I am a planner by nature. I read the books. Research the options. I make checklists. I overpack. I had a binder for my sister’s bachelorette party, for crying out loud!
But last weekend we booked a hotel and jumped in the car without a plan at all. The weather in the Sunshine State was forecasted to be less than stellar. It’s the time of year when all of the weather apps declare a 60-90% chance of rain. Every. Single. Day. It could be sunny. It could be raining. It could just be that ridiculously depressing low hanging gray skies. It’s a roll of the dice!
But we decided to risk it. The girls were spending the weekend making memories at Discovery Cove with my parents, and the last thing I wanted to do was sit home and stare at the walls. So we headed to Tampa!
Our first stop was International Mall. Why? Because we didn’t have kids with us! lol Nobody was bored or asking to buy ridiculously overpriced athleisure clothes (I mean, Jason did buy some but he didn’t ask first!). And we could browse the stores, touch the clothes, and not have to worry about anything except for where we were going to eat lunch! It was glorious! Fifteen years ago, before kids, this was our favorite mall. We actually went to dinner at The Capital Grille here the night we got engaged! International Mall and Bay Street were THE place to be…before we got old. But I digress.
The forecast was pretty accurate and it rained on and off while we were inside, but we managed to escape the worst of it and had a wonderful lunch at Whiskey Cake (highly recommend!!!) before heading to our hotel.
We intended to watch the Tampa Bay Lightning Playoff Game 6 outside on the Plaza; enjoy a few drinks, some great food, and the high energy that comes with Playoff Hockey in Tampa Bay! But Mother Nature had other ideas!
Insert a VAST Tornado Watch that effectively cancelled the outdoor viewing party. But we are Floridians, after all, and decided to brave the elements anyway. It wasn’t raining at that point, so we made the lovely walk to Amalie Arena, grabbed a drink and parked it on the Plaza anyway!
When the skies opened up, we quickly found cover under an awning of the arena, sipping drinks and people watching. We were stalking Ticketmaster, checking prices, almost making a game out of getting a great deal…we had no plans and no where to be. We figured we would head to a bar or restaurant and be perfectly happy not paying $21 for drink inside!
That’s when it happened! The perfect seats popped up at the perfect price and I pounced!
We scored incredible seats at an incredible price, just 30 minutes before puck drop!!!!
The energy was AMAZING! I can’t tell you the last time I was at a hockey game. We had such an incredible time, despite the painful overtime loss.
Lately, our weekends are full of swim meets, birthday parties, and our kids’ social lives. It’s a life full of a million small moments, but we don’t often take the time to make spontaneous memories. And we take even less time to make those memories as a couple, as opposed to as a family. This was a well deserved, wonderful 24 hour escape.
Now we just need to plan a day to bring our kids to a hockey game. Because, you know, even the memories made without them, somehow link back to them! ;0)