We took the elevator up to our room before discovering it was actually on the second floor (although it was called the 12th floor for some unknown reason) and could be easily reached by the nearby staircase. We also noticed the floor was creepily quiet. It was only a few days before Memorial Day, supposedly one of the hotels biggest weekends. We all noticed it, but no one said anything. This castle of gold could not be tarnished in our eyes.
The beds in our room were calling our names and we all settled in for a bit of a nap. After said nap we all set to work making sure we achieved just the right mix of fun and relaxation. OMP practically ran to the indoor swimming pool. This is always incredibly amusing as OMP notoriously hates swimming and water activities, however the indoor pool at The Homestead is his idea of nirvana. Mom told the girls to get our dinner clothes out so that she could iron them (I can't iron, amazingly four years of women's college didn't teach me to iron, what a waste of an education). It was here that I noticed my shoe bag was missing, meaning my only pairs of shoes were a pair of cheap flip flops and nice sneakers. I'm not one to be picky but I had a brand new haircut and a wide variety of dresses that I been saving for this event and I'm ashamed to admit I threw a bit of a hissy fit. I wanted to look cute, polished and rich but all I had was a pair of flip flops from Burlington Coat Factory and Chucks with bumblebees on them. Mom took control of the situation and together we walked out to car to see if we had just forgotten to take it out of the car when we were unloading.
The cars were all valet parked up by the stables (just keep rereading that sentence) so it was a bit of a hike. When we got there we were shocked to see that our car was practically alone in the parking lot. With no forms of public transportation in the area, it was clear that we were literally some of the only guests in the whole gigantic hotel. The bag was not there and I began to whine again. Ever clear-minded, Mom convinced me that my flip flops complimented all of outfits perfectly. I switched my tactic to my sneakers, we were going to be going on a nature walk the next day and I didn't want to get my sneakers dirty. I had kept this particular pair clean all semester, a new record for me, and I was rather proud of how clean they were. Mom just shrugged and said "alright we'll buy you some new ones".
My mom is not cheap, but she's not an extravagant spender either. I was thrown off by the fact that she would just throw down money for a new pair of sneakers at the only (overpriced) store in town simply because I forgot mine at home. But that was part of the beauty of the Homestead, money didn't exist here. Thirsty? Go buy a soda. Hungry? Go pay 10 bucks for a bowl of soup. Need sneakers? Buy them. I think that's part of the reason I love the Homestead so much, because of the mindset that it puts my family in. We don't just save up enough to afford the room at the hotel, we save beyond that when we plan to go so that we can afford the luxury of leaving the credit cards in our room and just charging what we needed to the room. In these recession wracked times, this luxury is more fulfilling than ever.
So Mom and I walked down to the store to buy a new pair of sneakers. We found a pair in my size, tried them on, bam, new sneakers. Mom paid for them and I embarrassingly thanked her. She shrugged and said "I've been trying to buy you a legitimate pair of sneakers for years. Now maybe you won't hurt yourself so much at that job of yours this summer". I thought about it, "Wow!" I exclaimed "Just think of how many fridges I can move in these!". Mom sighed, she really hates my job sometimes. Three weeks later I must say that these shoes are absolutely fantastic and I don't know what I was doing by cheaping out when buying sneakers. A good pair of sneakers feels spectacular!
We stopped by the pool to make sure OMP was still alive. There we found him alone in the pool floating along in pure bliss. I fully expect him to have installed an indoor pool in my sisters room/his "office"/my storage room by the end of the summer. He got out of the pool when he saw us, dried off and told us that he "felt like a millionaire". With OMP became the first to reach the "like-a-millionaire" status we were all grasping for.
What OMP sees in his dreams (note the potted palms)
We met up with Caroline who I can only assume had been at the gym and went down to the Great Hall for tea.
(Again with the potted palms, I need some of those for my room!)
Pots of tea were brought over and we quickly drained them. Our family can drink tea, we are all huge tea fans. Add the fact that we were tired and caffeine deprived and it becomes clear that another round was needed. Luckily at The Homestead your wish is their command and two more pots were brought over in a jiffy. Revived and relaxed, it was time to continue our day.
OMP headed to the....well we'll say library for the sake of keeping this story going, while the women went to the concierge to see what movies were playing in the theater that night. Nothing good was playing, just some animated film. Oh well. A couple made dinner reservations in front of us and we overheard that the dining room would be open the next night. When our reservations were first made we were told that for some reason the dining hall would only be open on our last night. Mom and Caroline practically tackled the nice young couple out of the way in order to change our reservation for the next night from the tavern to the dining room.
It turns out in an effort to cut the budget, the hotel was only opening one of their restaurants at night, rather than both. Mom bit the bullet and asked how the hotel was faring in the economy. Without hesitation the concierge replied "Not well". Her frank outlook on the situation shocked us. In an environment where everyone goes out of their way to please you and tell you what your want hear, her honestly was a shocking reminder that we were not Vanderbilts in the gilded, but rather a normal middle class family in the "oops, now what" age as I like to call it (I named it that after my time in Ireland. That seems to be the general feeling over there...oops!). Luckily Caroline had moved on to a rather difficult puzzle in the corner by this point. It's always best to not burst her bubble.
Despite our shocking reminder of the times we were still pleased that we were able to change our dinner reservations for the next night to the infinitely more classy dining room. It was getting close to dinner time as it was, so we went back upstairs to change.
As I was changing I looked outside and noticed the most fascinating spectacle, a group of people dressed as Confederate soldiers and southern belles. As if we hadn't already identified ourselves as the hotels only northerners, Caroline and I threw open the window and began pointing and taking pictures
(not classy)
(not classy)
We scampered down to Sam Sneads Tavern, stopping to gawk at the Southern culture show going on (as we walked by they were having a hawking demonstration, complete with live hawk). At Sam Sneads we enjoyed a delightful meal, although we were all excited that we would get to eat in the dining hall the next day. After dinner we crashed in bed. I tried to read my book but only got about two pages in before crashing. The trip was off to a good start and there was so much more to go.
Coming up in Part III: I promise you will meet Al.
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I believe it was a falcon. What a falcon has to do with an antebellum costume party is beyond me. --OMP
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