stay·ca·tion /ˌstāˈkāSHn/
noun
informal
noun: staycation; plural noun: staycations; noun: stay-cation; plural noun: stay-cations
a vacation spent in one's home country rather than abroad, or one spent at home and involving day trips to local attractions.
YES! If you take precautions. On Saturday, Corey and I decide to throw a few items in a bag and check in to a hotel. Ahhh… It’s so nice to have older children. We decided to check out The Redmont. The Redmont is part of the Hilton Curio family. With Hilton, you don’t have to see anyone to check in or check out. You can use your phone as your room key. Now, that’s social distancing!
The Redmont is described as “the oldest-running hotel in Birmingham, first opened in 1925, the Redmont combines the charisma of the 20s with contemporary luxury. Our downtown rooms are blocks from the theater district and Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. Feel at ease with in-room spa treatments and enjoy a signature cocktail at the highest rooftop bar in the state.”
Of course, everything was pretty much shut down when we checked in. The lounge in the lobby area, the little café…. CLOSED DUE TO QUARANTINE. Were we disappointed? No, not at all. It was what we expected, and we had no of intentions on being social anyway. We stayed in room 1001, which was a suite with an additional sitting area, wine fridge, tv, closets, etc. It was a waste of space, but it was still nice to stretch out. Of course, Corey and I showed up with our own cleaning products. We wiped down the entire room, just to be safe.
We used the time to cheat on our diet, rest/relax, play video games, watch TV…. You know, we just chilled. We took our own “bar” so we could enjoy lemon drops and margaritas without having to go to the bar. Remember, we were trying to be cautious, so the bar was out of the question. More on that in a moment. For lunch, we ordered takeout from Hattie B’s, which was delicious, for the most part. I ordered the small dark quarter with greens, baked beans, and potato salad. Oh, and banana pudding for dessert. The greens weren’t tender enough and they needed pork and hot sauce but everything else was great. Corey said the greens were like eating wet leaves. He’s so dramatic. While we ate dinner, we watched a couple of photo shoots on the roof of a building across the street from the hotel. First, there was a woman posing on a red classic car. Then, a bride and groom had a few pictures snapped. That evening, a group of young girls showed up with balloons to take a few too. I guess that’s the place to take pictures in downtown Birmingham? <shrug> Since we waited too late to order dinner, we had to eat PF Chang. There isn’t much to say about that. It’s PF Chang. Around midnight, we decided that Insomnia Cookies were a good idea. Insomnia Cookies decided it wasn’t. Our order never showed up. We were crushed! Yes, over cookies and ice cream. For breakfast, Big Bad Breakfast delivered pancakes, French toast, and lots of bacon…and we were still talking about those Insomnia Cookies.
We headed home right at check out. When we got home, we both said, “We need to do that more often!”
I almost forgot… The Rooftop Bar. I don’t know what type of laws Alabama has in place for bars and coronavirus, but that place was jumping. It was floors up and we could hear the people and music. Corey even had to take the stairs to the 10th floor because there were so many people headed the roof. We did go to the roof that afternoon and it was deserted. There were 2 bartenders and ZERO patrons. I can see why it’s so popular. I also can see how everyone now has the coronavirus if one person was contagious. Alabama folks, we gotta do better.