My Flexible Romantic Valentine Adventure……
My Prince and I are quite spontaneous when it comes to “down time”. We very rarely plan a vacation or time away months in advance. The fact that we each run our own businesses and have that “adventurous entrepreneurial” mindset might have something to do with that!
Now, I wasn’t always this way….my Prince, yes, me…not so much. As a matter of fact I used to get quite perturbed at his spontaneous, “come what may” mindset during our early years together and quite honestly, it upset me on more than one occassion!
Through the years we have balanced each other out a bit….he has learned that there are certain times when planning ahead and adhering to a schedule are a must….and I have learned to “loosen up” a lot!
Which brings me to our
“Unexpected Flexible Romantic Valentine Adventure”
this past weekend. I hope you enjoy this little tale of love, fun and flexibility. I hope it will encourage you to “loosen up” a bit, too, and look for love, fun, flexibility, romance and adventure in your day to day life!
I must first tell you that this is not the way we set out to spend Valentine’s weekend at the beginning of the week…..and, several years ago, this is the type of situation that would have made me very upset and unpleasant to live with, especially on Valentines Day…which is one of my favorite celebrations of the year!
Fortunately, during our 36 years together we have learned to “go with the flow”, “remain flexible”, “enjoy every day”, “savor the moments” and “cherish the time” we have together. I believe these mindsets are essential for a successful marriage….or, for that matter, any other kind of relationship.
So…..the Tuesday before Valentines Day my Prince informs me that he really needs to take a truck load of work up to his dad (who lives 7 hours away)…and, that he would really like to do it “this weekend” (Valentines weekend). OK……hmmmm, I’m thinking to myself….it’s Valentines weekend…..this is not good! I don’t want to spend it by myself ! Nor do I want him to do a marathon run up there and back in one day causing him to be exhausted and irritable by the time he gets back. Hmmmm….what to do?
There was obviously only one solution…..go with him….how romantic is that? A 7 hour drive in a big van filled with junk!
Well….life is what you make it, right?! So we decided to make “it” (this not so romantic set up for the weekend) a fun, flexible, romantic Valentine weekend. And so we did!
Valentines Day is a day to show your love to the ones you love, right? So….we decided to make the most of this short little adventure…..
It is important to remember that we began this adventure with no preconceived ideas of a “perfect getaway weekend”…which is probably why we had so much FUN!
Here’s the short version…….
Beginning on Saturday @ 8:30am and ending Monday @ 8:30pm….
7 hour road trip to New England in a big noisy 15 passenger van filled with “junk”…..a delicious lunch of Country French salad, Shrimp Scampi & Kahlua cheesecake @ The Cheesecake Factory…conversation & kisses….Starbucks & cookies…laughter & kisses…..unloading “junk” @ father in laws…shoveling snow off the roof….arrival @ Romantic Inn in snowy setting….”dinner” of appetizers, salad and dessert in lounge of Romantic Inn…..conversation & kisses….dreamy nights sleep in beautiful room….leisurely morning in magnificent European marble bath with soaking tub…..amazing breakfast of Eggs Benedict & Brioche French toast w/warm banana compote……giggles & kisses….lunch with brother & niece @ Japanese Steakhouse…..more Starbucks & cookies….giggles & kisses…..visit with parents & sister…..tea & homemade scones….goodbyes……2 more hours in big noisy van….conversation….a light dinner @ hotel in CT….laughter & kisses……early to bed….sleeping in…..more kisses & giggles…..on the road again…..lunch at Nordstrom’s Cafe……conversation…..a little shopping…..more hours in the big noisy van….Starbucks & cookies….giggles & kisses…..conversation……more hours of travel…..dinner @ Macaroni Grille…..Lobster Ravioli & Caesar Salad…conversation, laughter & kisses…home sweet home….there’s no place like home!
For those who are interested…the long version…..
I booked a night at a beautiful Romantic Inn in snowy MA ( I had just been telling my Prince how much I missed the snow and how I would love to go away somewhere where there was a few feet of snow)
…..it dawned on me on Friday afternoon that we might need reservations for dinner at this little Inn….so I called…..hmmmm, the earliest reservations were for 9pm! No thank you! We decided we would eat in our room or venture out somewhere else. (flexible)
On Friday I got everything packed and ready so we could leave early Saturday morning (8:30)….we drove (with a few pitstops along the way) to NJ, arriving just in time to enjoy lunch at one of our favorite places, The Cheesecake Factory….we shared a Country French salad, Shrimp Scampi and Kahlua cheesecake (romantic).
Back on the road again…after a few hours we hunted down a Starbucks and enjoyed a hot cup of tea and a few cookies (fun).
We finally arrived at my father in law’s, he is 85 and spry as a spring chicken! My Prince unloaded all the “junk” (work) for his dad, who was in heaven because he loves to stay busy. Dad does some work for my Prince regularly and he loves it…it gives him something to do at his own pace in his own space! (love)
We expected to be there about an hour and then head to our “Romantic Getaway” but…..we then discovered that there was a leak in the ceiling at my FIL’s house….so my Prince got up on the roof and shoveled loads of snow off the roof before we left, 2 hours later. (love)
We arrived at the “Romantic Inn” and it sure was snowy! It was a beautiful setting, good thing I knew that from the pictures because by this time it was dark out! We checked in and went to our room…..we were pleasantly surprised!
The room was beautiful…very large, but the bathroom was magnificent! All marble, with a huge soaking tub, fluffy white robes, lots of fluffy towels….magnificent!
We freshend up a bit (a must after 9 hours in a “truck”)…and decided to go to the lounge to eat rather than eat in our room (remember, they were so booked for dinner we couldn’t get reservations before 9pm so we didn’t make any).
We found that all we could order were appetizers and desserts…..(flexible) so we did! The appetizers were amazing! I had a shrimp appetizer served on a bed of risotto…it was delicious! My Prince had Calamari, which he said was amazing…I took his word for it! We were still hungry after the apps but not really hungry enough for a big meal (this is what happens after being in a “truck” for 9 hours)…so, we each ordered another appetizer, this time a crabcake served on chickpeas w/herbs….delicious! We also shared a salad that was fabulous! We ordered dessert…a very different rendition of creme brulee, they called it Creme Brulee Napoleon….it was quite good.
While we were enjoying our little feast we discovered, by listening to the many guests waiting to be seated for dinner, that most of them were waiting anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes past their reservation time to be seated….boy were we glad we hadn’t made reservations and instead decided to remain flexible!
We enjoyed a good night’s sleep, slept in and then made full use of the beautiful European bath ….it felt quite luxurious! On top of that we had one of the most delicious breakfasts ever….my Prince had Eggs Benedict and I had Brioche Frenchtoast with warm banana compote…mmmmm! (romantic)
Now, remember, Valentine’s Day is for showing your love to your loved ones…so, we met my brother and niece for lunch (this is my brother who was in the accident 18 months ago)
at a Japanese steakhouse…more delicious food…and then went on to visit with my parents and sister in NH. (love)
at a Japanese steakhouse…more delicious food…and then went on to visit with my parents and sister in NH. (love)
We set out on the road around 6pm….dark again!
We decided to stop about 2 hours into our trip in CT….we had a light meal and got to bed early. We slept in again before we ordered breakfast and got on the road.
Now it’s Valentines Day….and we had already had quite an adventure….but it wasn’t over yet!
We stopped in NJ again for lunch, this time we opted for Nordstom’s Cafe…more delicious food…a shared salad and French Dip sandwich topped off with a piece of carrot cake and we were all set to get “on the road again”!
We ended our “Flexible Romantic Valentine Adventure” at Macaroni Grille….I ordered my favorite dish…Lobster Ravioli with a Caesar side salad…the restaurant was extremely busy but we knew that going in….we had no preconceived ideas of an intimate dinner with extra attentive servers…good thing, too! In spite of that, we enjoyed our last moments of our “Flexible Romantic Valentine Adventure”.
The moral to this story is…..make the most of every moment every day…..it’s our choice whether we go through life making the best or the worst of the situation at hand. I can tell you from experience that making the best of each situation is much more fun and much less stressful than making the worst of each situation. It is just as easy to choose joy and laughter as it is to choose sorrow and misery. It’s up to us!
While this weekend certainly wasn’t what most people would classify as a perfect romantic getaway….we chose to make it a fun, flexible, romantic adventure….and it was all of that!
I hope your Valentine’s Day was as beautiful as mine was….you deserve it!
I hope your Valentine’s Day was as beautiful as mine was….you deserve it!
