Behind the Scenes

So far we've shown you all the great historical and cultural sites we've visited.  But now I'll give you a  behind-the-scenes view of our trip.

We've paid nearly the same price for every hotel we've stayed at, probably within $10.  No variation by region.  That surprises me, because when Karl and I travelled through the south many years ago, hotels were ridiculously cheap, like $12/night.  I didn't expect that kind of price, but I did think the prices would vary more.

The other thing that doesn't vary much is breakfast.  Every hotel has the same line-up: apple and orange juice (with maybe 2 that had cranberry as well), coffee with those yummy little flavored creamer packs (except that a few hotels only had the plain creamer), disgusting packaged sweet rolls, oatmeal packs, two kinds of cold cereal (usually Raisin Bran and Fruit Loops), and a waffle machine.  A few years ago these waffle machines were a special treat, but now they are everywhere.  Every single hotel we've stayed at has had one.  A couple of hotels have had hard boiled eggs, which even my kids have come to like because at least it's some form of protein.  If we're really lucky, a few hotels have had hot food, usually biscuits and gravy (I hesitate to call it "sausage" gravy without any evidence of sausage to prove it), and sometimes scrambled eggs and sausages.  But usually it's the cereal-and-waffle line-up.

Fortunately, nearly every hotel has had a pool too.  Not that it matters much, since in the beginning of the trip we were arriving too late to use them, and now they come with free thunderstorms and no one can swim!  But right now, Wednesday morning, the weather is great and the kids are swimming in this, one of the nicest pools we've seen.

I've managed to work out at a lot of the hotels we've stayed in, but I've learned that it helps to ask a few questions before you book a room: "Do you have a fitness room?"  "Does it have a treadmill?" and finally, the most important one, "Does it work?!"  In the south the treadmills come with built-in fans.  And you need them!  I sweated off nearly 2 pounds in 30 minutes the other day - that's got to be some kind of record!  On Sunday we got to our hotel late and they closed the fitness room before I'd even run a mile, so I ran for another 20 minutes up and down stairs and hallways in the hotel.  I'm so glad the hotels have exercise equipment though, because I was afraid I'd have to spend money in a gym or acquire some mace and take to the streets.

In trying to save money, we've been picnicking a lot.  (Did I spell that right?)  After a nice lunch in Savannah yesterday, here was our dinner.  Not bad, and I've gotten very creative about using the hotel ice bucket to make salad in!  However, the other day I bought $46 worth of food and the kids ate it all in one meal.  We might as well have eaten in a restaurant.  Growing boys...

Hailey is generally in charge of food while we're driving, because she sits next to the cooler.  We're calling her the "Kitchen Genius," and she's mastered the fine art of serving iced drinks at 70 mph.  She also reloads ice in the cooler every day or two and has gathered for us this fine collection of supplementary food items.  She keeps them in a cup next to her seat that we call the "Samwise Gamgee cup," after Sam's box of spices in Lord of the Rings.  We've actually used a lot of these, but um, does anyone have a suggestion for how to use Chinese duck sauce?