My Free Vacation

This post is coming from sunny Clearwater, Florida where I am enjoying a free four day three night vacation. No, I don’t have to sit through a time share spiel, nor did I win a radio contest.

I am tagging along on my husband’s business trip. My husband has his own business; this trip is the annual meeting for a company he works with. The company was encouraging spouses to attend. The only cost was my airfare and they even paid $100 towards it.

So while my husband is in meetings I get to be on vacation.

Clearwater Beach - the very last tall building is our hotel 

We flew to Florida on Thursday; it was great timing because we could check in to our hotel right away. We hung out at the pool and beach. The first night was a meet and greet at the hotel with drinks and a casual buffet dinner. There was sushi, meat and cheese board, chicken and beef sliders, French fries and veggie pasta.

It felt a little awkward for me since I didn’t know anyone other than my husband. I was tired from our early flight so I went up to the room. He stayed with the group since they all had to go to their first meeting right after for an hour.

On Friday hubs had meetings until 3 pm so I was on my own. I did a run on the treadmill in the hotel fitness center and then spent about 4 hours at the pool. Why is it so easy to do on vacation but impossible to do at home? Probably because the music is playing and the view is beautiful. I met another wife at the pool which was really nice.

Sand sculpture in the hotel lobby 

Friday night the company shuttled us to the owner’s mansion nearby. There were appetizers and drinks and a delicious catered dinner of steak, salad, potatoes, rolls and pasta. They had their pool covered over with a dance floor / stage like in “It’s  A Wonderful Life”. This big guy was jumping on it to prove it was safe. They also had karaoke and a belly dancer for entertainment. The vibe was much more relaxed than the previous evening. We sat with the woman I met earlier and her husband, plus several other nice people.



Big guy and belly dancer for your viewing pleasure. That is the pool below them.

The company owner's wife led a tour of their mansion which was pretty cool! Later on, the belly dancer's fire sticks set off a real fire and a group of younger guys started singing karaoke to a rap song with lyrics mother f*&$#....that is when my husband and I decided to Uber ourselves back to the hotel!  

That wraps up the first two days of my free vacation!