Recharge With a Staycation

Have you ever been pushing so hard that you realized you never took a vacation to recharge?

Last year I was so focused on getting away from my house in New Jersey any chance I got, that during many of the holidays I would figure out ways to "get away."

Then once I came back from Spring Break last April and put my house on the market, it has been non-stop every since.

I spent the next three months organizing all the pieces to move us down to Tampa.  I packed up our whole house by myself, and handled all the details of bringing in a renter instead, and then made time to say good bye to all our friends and family.

By the time I got into our car, after the moving van was loaded up, Zack and I were ready to go!!  

I then drove us all the way down to Florida in a couple of days.  

When we finally crossed over the border into Florida, and I turned over my car keys to the valet at our hotel I was exhausted.  It took me three days to just decompress and then another 3 days to gear up for driving another few hours to our rental house and going through the whole process of settling in.

Our rental house is so comfortable and has a pool that it hasn't even felt like I needed to get away.  And with family visiting we've enjoyed spending time with them.

Several times Zack and I planned to head down to the beach for the day but we were either too exhausted or didn't feel up to it.

It was only last week when I totally hit a wall and didn't feel like doing anything, that I realized I haven't had a break since last Spring Break.

While hanging around the house can be relaxing and is a way to regroup.  My problem is that my office is there and I have a tendency to check e-mails, go follow up on something or start working on details.  Also, being at home there is still laundry, dirty dishes and items to be picked up. 

I can never totally "check out."

So Friday morning I dropped Zack off at school, grabbed a coffee at Dunkin Donuts, and my beach chair, and I drove down to the beach.  

I suddenly realized how much I loved that drive, almost as if my body sensed that I was heading to the beach and a calm started to over take me.

Once I dropped my chair on the white sandy beach, right near the edge of the ocean, I felt relieved.

I spent all day staring at the waves as they lapped up on the shore, heard the caws of the sea gulls on the breeze and allowed the sunshine to penetrate my soul.

While I was sitting there communing with the ocean I had an idea and called over to a local hotel in Tampa that I love. I wanted to book an overnight on Saturday, after Zack's soccer game. 

Come to find out I had enough points accumulated that the overnight was FREE!  Didn't that reconfirm to me that it was Exactly what we needed to do.

After soccer, I threw our clothes in an overnight bag, drove down to have lunch by the water at Bahama Breeze and started enjoying our Staycation!  

At one o'clock we pulled up at the hotel and even though we probably could not get our room until 4:00, I was hoping my luck would continue and we could check in early to then change and head out to the pool.

Sure, Mrs. Serebin we do have a room available with a Bay view right now for you!

Thank you so much!!

Zack and I spent the rest of the afternoon out by the pool playing football and having cocktails.  Later we took the elevator upstairs to the hotel restaurant that night for dinner, and didn't get back into our car until we left the next afternoon. (after more pool time of course!)

Getting away from the chores, the responsibilities and the computer, while spending quality time with my son was priceless.  It also helped me clear my head and give me that recharge that I so needed.

Before we left, my son stated that it was his "favorite hotel!"

Everyone wins.