Denver. Kansas City. Chicago. Las Vegas. Minneapolis.
Thad and I have been together as a couple more than half of our natural lives – 18 years - and we can count on one hand the out-of-state destinations to which we’ve traveled.
I wish we were world travelers, but we just aren’t. Some people find fulfillment in traveling to far-off places, but we love being at home.
That’s why I’ve dragged my feet a bit when it comes to planning a 10 year anniversary trip … a year late. We had originally planned to fly west to San Francisco or east to New York to celebrate a decade of wedded bliss, but parenthood took precedence.
Brenner was just 3-and-a-half-months-old when we celebrated our 10th anniversary last September.
At the time, we both agreed that a trip to the Chanhassen Dinner Theater and the Albertville Outlet Malls in Minnesota was about as far away as we wanted to be from our kids.
But they’re getting older … and we are too.
Plans to fly east or west are back on for this year.
Trouble is, I’m afraid we’re going to get to our destination and lock ourselves up in the hotel room and never leave. Now, don’t be thinking any of that funny stuff – we actually did that once!
We won a free overnight stay at Cedar Shores Resort in Chamberlain several years ago.
When we arrived late on a Saturday afternoon, we took a quick paddle boat ride on the river, ate at the restaurant, went up to our room and watched “Storm Stories” on The Weather Channel. We were sleeping by 10 p.m.
While it was relaxing, it was nothing special. We could have saved the gas money and stayed home.
Now, back to my fear as it relates to the upcoming anniversary vacation. Since neither one of us is very well traveled, I’m afraid we’ll get to our destination and literally won’t know what to do with ourselves. How will we get from Point A to Point B? How will we navigate the traffic? Hiring a personal guide sounds like a good idea, but it’s not entirely romantic to have a stranger tagging along when you’re celebrating a marriage milestone.
I have these visions of us standing on the corner of a busy intersection, looking left, then right, then left again. The fast-paced world will be zooming by us and we’ll look like the lost travelers we really are. Not knowing what to do next, we’ll head back to security of our hotel room, missing out on all the yet-to-be-named city has to offer.
Sooner or later, I know I’ll have to force myself to do a little Internet research, and we’ll decide which coast we’ll visit. In the meantime, feel free to send me your best travel suggestions.
All information is welcome. Heaven knows we have much to learn!