Count down to 60--- We should have just stayed home

We should have stayed home. Yes, we recently went on a weekend away. My husband, myself and our grown son took off for Myrtle Beach for the Labor Day weekend. We should have stayed home. Even though it did have its moments.

Back at the beginning of August, James (our son) put forth the idea about us going to the beach. We hadn't been in years and he thought the idea of going to the NASCAR race at Darlington, SC and on to the beach would be fun. This was before he found out he had dates incorrect.

In the first place, waiting until August to try and find a hotel room that wouldn't cost several week's pay was going to be a challenge. Ever so often I do love a good challenge and this was sure one of those. After searching for several hours I managed, thanks to a well timed advertising, sometimes called spam email, to find a hotel room we could afford. It had a good rating and was cheap, it would work.

As time drew closer we managed to talk James into him going to the race alone and we would go on to the beach. I enjoy watching the races, but from my own living room where there are no lines to the fridge or bathroom. That and it doesn't cost six dollars for a cold drink, besides the fact that I don't think you could purchase sweet tea at the race.

So the plan was that my husband and I would drive to the beach in my explorer and James would follow behind on his motorcycle. He would spend a short time at the beach and then go back to the race. Our driving down also included the voice on the dash, my husband's GPS. Silly girl talks a lot, but I did get used to her and even managed to follow her instructions most of the time. I will admit to turning too soon once, but luckily where I turned I could pull up a way and do basically a U-turn around a medium and back out to the traffic light. A little further down I missed a turn (because my husband said that wasn't it when it was), which meant going a little further down, another U-turn and back to where I was supposed to go. We drove past the speedway, which was packed with people, vehicles and campers, along with an army of police. We drove through some small towns that had enough turns and traffic lights to drive one slowly mad. Slow being the operative word as we were caught by every one of them.

 Several times I had to be quick with my reflexes as there are some really dangerous drivers out there. I had people drift over into my lane. I had people think they were going to turn into a place only to change their mind part way in and stop int he road. I had people who suddenly realized that their exit was coming up and would travel across all lanes no matter who else was in the road to keep from missing that exit.

 We got to the hotel finally only to find that it was so far back from the beach we felt as if we were still only half way there. But it had good ratings and was affordable. The room we were given was on the first floor not too far from the front desk, the breakfast area or the pool that was out back. Our refrigerator didn't work. Okay, so? We were only going to put drinks in it and we did have a cooler. Oh, did I mention that my husband swore that for a two night trip I had brought half the house? He said that for what we were paying, he wanted a refrigeration that worked. He goes up to the front desk and we end up with the room that was right beside of the one with the dead fridge. So the half the house that I had brought was shoved through the connecting door and we carefully locked it back. The fridge worked, the remote to the television did not. My husband and I are not the most technologically knowledgeable people. He decided that the remote had dead batteries so back to the desk he goes and they give him another remote. Try as he might he could not get it to work. Then someone knocked on the door and asked if I had left some keys in the first room. Yep, those were mine, thank you. The housekeeping staff, then told my husband how to get the remote to work. No matter what he tried, he could not get it to function and then he managed to get the television all out of sorts.  James had grown weary of our bantering and gone for a ride. When he got back he managed to get the remote working, turns out you have to hold the button down for what seemed like forever, then you heard an audible click and it worked.

 We piled up in my car, James as driver and we went to get something to eat. We pulled into the Shoney's parking lot fifteen minutes before closing. Still , they were open, and they did seat us. My husband, silly man, chose the buffet. I would never chose the buffet fifteen minutes before closing, but he did. James and I both got sandwiches and were satisfied as they were both good. My husband wasn't as he said you could tell that the stuff had been under the light too long.

 My husband has asthma. In the middle of the night while we were sleeping he woke up having a difficult time breathing. He could not find his inhaler. So, in the middle of the night, we are up searching for the inhaler, finally found it- exactly where he had left it- got his cpap machine all set up and again tried to get some sleep.

James by the way, had found out that the race was not Saturday but Sunday. I'm still trying to understand how he got the dates wrong as he pretty well has all of the dates memorized.

 Sunday morning we enjoyed a really good breakfast at the hotel. The small dining area was packed and I knew that James would not want to eat in that crowd so we prepared him a plate and took it back to the room. That earned me a smile. I do love to see my son smile.

 We rode down to the CVS where my husband got his inhaler refilled and then on to Broadway, James who doesn't care for shopping was humoring me, my husband was struggling in the heat and even after taking several rest breaks we headed back for the car.

 At 3:30 in the afternoon James, after telling us that we had forgotten how to have fun, left for the race. He told me that after the race he would just go on home. It really made more sense, as why drive all the way back to the beach, to sleep a couple of hours and then get up and drive all the way home, when the track was half way home.

 My husband and I went out a little after than and got a bite to eat at KFC. It was greasy, but hot and filling. From there we went to find a place to park. He didn't want to pay ten dollars to park in the parking deck so we moved on, we were flagged down by this one guy, turning into a small, gravel lot he told me, $10. I thought my husband was going to choke. I pulled up slowly looking for the place he had said, the only place to park was incredibly small and I really didn't think I was going to get the explorer to fit. After a while, and after being told no refunds, I managed to get parked.

We walked down to the shops. My husband wanted, no had, to go into the Gay Dolphin. A crowded, jumble of cheap souvenirs and a lot of people in a small space. It got hard for me to breathe and my husband quickly had to get out of there. We get outside and find a spot to sit down for a moment. Once he felt better we walked down the street, he even reached for my hand. My husband is not a hand holding type person so for him to do that was a pleasant surprise. Turning the corner I found yet another bench for my husband to sit down and catch his breath. I could see the ocean. Finally, I could see the ocean. When I walked a little closer I saw several empty benches and motioned for my husband to move down there. He found a spot in the shade where he could catch his breath, listen to a band that was playing and enjoy the breeze coming off the ocean. I walked up and down the boardwalk taking a few photographs.

From there it was back to the hotel, dodging crazy drivers and golf carts. We both got a cup of coffee near the front desk and went out to sit by the pool for a while. It was nice to simply sit and enjoy the moment. There were a couple of kids in the pool and listening to their laughter was some of the nicest music we had heard.

 My husband had slept a lot Sunday, so Sunday night he was restless. I lost track of how many times he woke me without meaning to. He had no idea really just how much noise a microwave makes. Or the fridge opening, or the curtains, or his turning up or down the air conditioner. he finally told me he was going out to the pool even though I told him he couldn't because it was closed. He came back and told me it was locked. yep.

 At five in the morning he was waking me telling me we had to pack up and get home as he had stuff to do. Dragging my weary body from the bed I started throwing stuff into suitcases, bags and back packs. As I gathered, shoved, packed and piled he went for coffee. Once everything was together I realized he hadn't returned. Finally wandering down the hallway I heard voices. He had found a common spirit, they were having a political discussion. I meant to slip away but was caught. After a few minutes he finally wandered off and we  got breakfast. Finishing up my husband went and got the luggage cart then moved the car around to the front. We piled everything inside, checked out and pulled out for home.

 My explorer is a 1999 model. My Explorer showed me what she could do as I pushed her hard on the way home. Several times my husband asked if I knew how fast I was driving. Yes. Yes, I do. While it wasn't any speeds that would have had me placed in the back of a squad car, it was testing the capabilities of my aging car. We only stopped one time and that was so I could get a drink out of the back.

Pulling into our driveway was the best feeling. Getting the luggage out and into the house almost as good. We went, we paid hotel, gas and eats but left all of the cheap made and over prices what nots, shirts, cups and doo dads there..

Today I was sitting on my front porch watching the sunset and thought...

we should have just stayed home. I was comfortable, I was at peace, I had a working fridge and television remote close by, family and friends near, along with everything I could need or want at hand. But then, every once in a while, we need to get away, just to find out that everything we need, is right where we were.