading to the Dave Matthews Band show in Charlottesville, VA. By ourselves. NO kid. NO pains in my asses, stuck inside and all the more bitter for it dogs. The very definition of... THE GETAWAY.

It's okay.. the dogs will look after the 22-mo old toddler just fine. And toddler knows how to feed them. And I've previously stated he can get his milk out of the fridge, so what does he need us for? (In-law Grandma is heroically stepping up.)

We saw Dave in 1999 when we'd just started dating. We chose "Two Step" as our wedding entrance song. Our first dance was "Where Are You Going?" We saw Dave&Tim Reynolds in 2003 on an acoustic tour and listened to the live recording every car ride for two years.

So, yeah. Kind of a big deal to us. (That, and we haven't been to a concert since the Rolling Stones in 2005.)

Clearly you can see what I would do with the wad of cash MamaKat handed me, since tickets are a ridiculous nominal $65/ea. Hotels are an average of an unconscionable $200/night, and I we have very expensive taste nice favorite restaurants. She is not getting change. In fact, could I go time-and-a-half here?



Where's the funny? To save a few extra Benjamins, I've been looking into cheaper hotels, and reading their reviews. I think you'll appreciate these anonymous guest reviewers' honesty and attention to detail as I have:

:: Actual comments from the reviews on EconoLodge (if you don't believe me):
"In our room there was a used towel left on the bath door hook, the cold water in the sink did not work, and the phone did not work. The pool, although open in Sept., was murky. The bed was clean and comfortable and the location was good for us, but I would not go back."

"The expectations weren't high going into this as we were staying at an Econo Lodge. These low expectations weren't meet. There was no hair dryer, no iron, and a weird white film on the rug. The shower switched from cold to hot and back. This place was awful."

"This was probably the most dilapidated hotel I've ever stayed in. It's probably 15 years overdue for a renovation. We stayed two nights, but the housekeeping service never came to our room between the two nights. The towels were threadbare, the pillows were just collections of lumps inside a pillowcase, and the matresses were nearly crushed."

"1. The pillowcases were wrinkled, and unattractive on the bed. 2. The box spring had visible cigarette burns on it. 3. There was obvious lint & dirt behind the night stand and on the side of the bed closest to the wall. 4. There was no accessible outlet near the coffee pot, so I had to move it over to the next available outlet, which was very close to the sink. 5. The sheets didn't appear to be clean--there were brown spots on the top sheet."

"Do NOT stay in this hotel. It is dirty, the tub even had a ring around it, the towels were tan with dirt, carpets were dirty, PLUS we even had a bug, (I didn't see it, my daughter tells me it was a roach), crawl up our wall."

::

So, MamaKat.. send all $400, and send it quickly. The Omni's a bit more, food and gas are not cheap, and let's build in a little for parking tickets.

On second thought, don't worry about the cash. This getaway will be priceless.