Vacation Planning

 As I have mentioned before, March is a transition month between winter and spring; it can exhibit both cold and warm temperatures with even a little bit of snow that may or may not stick to the ground; but, for all intents and purposes, winter is basically behind us; consequently, we turn our attention to the summer and making reservations for vacations.

With this in mind, my wife and I typically plan two vacations during the warm weather, one in April/May and the second one in September/October.  The first vacation is usually taken in Florida, typically no farther than Fort Lauderdale; the second vacation is without a second thought at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

We avoid June - July - August because those are the typically vacation months for the family and the prices are usually higher.  We also try to avoid weekends because prices are higher over the weekends as well.   As a result, we are looking at arriving Sunday and leaving Saturday.  At our age, 5 days in the sun or under an umbrella is enough for us.

This year, we are looking at spending a couple of days at a Vacation Village resort (Free) as part of a special owner's package and then spending another 3-4 days either at a rental in Clearwater or St. Agustine, both of which are in Florida.

If we go to Clearwater, we are on the Gulf of Mexico and the drive back is 10.5 hours and if we go to St. Augustine, we are on the Atlantic Ocean and the drive back is only 8.5 hours.

I wanted to go to Daytona, but my wife pointed out that we had already been there before and we should go somewhere new.  There are pros and cons with that suggestion, but I decided not to bring any of them up.  Thirty years of marriage teaches you when to talk and when not to talk.   LOL

By spending three nights and two days at the VV resort for owners, we get a $100 plus a free meal but pay nothing for the room.  We have to listen to a presentation of owner's benefits which is always a pain in the ass, but I guess that's why they are giving us a free meal and $100.

Out timeshare is in the Berkshires, and we have never been but only pay a maintenance fee once every 3 years.  We got the time share to trade but trading has never worked out for us.   We also tried to get out of it, but that did not work either.  If we hired a lawyer to get us out, it would cost us more for the legal fees than we paid for the damn time share.

At some point we will stop paying the maintenance fees and see if they want to take a couple in their 80s to court...