My Free Vacation - continued

You can read the first part of My Free Vacation here if you are interested!

The company provided breakfast for the attendees, not spouses.  The first morning, I asked my husband to bring me a muffin from the buffet and I made coffee using the Keurig in the room. I'm not a big breakfast eater so that was fine. 

On Saturday, the second morning, my husband was too full from dinner to eat breakfast so he made me go to the buffet in his place. I brought him back an apple!

After breakfast, I headed out for a walk alongside the ocean. Clearwater Beach has the whitest sand I have ever seen.  And it stays cool to the touch too. It also has the warmest ocean water - probably due to it being the gulf side of Florida. We always go to the Atlantic side.

Clearwater Beach

After my walk it was back to lounging at the pool. However, I had a little task to keep me occupied, aside from books and crosswords. The company had all kinds of skits and games going on for the attendees. This was to break up the work and make it feel "fun".  There was a printed handbook of all the attendees with their pictures and profiles (bios). There was an answer key with a "fun fact" about each attendee.  It was a Match Game to pair up the fact with the correct person.

Hey, there was no rule that spouses couldn't help!  I truly enjoyed reading the bios and looking at the pictures and I filled that whole darn thing out.

Hotel pool early in the morning - the railing to the right overlooks the gulf

I sat with the woman that I met the previous day and that was nice.  The guys were done around 2:45 pm and had a good 4 hours to relax until cocktails and the award dinner later that evening.

My husband and I were in the hot tub watching a beach wedding, when we noticed a pod of dolphins leaping in the ocean.  It was really breathtaking to see!

The view from the pool railing at sunset - it felt like being on a cruise

That night was the award dinner.  My husband was not expecting to win any awards.

Then it was time for the winner of the Match Game.  Only 28 out of 80 or so attendees handed their sheets in, and apparently only some of them were actually correct.  Out of the correct ones, two winners were selected and my husband was one! He got two prizes - an Amazon Echo Dot and a set of wireless earbuds. I just knew that I - I mean he - was going to win! 


For dinner I had salad, teriyaki chicken, potatoes au gratin, asparagus and broccoli and rolls and butter. Other entrees were short ribs and grouper. That is the first time I have seen grouper as the fish selection at a catered function. Remember the scene in the movie "She's Having A Baby" where Elizabeth McGovern cooks grouper for Kevin Bacon? It goes without saying that I didn't have any grouper.


Dessert was the bomb - instead of a slab of cake they served three mini cakes: one cheesecake, one tiramisu and one lemon meringue tart. We headed back to the room content and satisfied.


I had intentions to get up early Sunday and do everything - pool, beach, hot tub, fitness room - one more time! But no, I had my husband bring me a muffin, drank Keurig coffee, packed up and we caught our Lyft to the airport. 

It was a great free vacation!

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!



Acadia National Park - Part 3

You can read the first installments of our trip to Acadia National Park Part 1 and Part 2 here.
For our last hike, we took the free buses that leave from Bar Harbor Village Green to the Jordan Park House.  The buses are sponsored by L.L. Bean and they are totally free and go everywhere. 

From the Jordan Park House we followed the carriage road trying to find the trail. I got a little lost, as usual, but a nice gentleman with a map pointed us toward a shortcut that led to Penobscot.  By sheer luck, I am sure this was the back trail that the family we met on the bike ride had told us about.  It was straight up with iron rungs and steep steps cut into the side of the mountain, kind of like rock climbing. It was fun!

View of Jordan Pond from Penobscot Mountain trail

We ate lunch at the summit of Penobscot Mountain, with a view of Jordan Pond. The elevation of Penobscot is 1,194 feet - not too high.  We debated continuing on to Sargent Mountain and ultimately we passed.  Shocker, right!  It was a good thing we did, because the trail we took back down was quite long and circuitous.  I'm not confident that it was the direct route to the trailhead, but it got us back.  This hike took just under 4 hours.

Thunder Hole - captivating to watch the waves crashing in

We went to Sand Beach at sunset and then back one morning to read and relax.  The Maine water is too cold for swimming but you can get in up to your knees!

Sand Beach at sunset

The unique thing about Acadia is that it's a package deal - hiking, biking, cute shops, lakes, the ocean - all in one place.  I would say the only negative for us was the drive.  It took 8 hours each way with stops only for gas, restrooms and switching drivers. In comparison, the Adirondacks are only 2 hours away for us! If I go back, we would stop for an overnight midway along the route.


Thanks for reading!

Acadia National Park - Part 2

You can read Part 1 here: Acadia National Park Part 1. The cold front and rain that ended the sweltering heat wave came in around dinner time of our second night in Acadia National Park.  This was good timing because the rain was winding down and it was only drizzling the next morning.  We grabbed umbrellas from the hotel lobby and headed over to Bar Island.  This is a little island north of the town of Bar Harbor.  At low tide, you can walk across the natural gravel bridge.

There are signs on both sides with low / high tides and a phone number to call if you get stuck on Bar Island when the tide comes in.  There is about 90 minutes both before and after low tide where you can walk across, so it is a solid 3 hour window. If you do get stuck, it will cost you $50 for a water taxi to come and rescue you.

Gravel road to Bar Island at low tide

View of Bar Harbor from Bar Island

We did the short hike to the peak of Bar Island and then strolled around town. By the time we got back to our hotel, we had logged 3.3 miles walking.

The sun was starting to come out, so we drove over to the Park Loop Road with our bicycles in tow. Acadia has miles of carriage roads that are closed to motor vehicles of all kinds, and are accessible for biking, walking and horse back riding only.  We rode our bikes around Eagle Lake and then up and around Witch Hole Pond.  We biked a total of 11.2 miles according to the carriage road map.

Taking a break to look at the views

Dappled sunlight on carriage road

Everyone we met was friendly, like a young dad who let us borrow his pump when our travel pump didn't work and our tires were low.  We met a family who were avid hikers and runners (we knew by each others' race shirts) who gave us a tip on where to hike the next day as well as what kind of ice cream to buy!


Once again, after a full day of activity, we got in some swimming at the hotel pool before heading out for something to eat.


I wanted to mention that we chose our hotel specifically for the pool and because it included a full hot breakfast.  We also brought bread, peanut butter and jelly from home to make lunches since we knew we would be out on the trails. I even remembered to bring aluminum foil!  Each day, my husband grabbed an  UBR Cinnamon Breakfast Cookie from the hotel breakfast as a snack. This is not an affiliate link, but he loved them and I figured they would be on Amazon.


Stay tuned for Part 3.

Acadia National Park - Part 1

My husband and I just got back from a five day trip to Bar Harbor, Maine and Acadia National Park. This has been on my bucket list for years and we finally made it. This trip was nonstop activity!

The first full day we hiked Cadillac Mountain and Dorr Mountain from the Gorge Trail. I admit that was not our planned route as I got a little confused on the Park Loop Road. But ultimately it turned out perfect because evidently this is a less trafficked trail. One of the major differences from hiking in the Adirondacks - no mud! Another cool thing is the steppingstone trails. It made it feel easier because the first day was hot!

Stepping stone trail up Cadillac Mountain 

Cadillac is the highest peak in Acadia at 1,529 feet elevation. You can also drive to the summit of Cadillac. That means when you get to the top of the peak there is a parking lot and a virtual crowd of people. We didn’t spend much time there. We headed back down the way we had come and headed up Dorr. That was a steep but short climb. We ate lunch on Dorr Mountain and enjoyed a nice view of the harbor.

If you zoom in there is a cruise ship in the harbor 

In total we hiked 5 miles in just under 4 hours. After the hike we headed straight to the hotel pool for a swim before dinner.

Stay tuned for Part 2.

Vacation Savings

We are heading to the airport in a couple of hours. The weather here in Florida is a lot cooler today with expected high of 68. Of course that would be nice for New York, but cool for a beach day. Our vacation was 10 days and 9 nights. When we travel south in the winter our goal is escaping the snow and freezing temperatures and relaxing. My husband and I can accomplish that and still stay within our budget. Here is how we saved money on our vacation.

1. We went to the library before we left to get books to read on vacation. I read two library books plus a book that was in the condo. I have one more to start on the plane.
2. We used credit card reward points to pay for the flight down. All we paid out of pocket was $5.60 apiece for the 9/11 surcharge. We flew on Southwest.
3. We are not tied to school vacations or holidays so we can travel off peak. Our return flights were $96 a person on JetBlue.
4. We took one suitcase for both of us. This saved us $30 JetBlue baggage fee. Since we had a washer / dryer in the unit we were able to bring fewer clothes.
5. We used Home Away Vacation Rentals instead of a hotel. I compared what we paid to the nearby Hampton Inn and Suites rate (which would include sales and hotel tax). I estimate we saved $1,500 and we had a really cute condo.
6. We ate out 4 dinners and 2 lunches out of 30 total meals. I find that eating out less often makes our restaurant meals feel special.. On our last night we enjoyed a nice seafood dinner overlooking the water.
7. We walked to the beach instead of paying $10 per day parking fee. According to my phone it was just about 1 mile each way. The walk is pleasant and, hey, walking never hurts!
8. We used a condo-provided Fun Pass for free lounge chairs and umbrella at the beach. That was a nice perk.

We had a good vacation and soon we will be back to reality!

The restaurant had these neon-lit pools of catfish.

Beach in the morning. The best things in life are free.

A Day in the Life: Florida

My husband and I are halfway through our Florida vacation. On this vacation more so than past vacations I have been observant about our own and others’ actions to get a feel for the Florida retirement lifestyle. After all, we are 3 years and 9 months away from retirement, in case I haven’t mentioned that before.😉

Here is a summary of Thursday, which was a typical day. I woke up with the nice feeling of not having to be anywhere. The first thing I did was make a big pot of coffee. We are not breakfast eater outers so we made our eggs and checked cellphones / laptop. At home we get two newspapers so we are used to our morning information feed.

Mid morning we headed over to the beach. We walked there; it’s about a mile according to my phone. It’s a pleasant walk back past the marina, across the drawbridge over the intracoastal, then across the street. About 90% of the beach goers are older than us and there are very few children because it’s not a school vacation week. We both are avid readers and I brought a crossword puzzle as well.

We went back to our condo for lunch and to escape the sun during the hottest part of the day. We are not lunch eater outers. Do you see a pattern here? Why get dressed, get in the car and drive somewhere just to sit and wait to be served? Most days we have PB&J sandwiches and fruit or leftovers from dinner.

We spent the afternoon at the pool and hot tub. People here are friendly and it is easy to strike up conversations in the hot tub. We have met people who are vacationing for a few weeks and some who are renting for months. In this condo there are also people who work; so while the lifestyle at this condo is “resort” it isn’t a retirement community. The long term residents have their friends, have family visit, and have activities planned (I heard “canasta” mentioned twice).

In the elevator heading to the pool we saw an announcement that Thursday was Bingo night. The flyer said register by three days ago but the sign was not there three days ago. I haven’t played bingo in years and I really wanted to play. We inquired at the front desk and found out we could sign up and pay at the door. Payment was by check or money order only - what? No cash or credit card? I didn’t bring my checkbook so we would have to get a $10 money order ($5 per person).

My husband and I are dinner out eaters, although even on vacation we alternate restaurant nights with eating in. I know people who love to eat out and can do that 3 meals a day 7 days a week, but that’s not me. That is over my budget for money and calories!

On Thursday night we were in the mood for burgers. I had noticed there was a Smashburger in the supermarket plaza and I wanted to try it. Plus we could get the money order while we were there. Smashburger was good and money order was purchased.

Bingo time! We went to the card room early to sign up and give them the money order. The card room was transformed into Bingo Party Central! Balloons, popcorn, beverages (water and soda) but people came prepared with their own drinks. Some had glasses of wine but there were bottles too. That’s when I realized Bingo night is party night. They brought out trays of meats and cheese and fruit. And there were Jell-O shots! At least sixty people ages 50 to 70 were playing bingo and doing Jell-O shots and having a blast.

It actually reminded me of college; is retirement like college but without the schoolwork?

Thank you for reading!

Walkway to beach

Beautiful day at the beach