Monday, May 15, 2006

Our house is the one with the Red Roof...

Like many folks, H & I like to travel cheap. That is, when we go away for a weekend, we don’t like to spend a lot of money on food and hotels…we prefer to save our money for the event we plan to attend. And for cocktails, of course. Often we will pack a cooler, make our own lunches, and stay in a lower-end place. Let’s face it; it saves a few bucks for other, more interesting and tasty portions of the excursion. On our recent trip to Lexington, we did our usual cheapie-road-trip thing…cooler, lunches, and reservations at the Red Roof Inn. When we were checked-in to our room, H asked me if I liked the lamp that was on the little desk. I gave him a strange look and said it was ok…then he asked if I liked the pictures in the bathroom.

I answered that I couldn’t see any pictures in the 20 watts of lighting that was intended to illuminate the bathroom and how come he was asking me these absurd questions instead of fixing me a cold cocktail.

“All of this can be ours!” exclaimed H, waiving a catalog.

It seems, according to the brochure H held in his hands, one can now purchase many of the items found in the Red Roof Inn rooms. For our very own homes! I have seen this marketing ploy popping up recently; however, mostly in higher-end hotels. I can kind of understand the temptation to purchase the fluffy robe, or signature coffee mugs from the 5-star hotel where you vacationed, honestly, but the idea of decorating one’s house to look like a room at the Red Roof Inn seems to be pushing the envelope just a bit. The brochure said we could buy not only the desk lamp but the shower rod, bedspread, and bathroom artwork. The *look* wasn’t inexpensive, either. The *bathroom artwork* was so exclusive it required us to “Inquire about price”. (Hello? Yes, I am calling to ask about the price of the fine art that was in the bathroom of Room 312 of the Lexington facility? My husband and I just built a new house and we are quite certain that particular piece would be perfect above the fireplace…)
With a bit of willpower, we did manage to stick to our strict budget and pass on the decorative items. We figure we’ll save our money to purchase the pulsating shower head at the Super 8 during our next stay.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Kentucky Recap...


Twas no surprise that this past weekend once again confirmed the fact that some of my very favorite things in life are horses and picnics with copious bottles of chilled wine. H & I really enjoyed our weekend in Lexington! The Rolex Kentucky 3-Day Event draws quite the crowd. As we did a bit of shopping in the trade fair, I had to snap this pic with my phone just for Kiddo…(the girl's backpack says Winona State!)


On Friday, we walked the Kentucky Horse Park but we were not too exhausted to pass up dinner at the Horseshoe Saloon. It was one of those bars located near a hotel off the expressway where the locals seem to congregate to check out visitors to their fair city. H was fascinated with the drunken girl in tight white pants with no underwear lines. She was in her early 20’s and quickly became the love of his life. He gazed at her longingly as she proceeded to consume an entire pitcher of beer in less than an hour. I was torn between watching H watch her and scoping out the hottie in the “It ain’t gonna lick itself” t-shirt. I really needed a camera at that point but I had stupidly left it at the hotel. I decided I need to move to Kentucky for more interesting blogging material.


Saturday we watched lots and lots of horses as they galloped and jumped around the park. They are so beautiful and so amazing.


We also ate and drank too much…especially H who gets really grossed out by the porta-pots…
He cracks me up