April 2021: Dude is that a Bronco? A Florida Beach Vacation: Day 2

Day 2: Sunday April 25, 2021

It’s palm tree day!! Obviously, I was awake before my alarm went off. I facebooked and such and then let my alarm go off for Nick’s benefit. We eventually got up, packed up, and ate breakfast. The breakfast box was not particularly satisfying, but, it beat standing in the Dunkins line at the airport!

We were checked out and on the road to the airport about 6:20. Under normal circumstances I would probably never park at Logan because $$$$, but, these are not normal times. Nick, being a big guy, does not love extended mask wearing, so I felt the best way to keep travel days as manageable as possible was to park right at the airport.

We got to the airport easily enough (it was basically a straight shot from the hotel), but it took two tries to successfully find the entrance to Central Parking. Once in Central Parking, we found a spot up on level 6, despite the “lot full” sign that seemed to exist on every level, including that one, and made our way to the terminal.

Central Parking is surprisingly well designed, considering it’s Boston. Signs everywhere direct you where to park to be close to your terminal, and the garage connects to most of them. We very easily made our way to terminal C, via elevator, moving, walkway, and finally an escalator that looked down on the total chaos that was the JetBlue check in area.

Thankfully, it wasn’t as bad as it looked, and I had printed our boarding passes at home, so all I had to do was scan the boarding passes and our luggage tags printed out. We tagged our bags and joined a giant, but reasonably quick moving luggage check in line. Within 10 minutes our bags were checked, and we were cruising through the TSA Pre-check line, where only about 5 people were ahead of us. Security was easy, complete with cool hands free ID readers, and neither one of us had to be scrutinized at security for a change. Within a surprisingly short amount of time since arrival, we were finding our gate (C22), and parking ourselves to wait for awhile until boarding.

The wait passed quickly enough, and I managed to find a Hudson News that was a) open and b) hadn’t been consolidated with a Dunks (one line for both...bad news at 7 am) for bottled water. Shortly before boarding I popped a piece of gum and quickly realized that gum with a mask on is the fastest way to clear those allergyish sinuses on the planet…WOAH!

Boarding went smoothly enough considering we couldn’t really actually hear the gate agent, and surprisingly (or not...this WAS the first real vacation for most in over a year), the completely full flight was fully boarded and pushed back from the gate more than 5 minutes early (8:18 am). Yay for more vacation time!

The flight was uneventful. Nick slept for most of it and I social media’d courtesy of JetBlue’s surprisingly good FlyFi. We landed in Tampa a full half an hour early, and then sat for that entire time, waiting for our gate to open up. At least I could see sunshine? And the flight tracker changed screens enough to sort of keep me entertained.

 

Eventually the plane at our gate left and we bee-lined it for A11. Deplaning was quick, because it was a New England based flight and we had had half an hour to prepare for this, and pretty soon we were in the Tampa Airport.

I’ll probably say it again, but Tampa is an incredibly well thought out airport. Our wait for the train to the main terminal was quick, our luggage was on the carousel we were told upon landing, the luggage appeared quickly, signage is good, and so on.

Anyway, we claimed our bags, and then headed up the escalator to the train to the rental car facility. I thought the world’s longest airport escalators were in San Francisco and Atlanta, but this one here in Tampa might be in competition. Woah. It was a little dizzying.

We eventually made it to the train platform and onto a train to the rental car center. I foolishly stood. This train moves right along and has several curves and hills. It was an experience!

Now...about the rental car situation. Last spring, to survive, the rental car companies did mass fleet sell-offs. AND car manufacturing plants were shut down, leading to a shortage of new cars in the industry (Nick sells cars..I’m hearing about this one a lot). And now revenge travel has started, leading to massive rental car shortages, given the other factors. So...prices are...alarming. Initially I had booked a rental car with Dollar because the price was about the fairest I could find from a company I thought I could skip the line with. Then about a week later, I read on the TripAdvisor forums for Tampa that Dollar was not honoring the skip the line feature of being a Dollar Express member right now, and Dollar, Thrifty and Hertz customers were ALL having to stand in the same line at TPA, resulting in incredibly long waits.

That wasn’t going to work for us. So I scoured the internet and miraculously found an Alamo deal with my BJs membership that would get us a mid-size SUV for “only” $50 more than the (midsize car) Dollar price that I had had. Alamo, based on TA forum reports was still honoring the skip the line online check in feature.

As we hunted for the entrance to the garage for Alamo, we were beyond relieved that I had found that thread on TripAdvisor. The Hertz/Dollar/Thrifty line stretched the length of the building. Meanwhile, we made our way to the garage, waited about 30 seconds to speak to the girl at the curb in the garage, and then we were hunting for the perfect rental in the surprisingly well stocked mid-size SUV row.

Nick sells Toyotas at a large dealership that has 5 major brands across its campus. Within months of him starting to sell Toyota he had talked me into ditching the HR-V that I LOVED (but that he hated, because it was very much Heather-sized, not Nick-sized) for a Rav-4 (don’t worry, I love my Rav!). With half a dozen Rav-4s on the rental line, you would think we would have ended up with a Rav for a rental. But...Nick spied a Bronco, something all the Ford customers seem to want, and that his dealership just can’t keep in stock, or even sell without a VERY long wait. For the purposes of research, we chose the Ford Bronco.

We loaded the car up (which for a current Ford SUV had a very spacious cargo area), I did some bag re-arranging so I’d be ready for touristing, and we hit the road. It was time for lunch!

We took a drive down 275, and then into downtown St Pete. After only one wrong turn, we found the St Pete Pier, and, surprisingly easily found parking. After figuring out the pay by plate meters that would be a part of our lives for the duration of this trip, we made our way to Doc Ford’s Rum Bar and Grille (any questions why we chose this place with that name?), admiring the views, and annoyed by the sound of the St Pete Grand Prix.

Yeah, you read that right. They were racing cars down a runway that was just across the water from the pier, and through some of the streets of downtown. The street closures started just beyond the entrance to the pier.

Needless to say, we turned down the beautiful covered patio next to the water for indoor dining to avoid the constant mosquito drone noise of the cars. On the plus side, we still ended up with a view of the water. Lunch was fantastic and service was great. There’s a reason that this place is number 1 on TripAdvisor for all restaurants in St Pete. Nick had a key lime colada followed by the “Cure” (their version of the painkiller), and a grouper sandwich. I had the most amazing coconut mojito and their lime panko crusted fish sandwich. Great lunch!

We wandered a little bit, in the vicinity of Doc Ford’s, admiring the view. This is a cool pier area.

Then it was back to the car for our next stop, Sunken Gardens. This was about a 20 minute drive. Sunken Gardens is Florida’s oldest roadside attraction. Pictures online made it seem like a great tropical change of scenery, and therefore a great way to kill time prior to check in at the hotel. It was! We both enjoyed, and we spent over an hour there. Beautiful tropical plants, and several different animals too. Admission was reasonable, and everything was clean.

Once we’d sufficiently explored the Gardens (and gotten sufficiently overheated!), we hopped in the car for the drive to our hotel. It was about a 40 minute drive, mostly pretty boring with a lot of traffic lights. Only in the last 5-10 minutes did our drive go near the coast.

Check-in at Sheraton Sand Key was quick, but, even closing in on 4:30, our room wasn’t ready yet. The check in guy took my phone number, handed me a pack of stuff, and told me it’d be ready soon and they would call when the room was ready to come get the keys. I went back out to the car, and we decided to just park and sit in air conditioning in the car for a bit.

Thankfully within 15 minutes, the front desk called that the room was ready, so we grabbed the luggage, headed inside, and pretty quickly had our keys and were headed for room 552. Side note, this key made me think of Epcot for the entire trip!

When we got to the room, Nick started unpacking immediately, and I started checking out the view and taking pictures of the room before we made a mess. Great view, clean room, tiniest hotel bathroom ever. And the decor was clearly meant for me to stay there.

After we settled in, we decided to work our way into town for dinner. I was a little nervous about the parking situation, but we managed to score the one open spot that existed in the beach lot closest to our dinner destination. We paid the meter and then made the quick walk to the Taco Bus.

We are Diners, Drive-ins and Dives fans. Years ago, we saw the original Taco Bus in Tampa on the show. They’ve since expanded and have multiple locations, which includes a location in Clearwater. While the original is a food truck bus, essentially, this one is a store-front location. It’s a counter-service place. We each had a margarita (strawberry for me, “blue” for Nick), Nick had a pork quesadilla, and I had a ground beef chimichanga. The food was fantastic, and inexpensive. Dinner and drinks for the two of us was less than $30. We were super happy with this meal! Guy Fieri just doesn’t lead us wrong.

 
Full of amazing food, we made our way back to the hotel, where Nick settled in to play his video games (I’m told the wifi at the Sheraton was vastly superior to that at the Hilton Garden by the airport) and I went down to the beach for sunset.

A word about the beach here. It’s pretty big. I heard one of the front desk dudes at check out saying it’s like ¼ mile from the edge of the grass at the resort to the water’s edge. It’s nice firm sand until pretty close to the water, so I thought it made for a really nice walk, but they do run a golf cart to shuttle people to the water and back on request.

 
Sunset was beautiful. That’s really all that needs to be said.

 
Following sunset, I went back to the room, showered, and crashed. The room had great blackout curtains, and the bed was VERY comfortable, so we both got a great night’s sleep.

April 2021: Dude is that a Bronco? A Florida Beach Trip: Day 1

Day 1: Saturday April 24, 2021

Are you confused already? I said in the pre-trip that our flight doesn’t leave until 4/25. You’re not imagining things. This trip DOES (kind of) start on 4/24.

Nick left for work around 8 and operation finish all the tasks began in earnest. The checklists (yes plural, and I still had middle of the night anxiety attacks where I was mentally creating checklists that already existed on paper...can you say need a vacation!) got checked off, the takeout dinner order was placed and picked up (2 monkeys from the Everyday Cafe please!), Nick got home around 6, we ate dinner, and then we packed the car. Gizmo had been PISSED to see the suitcase, but he was more than ready for the adventure. And Quinn was more than happy to hop into the car, if that’s where his bed was. The 2 dogs, Nick, and I climbed in the car and hit the road south a little after 7 pm.

 

First stop after this crazy busy day? My in-laws’! Bless them...they’re taking on our crazy pups while we go away, in addition to their neurotic dog. Don’t believe me? The first time I met their dog was when he flew through the air toward my face from the couch he was sitting on, to the couch I was sitting on. Thankfully, Nick saved me and snatched Mulder out of the air. That dog’s the devil. And he’s ancient (only the good die young, right?) so he’s even more neurotic than when I met him 10 years ago.

We visited for a few minutes and then got on the road to our actual destination, breathing a sigh of relief that this was actually happening. At this hour, the drive to Boston was not bad, and we had no problem finding our hotel for the night, the Hilton Garden Inn Boston Logan Airport. Check in was a breeze, and when I asked what the breakfast situation was, I was offered the breakfast boxes that had already been stocked for the next morning. I get breakfast for free as a HHonors Gold member, so I took advantage of the boxes.

We unloaded the car and found our room. And then we quickly discovered we had the “holy crap we’re actually on vacation” room view. Of all of the unexpected room views I’ve had, this was the most unexpected by far.

 

I could tell you this was a typical Hilton Garden and that’s kinda true, but honestly, it was a standard (newer) Hilton Garden room with an AMAZING shower. And I’m not just saying that because I’ve just spent 7 months on water restrictions at home. It really was fantastic. Overall, this was a great option for a hotel near Logan. Free parking for the stay (unlike the Hilton at Logan), very reasonable price point (both cash and points...I went points), clean, surprisingly quiet, comfortable, amazing shower, and only about a mile from the airport entrance. I recommend it for your Logan airport area hotel needs.

We showered, joked about the view and crashed. We slept about as well as one can expect before an early morning flight, grateful that we were so close to the airport and that this trip was actually happening.

April 2021: Dude is that a Bronco? A Florida Beach Trip: Pre-Trip

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.

February 2021: Winter Vacation in NH: Day 8, The End

Day 8: Sunday February 28, 2021

I was awake early. I finished packing and started hauling trash and recycling out to the dumpster on the other side of the parking lot. The joys of staying on a timeshare reservation. The parking lot was crazy slippery from the previous day’s combination of snow and freezing rain, so I made the decision that the only contact my husband who tends to not stay upright on ice would have with the parking lot that morning would be to get in the car to leave.

Nick woke up surprisingly early and finished his packing. Once that was done, I started hauling stuff to the car while he stripped the beds and rounded up the last of the trash. Once the car was loaded, I did the final walkthrough and found that while he had done a very good job, he had forgotten to take the fitted sheet off the upstairs bed. Clearly he needs more practice and should take over the job of changing the bed at home!!

Once Nick and all our stuff were safely in the car I walked over to the main building and handed over our keys to the front desk. We were on the road south just about 9:00. It was 40* and I spent the first hour of the drive watching the temperature gauge like a hawk, to make sure we’d be ok with the potential for black ice on the roads. Thankfully, the temperature stayed stable and the drive was fine. We made a stop at the Country Store that is now at the Tilton outlets (awesome store), and the grocery store, and then made it home.

We got home to a 42* house. Considering we just had the furnace fixed this fall, we were not happy. Thankfully, turning off the thermostat and turning it back on was sufficient to get the furnace up and running again. I’m horrified to think about how much propane was required to heat the house from 42 to 65 but...at least we didn’t have to call for a furnace fix!

Final thoughts:

Well...it wasn’t my dream February vacation, but it was wonderful to get away and actually have time to communicate with Nick on a level beyond “what’s for dinner tonight”. We did lots of fun things and ate a lot of fantastic food. It also was wonderful to have a break from Google Meet. Oh...and long showers were great too. So grateful that we were able to get away!

Eastern Slope Inn is super convenient for walking around town, but parking is an absolute nightmare, and because of the traffic around there, it’s a nightmare parking lot to get out of too. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the resort itself, but I’m not really in a hurry to stay there again.

NH has worked hard to find a balance that allows businesses to operate and still exercise a level of caution, and as a result we have maintained the same level of openness since summer. The vast majority of businesses (restaurants especially) that I’ve been into, statewide, have met or exceeded the current state guidelines. The restaurants in the North Conway area were no exception. In fact, I found virtually all of the restaurants we ate at to be exceeding the state guidelines. I’ve also worked hard to find a balance throughout all of this, so my tolerance level is higher than some, but there was not a single point in our week where I found myself feeling uncomfortable in a business. There is not a question in my mind how the Mount Washington Valley’s case numbers have stayed relatively low throughout this Covid nightmare, despite the constant influx of out of staters and the fact that our businesses are open.

Best thing I brought with me for this vacation? A pair of slippers. At home I wear them because we have a crawl space under our house, rather than a basement, meaning our floors are ridiculously cold if the outside air temperature is below 60. On this vacation, they were key because of all of the road salt being tracked in. That stuff hurts bare feet.

We are tentatively booked for an April vacation that involves palm trees. I’m cautiously excited!

February 2021: Winter Vacation in NH: Day 7

Day 7: Saturday February 27, 2021

This was a lazy day. I, of course, woke up early. After a cider doughnut breakfast, I settled in to read for awhile downstairs. Nick woke up eventually and joined the reading festivities. It was snowing and we had gone everywhere we wanted to go that week. Today was just going to be a chill day.

Around lunch time I called in an order to Bagels Plus (roast beef, american cheese and horseradish mayo on an asiago bagel for him, “the bomb” on a whole wheat bagel for me), and then cleaned the snow off the car and went to pick up lunch. I was back at the resort shortly after, and was able to get a parking spot outside our building.

Lunch was, no surprise, delicious. My sandwich, “the bomb” was essentially an Italian sandwich on a bagel. 

We decided while eating that since I’d been able to score a parking space in front of our building, which would make loading the car easier in the morning, we would figure out a dinner option that did not require moving the car until we checked out the next morning.

As the snow died down, we walked over to the Met again for one more round of hot beverages. These were much needed, since what we didn’t realize, was when the snow died down, it started freezing raining. Needless to say it was a gross walk, but we certainly enjoyed our thin mint hot cocoa (me) and chai latte (him) when we got back to our room. We also got some “vacation juice” for later. By that I mean we got the closest thing we’ve found to POG juice in this region. 

Nick began the search for dinner and found a place that was walking distance and taking reservations. He was able to get us a reservation for 5:00 at DeaconStreet, which we had never heard of, but that had an interesting looking menu, so we headed over there for 5.

DeaconStreet was a great find and should be much higher rated on TripAdvisor. Their menu had lots of interesting choices, for both food and beverage, the cocktails were perfectly proportioned, our food (fried chicken for me, a burger for him) was delicious, service was good, they were being very intentional in how they were seating/spacing groups, and...there was distanced live music!!! It really is amazing what music does. Needless to say, we would not hesitate to return to DeaconStreet. 

After dinner we went back to the resort, did some serious packing since we had to be out by 10 the next morning, and we took our final extra long showers until, quite possibly, April vacation. Then we crashed for the final time on that not the world’s most comfortable bed.