My husband and I received an invitation to go to a nearby resort area for 3 days and 2 nights, and all we had to do for this “free” vacation was sit through a time share presentation.  We’ve had quite a stressful past few months, so we figured we’d go for it.  This was an area we have never visited before, so we were looking forward to a quiet couple of days.

So… we headed out Monday morning.  We accidentally took a wrong turn, and the trip took a little longer; we got there just in time to check in.  At the reservation center, we were given vouchers to check into our ocean front room, and a form to fill in with names of friends and neighbors as referrals to earn “points” for resort merchandise.  Yea, right!  I didn’t see that in my Dale Carnegie’s book on How to Win Friends and Influence People.

When we opened the door to our hotel room, I was hit with a yucky smell; not regular ocean musty, but something different.  My husband thought that it was because there was an ash tray in the room, but when we checked, ALL of the rooms had ash trays!  My husband smokes, so it’s not like I’m not used to cigarette smoke.  That wasn’t it.  Being the good sport I am, I bought some Oust odor remover, and hunkered down. 

We slept with the sliding door open to let the ocean sounds in, and we really had a good time, but I realized that I’m a location Diva!  I don’t care about hair, makeup, and clothes (OK, I do like shoes), but I do NOT want to be surrounded by outlet malls, amusement parks, multiple putt-putt golf courses, and unending seafood restaurants with traffic and red lights, just like Coney Island.  The whole area smelled, and not a good smell like the ocean breeze.  I never figured out what it was!

But I’m home now.  I’ve often said that living here is like being on vacation 365 days a year!  Yes, this is a resort area, but a scaled down, more adult version.  OK, I’m a diva.  I’m spoiled.  I’m used to living here and sometimes take it for granted; not often, but every now and then I need a quick kick in the pants to remind me.  Nope, I didn’t buy a timeshare, but I brought home something MUCH more valuable:  the renewed appreciation of the Golden Isles.  To the time share folks, I say “thanks” for the “free” trip, and “THANKS!” for the reminder of why I live here!