Morning on the Gulf..

My husband and I are planning a trip to Florida in January for a trade show.. It is business with a little bit of family and pleasure mixed in.. The kind of trip that serves two purposes, or so you hope.
When I started shopping for lodging I looked at several different sites on the web and finally went back to an old favorite, Marriott... Marriott is good for business travelers.  They cater to them, with high speed Internet, a good business center, and free parking, for the most part.  And they have several different brands for all kinds of different budgets.  I have, at one point or another, stayed in most of them.  The Renaissance , the Courtyard, the Marriott brand, Springhill Suites, and Fairfield Inns.  My favorite is either the Springhill or the Fairfield..so for this trip I picked the Fairfield.
When I woke up this morning I was thinking about the trip and my choice of lodging and I realized why I like that hotel.  It is on the bottom of the list of all their brands, and by that I mean the least expensive.  You tend to get more for your money there.  Free breakfast, free Internet, free parking, a suite usually with a small kitchen so you can prepare some of your meals in house, a separate place for you to work if you need to, a comfortable bed and usually a very good television, not that there is ever anything on it that I care to watch, but just in case there might be, I want one in the room.   It is true you bypass what some people would call luxuries, such as having valet service, someone to carry your luggage for you, some one to come to your room and pick up your laundry and so on and so on.
And I realized that is exactly why I like it.  I like to carry my own luggage, especially since I have a husband with me who is always willing to lug it for me.  I like to cook in the room and eat there, too.  I like to park my own car.  I don't want someone to wait on me.  I didn't grow up with people doing that.  I grew up working.  Doing whatever had to be done on the farm.  Feeding cows and pigs and chicken. Gathering eggs.  Canning fruit.  You name it, we did it.. So I am uncomfortable when people want to fuss over me.  I like to independently take care of myself and my husband.  And when my kids were at home I felt the same way about them. I didn't want to drop them off at the baby sitter and let someone else watch them while I went off to pursue a career. I must admit,  if I'm being completely honest,  there were times I would have given a king's ransom to just leave them somewhere for a week or maybe two, and then come back and pick them up when I was totally rested up and starting to miss them.   But that didn't happen.  Come what may, I  had them with me, day in and day out.  And now that they are grown up I am so happy that's the way things worked out.  I'm not knocking working mothers.  I realize many women have to work to make ends meet and I admire them for their hard work and sacrifice.  But I was thankful that I had a husband who worked hard so I could stay home and raise our family.  The bonding that takes place as your child grows up is irreplaceable, and I got to accomplish that with mine.  They no longer need me to look after them, but they are all still a big part of my life.
And so we are off.  Off to the beach.  Off on an adventure.  Off to watch the sunrise together as it comes up over the Gulf of Mexico..After many years and many sunrises, I never grow tire of watching the day break on the horizon.  And to be able to watch it over the ocean, over white sand beaches and sea birds flying, and sea oats swaying gently in the ocean breeze, with the person I love more than anyone else on earth, well, it just doesn't get much better than this..