Thursday, August 12, 2010

A low budget escape (Part ii.1)

Remember the awesome $114 hotel room?  Well, it was at a Howard Johnson about 17 miles from the ocean front on Shore Drive - which is clearly a misnomer.  It's actually within walking distance of the military base.  Ms. GPS choked with her directions and landed us a block away from our destination. I was a bit worried as I drove through the parking lot of a grocery store and restaurant and she said "You have arrived."  I looked around anxiously (pre-paid room, you know?) and returned to Shore Drive for a few feet before spotting our HoJo's to my right.

The room was a nice size, clean enough, and didn't have the stale odor that is prevalent in open walkway hotels.  We immediately moved our things into the room and took turns rinsing the remaining sand from everywhere.  Kids put on nighties and claimed their beds, turned on a cartoon, and snuggled down for a short relax. 

While they were occupied, I turned on my HP mini hoping to use the advertised high speed internet and realized quickly that none of the hotel write ups mentioned wireless.  Uggh!  A visit to the hotel lobby scored me a cable.   The two foot cord was less wire than I'd ever seen, in fact, if I sat at the table or on the bed with my laptop, the cord would get taut and pull out.

I ordered pizza from a local restaurant. 
8.06 (4.)
Ya plucked all the pepperoni from our pie and Chi and I were left with a cheese pizza. 
8.06 (3.)
A good pizza - better than many of the larger chain pizzas I'd had recently.  Apparently the food revived Ya's energy, and he spent the next hour jumping on the bed (as I hoped the room below us was still vacant).

The hotel filled up with guests as it got later.  Then, the heavens opened and sent tourents of rain down.  Thankfully, the rain subsided in the twilight hours and the morning sun dried up all the rain (and the eency weency spider went up the spout again...).

The hotel offered a "breakfast," though the selection of danishes, bagels, and cereal was minimal.  The apple juice dispenser was empty, but orange juice and coffee were available.  We nibbled on our selections in the room and then packed up for the trip home.  I attempted to go online to check for information about the botanical gardens and the zoo in Norfolk, but I assume that it was disconnected in preparation for our check out because the cable would not connect me.  Oh well. The area travel books gave me the address to the zoo, so that became our destination.

1 comment:

LenzLove said...

OH my word!! Can I please have some of the delicious looking pizza??? It looks great. Glad you guys had a good time. Forgot to follow you of Google last time I popped over. Subscribing now!
Have a great weekend!