The week before holiday break, I stalked the weather, hoping for a few warm days to go hiking or visit the zoo. Each day revealed another unseasonably cold day. I panicked, wondering what to do with Liam. The three of us were home most of the week. Anyplace indoors to entertain kids would be insanely busy. (Not so secret information about me: I have zero patience for crowds.) I looked into visiting Cape Cod during the week and decided to stay closer to home in Newport. We were able to rent a room at the Holiday Inn Express at a very reasonable rate. They had an indoor pool and free breakfast. We splurged on a room with a jacuzzi, which Liam immediately at to explore.
We headed to Newport early and walked around Thames St, expecting to pretty much have the area to ourselves. It was surprisingly busy! After driving around a few minutes, I gave up and paid to park. We had a nice lunch, walked around, and headed to the hotel for check-in.
We immediately changed and headed to the pool. Liam was beyond excited to burn off energy. We swam for over an hour and headed back to the room. Since Mike and I really cracked down on extra expences and started watching our budget, we stopped ordering food and going out to eat. That evening, we ordered Dominos for the first time in 2017. Liam was amazed that we could have pizza delivered right to our hotel room.
Liam has minimum experience in hotels. We often stay with relatives or go camping. There were a few features he loved, such as the free soap and notebook.
“Can I keep the notepad?”
“You can.”
“And the pen?”
“Yes, buddy.”
“This is the nicest hotel ever!’
While waiting for dinner, we played Ticket to Ride. We bought it for Liam for Christmas. It is a rare board game that I don’t mind playing. Liam and I often play games at our favorite coffee shop; it’s nice to have a fun game at home. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel. This time, we had the pool to ourselves the entire time. The depth varied from three to four feet, making it better for Liam, who could touch the bottom everywhere.
A few years ago, we stayed at a local Holiday Inn Express while getting through the local floods. Each morning, Mike and I shared a tray of their cinnamon rolls. Add some scrambled eggs and sausage, and we didn’t need to eat again until dinner. We wondered why we worked fifteen hours a day in the basement and didn’t lose a pound. Then we discovered that the cinnamon rolls have over 600 calories each. We were eating a day’s worth of calories in the morning! At the time, it was worth it to have the energy to work all day. This time, we were much better, each eating only one.
We were able to hit the pool one more time in the morning. There were two kids Liam’s age there; he was happy to have kids to play with.
This was such a great way to spend a day during a cold vacation! We didn’t have to deal with crowds and it cost us less than going to dinner and a movie. I’m so glad we decided to get away locally!
World's Okayest Runner 