RSS Feed

Staycation or bust!

Official* definition: a period of time in which you take a vacation, but instead of traveling, you become a tourist in your own city.

Our Staycation had been planned for weeks. A weekend had been set aside. The time was right. The weather forecast: great. But something happens when you don't travel for your vacation, but instead stick around and enjoy your own city...other things tend to creep in. The things that crept were good things, fun things...but I learned that if you want to take a vacation, you must LEAVE TOWN. Ok..on to the fun stuff.

Friday night we ventured to the Mall of America. You can't be a tourist in Minneapolis and not step foot into the largest mall in the nation. Shopping was not on our agenda, however. We headed straight to Underwater Adventures and hung out with exotic fish and large, hungry looking sharks. I was very thankful for the think glass separating us from them, even though it surrounded us on all sides, even over head.



Saturday after dropping our friends of at the airport for their REAL vacation, we hit up the James J Hill house for a tour and a history lesson. Now, to some this may seem like a boring thing to do on vacation, but for a nerd like me, it was great! The house was built by a railroad tycoon at the end of the 19Th century in an affluent part of St. Paul. It was fun to be transported back to a time of fancy balls and important parties where the ladies descended down the grand staircase to meet their men waiting below.





Saturday afternoon was...yep, you got it...our Segway tour! Despite looking fairly ridiculous while riding them, it was a fun and informative tour. The video I posted yesterday on Movie Monday was taken accidentally by one of the Humanonastick staff that we likened to lifeguards because they were young, didn't really care too much about their jobs, and were just there to be social with the other young, indifferent staff.


The finale of our Staycation was the Aquatennial fireworks show which is by far the best display I have ever seen. Thanks to the (I'm sure) hundreds of thousands of dollars that Target spent on the event, we ooohed and ahhhed for a good 30 minutes on the Stone Arch Bridge on a perfect night, bringing to a close the perfect Staycation!
* Ok, so this is only as official as I have made it, but don't you think it belongs in a dictionary of some kind? I'm writing a letter to the OED right now!

4 comments:

Lisa said...

That is a great idea to just stay in town and do all the fun stuff there. There is tons we haven't done yet. I guess we are waiting for visitors?

Amanda said...

What a fun Stayvacation! We need one of those big time! A whole weekend to ourselves to do fun and unique little adventures, and the best part is you don't have to pay for traveling expenses!

BTW, thanks for the idea of touring the Hill mansion! That is something I would LOVE to do! I guess I'm a nerd, to, because I absolutely love visiting historic sites and that sort of thing!

And yes, you should pursue the idea of making "Stayvacation" a word, because it totally makes sense!

Amanda said...

I meant Staycation, but I kept writing stayvacation...oops! :)

Anonymous said...

i see they gave dave the sporty red segway!