Sunthing Special

 When I was in my late 20s, I began to travel overnight by myself. A few times, I stayed at cheap hotels/motels and was really creeped out and scared to be there alone (especially since at one place the rooms could be entered from the parking lot; I was awakened several times during the night by someone(s) knocking on the door and trying to twist the knob). At some point I realized a B&B might be safer for a single woman traveling alone. A host/ess at least would know by morning if I didn’t make it back at night. I don’t remember my first B&B — I think it was the glorious Chocolate Turtle in Albuquerque, where I went to celebrate my 30th birthday.  

MV Challenger Bunk & Breakfast, Seattle, June 1998

Since then I have stayed at countless B&Bs from coast to coast — first alone, then later with my nieces, my BFF, my husband, and now, with my own children. Some B&Bs were absolutely incredible – and some were incredibly bad. But each one was an adventure in itself. I stayed on a tugboat in Seattle (actually, it was a “bunk and breakfast”), an old jail in Bardstown, KY and in someone’s kid’s old basement bedroom in Ann Arbor. Breakfast has ranged from a gourmet, five-course affair served on fine China by candlelight with classical music playing to stale donuts and in one case, no breakfast at all. Some hosts/esses  have bent over backwards, and some have seemed irritated when we asked for a fork. We’ve met other guests who have been a source of information, a source of annoyance, or once, a source of creepiness (another couple was a bit too friendly, if you know what I mean). 

Breakfast set for 2 in a French countryside B&B, June 2000

 One of my favorite memories was a trip my husband and I took in France — we biked from B&B to B&B in the French countryside. Each B&B would pack a picnic lunch for us to carry on our bikes, then they’d take our luggage to the next place. Yes, it was as incredible as it sounds. The food, the scenery, the utter “coolness” — and especially, the memory of sitting around a huge table for three hours enjoying a 7-course dinner (the only time I’ll probably eat “duck throat” in my life) with couples from all over Europe. B&Bs are definitely not for everyone — but for those adventurous enough to try them, you could be in for a real “trip”!

Growing up in a solidly middle class home, when we traveled, we always stayed at a solidly middle class hotel – Holiday Inn. Oh, on occasion it was a Howard Johnson’s or if we were lucky, a Ramada. But almost always it was the Holiday Inn. So of course now as an adult I can’t stand the thought of staying in one. There was just a sameness – a predictability – a smell – that creeps me out. As I grew up and made my own travel plans, I deliberately sought places that were unique, like B&Bs.

Atrium of the Embassy Suites in New Orleans

But now with three kids my options are limited (most places have a 4 person per room max) so I now almost always choose an Embassy Suites. It’s a great place to stay with the kids – prices are reasonable, the cooked-to-order breakfast is often outstanding, the manager’s reception includes free drinks and snacks, and the suites have a door separating the bedroom from the living room with the sleeper sofa (“door” being a key point). You also get a refrigerator, microwave and dining room set. Other hotels have some of these things at some of their locations, but Embassy Suites has a consistency you can count on. Hmm – sameness … predictability … have I become my parents?? In a way, yes. But I like to think of the Embassy Suites as the best solution for this time in our lives, and when things change, we can go back to a time when the lodging was half the adventure! 

Sure, why not? Everyone we knew who was fortunate enough to go on vacation this summer headed to Disney World or the beach. We, however, grabbed some cheap flights from Pittsburgh and headed to The Big Easy. “That’s different,” the librarian responded when I told her our travel plans. My husband and I had been there before and did think it would be a different experience for the kids since there truly is nowhere in the world like New Orleans. We stayed in the Central Business District and because it was low season/hurricane season we got an incredible deal on our room at the Embassy Suites: $99/night for two nights with the third night free (a huge breakfast and nightly drinks were free, too!). Sure, what we saved in travel and lodging we made up for in entertainment and food expenses, but hey, it’s New Orleans and there are just some things you’ve got to do! So in our five full days there we did: City Tour with cemetery stop, day at City Park (Botanical Gardens, Carousel Garden, Storyland and Sculpture Gardens), streetcar rides, Riverwalk, French Quarter (including two stops at Cafe DuMonde for heavily powdered sugar beignets), Steamboat Natchez ride down the Mississippi, swamp tour, Insectarium, Audubon Zoo and the Presbytere Museum (Internet coupons and AAA discounts helped with the admissions, by the way).

Gators swamp our boat looking for chicken

The kids tried food they had never tried before, like alligator sausage, talked to people who lived through Hurricane Katrina (or “when the levees broke,” as one cab driver called it), and experienced a part of our country unlike any other, a city which is recovering very well, I might add. So if you think New Orleans is just for adults partying on Bourbon Street (where we never took the kids, by the way), think again. And like our family, you too might just fall under the spell of the Crescent City.

St. Louis Cemetery No. 3