Pretrip
As with everything during this pandemic, this trip came about with some twists and turns, and in all honesty, was thrown together kind of last minute. Back in 2019, we had booked a Disney Cruise for this week (a 7 night Western Caribbean on the Fantasy), but obviously, by the fall of 2020, that plan had gone out the window. Because NH was particularly slow to loosen travel restrictions, we knew April would be planned at the last minute.
About the same time February vacation rolled around, it became evident that we would be able to travel outside New England for April vacation, because NH opened up travel to those fully vaccinated against, and we became a fully vaccinated household by late March. (As it turns out, by early April, a vaccine was no longer required but…). So we spent some time over February vacation brainstorming, and by the end of the trip, I had outlined timing for a road trip to the Outer Banks.
Then Nick decided he didn’t want to sit in the car for that long. So, literally the day we got back from February vacation in the White Mountains (trip report in earlier posts), we looked at, and booked airfare to FL...specifically Tampa. Airfare to FL was dirt cheap, but we didn’t want to do theme parks (well...Nick didn’t), and we didn’t want to go to Cocoa Beach where we would be staring at the cruise ships we were supposed to be on this April and last, that are currently anchored off the coast, so we decided gulf coast. Since the airfare was so cheap (fewer points needed for 2 roundtrips than for 2 one way tickets for last April and since I had a credit for taxes from last April’s canceled flights, the grand total was $11 out of pocket...and I still had points left over), we jumped on it, and then worried about hotel later. Non-stop on JetBlue BOS-TPA, Sunday 4/25 to Thursday 4/29. The hotels were definitely not as cheap, since everyone wants the beach these days, and we won’t discuss rental cars yet, but we had those booked by the end of the week too. After much debate (mine) about where on the coast to stay, I booked the Sheraton Sand Key in Clearwater for the trip.
Miraculously the countdown turned from weeks to days, amidst the wildest school year yet. I didn’t think that was possible after last school year, but...yup. I watched the weather, debated plans, and somehow got all the paperwork done, sat through the most hostile meeting of my career, packed, and even managed to get my toe nails painted. The dogs were offended by the sight of the suitcases, but, what else is new? Nick and I were VERY ready for vacation.
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