When you go on a road trip, do you take your pillow?
I like my pillow, and sometimes I even sneak a little snooze in the car, if the driver is OK with that.
So, last week we needed to get out of town before Hurricane Milton landed here in Florida. Knowing flights would be canceled and the roads could be doubly affected after Hurricane Helene had destroyed the Big Bend area of Florida the week before, we would need to drive fast.
I wasn’t simply running away from the catastrophic Cat 5 tropical storm headed right for my house with wind speeds of 180 mph the national weather service predicted. I needed to get to New Orleans for my son and his beautiful bride’s upcoming wedding.
Pete and I watched the storm building over the weekend and listened to the ominous forecasts. We gathered our patio furniture into a corner of the lanai, closed the interior doors and secured a safe, friend’s home for Harry to wait out the week without us.
We left Tuesday morning after a rather sleepless, stress filled night. My sister and her family left town Monday night and I sure didn’t want to get stuck here!
Our gas tank was filled which was a good thing. By Tuesday morning many stations had run out of gas. The news reports of the mass exodus from Florida showed major highways filled with traffic using the shoulders to get out of the storm’s path.
I looked for hotels and Airbnbs along the route and came up with SOLD OUT for practically everything. The closest thing I found was one of 2 rooms left in a hotel and golf resort in Dothan, Alabama – about 30 miles north of our route on highway 10, so I booked it.
The drive north was stop and go. Lots of traffic and a number of fender benders slowed our progress to basically a crawl. We passed downed trees along the sides of the highway from Helene’s heavy winds the week before.
As the sun was setting, we arrived at the hotel to warm smiles as they had welcomed many evacuees from Florida throughout the day. The decor of the hotel was eclectic antiques. As we walked through the lobby, Pete smiled and claimed to have owned several of the objets d’art like the vintage, manual typewriter, the wooden washboard and even the rusty 1970 Volkswagen Bug situated at the 150 yard marker on the driving range outside our hotel window.
We unpacked our overnight bag and I brought in my pillow. The pillows looked to be a bit vintage as well, so I was happy to have brought my own. After getting some fine southern cooking, we slept well in our airconditioned room.
We left early the next morning so we would get to New Orleans before dark. Sometime along the way I reached back for my pillow for a late morning snooze only to realize I had left it on the bed!
OK, this is not the first time I have done this. I remember to bring my pillow with me on trips, but seem to donate it upon my departure from the hotel. In fact, I didn’t really care too much about the pillow, but the pillowcase was one that had been a wedding gift with our initials on it and I was bummed not to have a full set anymore. Pete told me to call the hotel.
What? Make a phone call? I have turned into quite the millennial with my avoidance of making phone calls. I could text or send an email I suggested. Pete scoffed and just told me to call, so I did.
The gentleman at the desk was so nice. I said I left my pillow in the room and it has our initials on it. I explained that I didn’t need the pillow, but could he mail me the pillowcase? He asked for my address and told me he would have to find a big envelope. I hung up with doubts I’d ever have that full sheet set again.
So wasn’t I surprised to get this big envelope in the mail today!
Hurricanes can give us a lot of stress. Weddings are another big stressor in life, although joyful and full of wonderful emotions as well. Coming back to our home, we were one of the lucky ones. Many people near us had power outages or tree damage to their property. Our beautiful beaches and businesses near the water experienced massive water damage from both hurricanes and are working hard to make repairs.
Our home and our little dog Harry were just fine thanks to good neighbors and some good luck and lots of prayers.
Trying to think how to thank the hotel employee for sending me my pillowcase. Do I Venmo someone the $6.50 or do I donate some of Pete’s antiques? Just kidding honey!
Hey reader – what would you do to thank the hotel employee?
