Wednesday, November 21, 2007
The (LAST) Resort
We booked reservations, online, 3 months ago - the Chamber of Commerce sent us to their site, Lake Palestine Resort and Cabins. The rooms looked a bit dated, dark paneling, old bedspreads, kitchenettes with white metal cabinets, but it would be fine. Advertised as 'every room is feet from the lake's edge', we were going for atmosphere rather than shampoo in little bottles and handy hairnets just in case you'd left yours at home. When I phoned them, they told me Cabin #2 was sort of a 'freestanding apartment'. That's okay - we were happy to have a little space to ourselves for a romantic evening at the lake's edge.
Driving up, I spied a couple of small cabins, next to the water - maybe one of them was ours?! Quaint, but they'd be just fine. After two passes through the RV park, we found the 'office' and went in to check in. Having already paid for one night when the reservation was made, we had some paperwork to do, hand over the credit card for the additional night, then she handed DH some papers, telling him 'this is in case you get drunk and fall in the lake, or get into a fight and beat each other up'. The reservation was non-refundable, so there was no turning back. We were committed whether we handed over the credit card or not.
She told us how to get to our 'cabin', and we headed back through the RV park, hoping against hope that we'd missed one quaint little snugglebug place, right next to the water. After driving through the gate of a six foot wooden fence, nowhere near the water, we saw a building sitting off by itself, and right next to it all the riding lawnmowers were tucked away. How charming, we were staying next to the mower garage.
As I walked into the 'cabin' it seemed strange to me that the room just appeared bare. As I kept walking through the cabin I passed the kitchen, broom and dustpan sitting out, then into the hall where the burber carpet had big runs in it, wide and long. Then I tucked my head into the bedrooms - the 'master' had a bed, no headboard, a table, no lamp, a chest of drawers that didn't really reach the clock so they set it in the windowsill. The other bedroom had two twin beds, a dresser - that was it. I walked back to the front of the cabin. No window treatments except blinds, not a single picture on a wall, no end tables, no lamps. A TV in the corner, and a little table to eat at. The bathroom had a shower stall, tiny sink and potty. There were notes all over the place telling us they'd counted the linens, so don't take them, don't drop anything in the potty, don't leave the water running because of the septic system, etc. etc. There was one note telling us they had high speed internet, which was really weird since the entire place felt like something out of the 50's.
We'd hoped to watch Monday Night Football since our team was playing, and the room had been advertised as having satellite. We found that did not include ESPN. So we cleaned up a bit and headed into town, to the local Applebees where we ate, then sat and had coffee for the rest of the evening to watch the game. No sound but we could see the players and the score. I never realized places like Applebees keep the screen on and the sound off, since the normal patron came there for the ribs, not the game. After halftime we headed back to the cabin, where we hooked up the internet and DH 'watched' the game on our laptop.
The closer bedtime got, the more it creeped me out to sleep there. It was too late to turn back, so I climbed into bed, and laid there thinking and thinking. How could we justify not staying there the next night when the room was already paid for and there would clearly be no refund.
Holiday Inn Reward travel points!!!! Using the one amenity the 'cabin' had, I went online and checked - sure enough we had enough points for a stay at the nearest one, 5 miles away. So tonight, after spending the day with the realtor driving all around the lake, we're nestled into a bright cheery room, pictures on the wall, of all things there are lamps and end tables! There are little packets of coffee sitting next to pretty coffee mugs, the bed has four choices of pillows, down comforters, and a TV that gets all sorts of channels. We're not going to Applebees tonight - just staying here quite thankful for the room with all its amenities that I obviously never paid enough attention to in the past.
Lake Palestine Resort didn't refund our money, but they did give us a credit voucher. I'm pretty sure the males in our family will enjoy coming back with a can of worms to drown, and find it just to their liking. Mars and Venus - DH didn't complain when I told him I could not stay there another night, but I'm pretty sure he slept just fine, sans tables and lamps and pictures and .....
Driving up, I spied a couple of small cabins, next to the water - maybe one of them was ours?! Quaint, but they'd be just fine. After two passes through the RV park, we found the 'office' and went in to check in. Having already paid for one night when the reservation was made, we had some paperwork to do, hand over the credit card for the additional night, then she handed DH some papers, telling him 'this is in case you get drunk and fall in the lake, or get into a fight and beat each other up'. The reservation was non-refundable, so there was no turning back. We were committed whether we handed over the credit card or not.
She told us how to get to our 'cabin', and we headed back through the RV park, hoping against hope that we'd missed one quaint little snugglebug place, right next to the water. After driving through the gate of a six foot wooden fence, nowhere near the water, we saw a building sitting off by itself, and right next to it all the riding lawnmowers were tucked away. How charming, we were staying next to the mower garage.
As I walked into the 'cabin' it seemed strange to me that the room just appeared bare. As I kept walking through the cabin I passed the kitchen, broom and dustpan sitting out, then into the hall where the burber carpet had big runs in it, wide and long. Then I tucked my head into the bedrooms - the 'master' had a bed, no headboard, a table, no lamp, a chest of drawers that didn't really reach the clock so they set it in the windowsill. The other bedroom had two twin beds, a dresser - that was it. I walked back to the front of the cabin. No window treatments except blinds, not a single picture on a wall, no end tables, no lamps. A TV in the corner, and a little table to eat at. The bathroom had a shower stall, tiny sink and potty. There were notes all over the place telling us they'd counted the linens, so don't take them, don't drop anything in the potty, don't leave the water running because of the septic system, etc. etc. There was one note telling us they had high speed internet, which was really weird since the entire place felt like something out of the 50's.
We'd hoped to watch Monday Night Football since our team was playing, and the room had been advertised as having satellite. We found that did not include ESPN. So we cleaned up a bit and headed into town, to the local Applebees where we ate, then sat and had coffee for the rest of the evening to watch the game. No sound but we could see the players and the score. I never realized places like Applebees keep the screen on and the sound off, since the normal patron came there for the ribs, not the game. After halftime we headed back to the cabin, where we hooked up the internet and DH 'watched' the game on our laptop.
The closer bedtime got, the more it creeped me out to sleep there. It was too late to turn back, so I climbed into bed, and laid there thinking and thinking. How could we justify not staying there the next night when the room was already paid for and there would clearly be no refund.
Holiday Inn Reward travel points!!!! Using the one amenity the 'cabin' had, I went online and checked - sure enough we had enough points for a stay at the nearest one, 5 miles away. So tonight, after spending the day with the realtor driving all around the lake, we're nestled into a bright cheery room, pictures on the wall, of all things there are lamps and end tables! There are little packets of coffee sitting next to pretty coffee mugs, the bed has four choices of pillows, down comforters, and a TV that gets all sorts of channels. We're not going to Applebees tonight - just staying here quite thankful for the room with all its amenities that I obviously never paid enough attention to in the past.
Lake Palestine Resort didn't refund our money, but they did give us a credit voucher. I'm pretty sure the males in our family will enjoy coming back with a can of worms to drown, and find it just to their liking. Mars and Venus - DH didn't complain when I told him I could not stay there another night, but I'm pretty sure he slept just fine, sans tables and lamps and pictures and .....
Labels: Girl Talk
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