So we're supposed to be in New Orleans right now. We took off April 10th-12th at work so we could drive to New Orleans for David's Birthday and spend the three days visiting both the city and family. Everything was all set for us to go, and on the night of the 9th we were ready...until we realized we weren't.
First off, I'll take sole responsibility for this. I did everything wrong, financially, leading up to our trip. I was trying to make things happen in the way of holding money and booking the hotel, while at the same time spending money like I had it. On the 9th we were ready to end work, pack up the car, and start driving. Then our phones got shut off. After that, it had become apparent that we weren't ready. Not just because we neglected to pay the phone bill, but also because the hotel had only charged one of the two nights we booked, and we didn't have money on our card for the other night, or the deposit. I had cash, but I knew that wasn't going to do us any good. We opted to leave the day before my payday, which is never a good thing because that Wednesday is when we're always at our poorest. We have credit cards, but me in all of my infinite wisdom, had already maxed both out on iTunes purchases—which oddly enough is my new addiction, legal purchases.
I attempted to pull out a loan so we could still make the trip, but I swear to you it was like the Universe was telling me to just drop the idea. I got approved for a substantial loan, but I couldn't login to my ADP account to print my paystubs, even after successfully resetting my password. Also, the loan place wanted to consolidate my auto loan for me dropping my monthly payments from $455 to $289, and that would be including the loan. I told them no since I'm on my final year of payments but the rep for the loan place started to become a touch condescending about me declining the offer to extend my final year paying off the car by 5 years. That definitely aided in my ultimate decision to not pursue the loan.
So when David got home Tuesday night we together made the decision to scrap our trip to New Orleans.
So what to do for his Birthday? We had limited money, only ~$200 cash. So whatever we did had to be cheap. I ended up reaching out to his friends on Facebook and planned a lunch date at Mythos to surprise him. Mythos is an upscale restaurant in Universal's Islands of Adventures. Okay, yes I felt bad taking him to his job on his vacation, but Mythos has been a dream of ours for years and years. If you know us at all you know that Poseidon, for whatever reason, is a centerpoint in our relationship. For real, we both contribute our relationship to the sea, and of course the god of it. No, we don't actually believe Poseidon is real, but the story of Poseidon just resonates with us. Mythos is a greek-god themed restaurant right outside Poseidon's Fury, so of course we've had our eyes set on eating there for awhile. Every time we've made a plan, it's fallen through. This time, the park wasn't blocked out, reservations were available and I had the money in pocket. So Mythos was where we were going.
I woke him up in our traditional Birthday fashion. AKA I snuck off to Walmart, bought him a ludicrously large breakfast and a bouquet of flowers. His breakfast was three blueberry pancakes on a stick, a generous bowl of strawberry and creme and bananas and creme oatmeal (mixed) with slices of strawberries, three cut strawberries on the side, two glazed donuts, a Sunny Delight, and a cup of vanilla cappuccino. Yeah, it was a stupid big breakfast and, no, he didn't finish it all.
After breakfast we got dressed and went to IoA. He had no clue that his friends were waiting there to surprise him. On the way he was telling me that he was happy it was just the two of us and that he was wanting time just to ourselves. At this point I was feeling guilty about the surprise that was waiting for him, but I know him. He does want time with me, but on his Birthday he only likes to push people away because he doesn't know how to handle attention.
We got to the park kind of early. About 40 minutes before our reservation. We headed straight for the nearest smoking section by Mythos and waited for Logan and Ellany to surprise him. He was definitely surprised, but I could tell it was a happy surprise.
We ate lunch at Mythos. I hated myself for my selection. I got the traditional cheeseburger even though my eyes kept glancing over to the gnocchi bolognese on the menu. The burger was good, but Ellany got the gnocchi and let me try one. I immediately regretted my decision for the burger. That gnocchi was so good that it took much restraint for me to not keep stabbing my fork to her plate for another gnocchi.
Afterwards we went to Poseidon's Fury. Look, this attraction is so over-the-top corny, but we love it. It's not a trip to IoA if we don't go through this show. For all of its corniness, it's also really really cool. At one point you go through a tunnel of jetted water. It's breathtaking and I want one installed to the entrance of my future lottery dreamhome.
After Poseidon's Fury, for whatever ungodly reason, David wanted to do Jurassic Park River Adventure. I LOVE this ride, but David is NEVER game to ride it. He hates getting wet. So I had to pick up my jaw from the floor when he suggested riding it.
We stopped by the raptor meet and greet where the worker there let us cut the line to get our pictures taken with the raptor. This was solid gold. David's smiling in the picture, but trust me, the look of fear is also not disingenuous.
Then we rode Jurassic Park River Adventure. This ride means a lot to me, which is why I suspect he wanted to ride it. Every time I ride Jurassic Park River Adventure I flash back to my eighth Birthday when Mom took me to Universal Studios Hollywood and we rode Jurassic Park River Adventure 8 times in a row. She must've really loved me. I can't imagine riding any ride with my kid 8 times in a row. Then again I don't have a kid so maybe that mentality changes with real experience.
After Jurassic Park River Adventure we left the park to go to the movies. I wanted to watch Us with David and Logan and Ellany purchased our tickets to see it. This experience was amazing. We had the ENTIRE theatre to ourselves. There was not another soul in that room. The only downfall was that the theatre was operating at around 10º so we were freezing the entire time. Like seriously freezing. I was wanting to leave halfway through because of how fucking cold it was in there.
We parted ways after the movies. We stopped to get Chinese food on the way home, and he picked up a game for his Switch. We came home, laid in bed and ate the food, and passed the fuck out. I'm typing this at 3:20AM because I've just woke from my sleep.
So yeah, we didn't get to do New Orleans, but we still had a great day. The fun is not over yet either. We were talking about going to Busch Gardens today, but I have a funny feeling it'll be a lazy day at home. Then Friday we're wanting to go to Tampa to go kayaking. I was hoping we could go with Olivia, but she has work and school so it'll just be us two.
I still want/need to plan our New Orleans trip. I want to see his family and I want to see the city. I just have to get smart first. When we did New York last year I did it flawlessly. I booked the plane tickets, the hotel stay, and then all we had to worry about was pocket money. I'm going to plan NOLA the same way. This time instead of planning on driving we'll just fly out there. Also, we originally wanted to do an AirBnB, so we'll plan on doing that instead of the Marriot.
All in all I think this will still be a great vacation for us two, even if nothing went as planned.
Related Posts
Thursday, April 11, 2019
0
