Our *Pretend* Vacation

Last weekend, I decided that Andrew and I needed a getaway. The winter had been cold (considering locale, of course) and we had been home too much over the past few months. But, it's crunch time in the semester with stacks of papers to grade and such, so there was certainly not going to be enough time for us to take an out of town trip-- even a quick one to some place like Myrtle Beach. So, we decided to do something that may sound a little silly, but was well worth our while.

We rented a hotel room in town. After much deliberation, we chose to splurge a little on a whirlpool suite at the Holiday Inn Express. The room was cute; it had a tiny kitchen and living area and a large bedroom with a surprisingly comfy bed. And the whirlpool tub was fantastic.

There were rules involved in all of this. We didn't watch any television, we didn't bring computers, and we absolutely could not run home when we realized we forgot to bring a corkscrew for the wine-- instead we went to the store to buy a cheap one.

The amazing room (did I mention we got a discount because I work at UNCW?) wasn't the only part of the "vacation" though. We also took the time to get dressed up and go out on a date. I've lived in Wilmington for the larger portion of my life, and Andrew has lived her for a few years, so we know a lot of the restaurants around here. We decided to pick a place we never go, and managed to trick ourselves *slightly* into feeling like we were really out of town.

We may even make this a tradition! Hopefully this was enough to get us through the rest of the semester...