The nicest hotel room I've ever stayed in is a suite on a high floor of a casino hotel overlooking the Missouri River in the St. Louis suburb of St. Charles, Missouri.
It's a wonderful place. The big king-size bed highlights the "upper" portion of the suite. Down a few steps is the living room area, with the big picture window looking straight down into that beautiful brown river. It's a place of peace for me, and if I were independently wealthy I may just have a room there on retainer. One of these rooms would be a great place for writing.
Jamie and I have had the pleasure of staying there a couple times only through the grace and generosity of some family friends who are frequent players at the casino and who receive room comps on a regular basis.
The week after next, I'm taking three days off from Acme Co. During two of those days, Jamie and I thought it might be fun to take a road trip to St. Charles and stay at the hotel, maybe also check out some of the wineries in the area. We called our friend and sure enough, the free room was available to us.
This morning, as we were enjoying our Sunday paper along with breakfast in bed, Jamie and I thought about it a little more.
The pull of a free, beautiful hotel room for two nights was definitely a tantalizing temptation. Originally we thought it represented an opportunity as well, the opportunity to utilize my vacation time and get out of town for a couple days.
But today - especially after reading this fortune - we came to a realization. A realization that we're on financial lockdown, and driving four hours to St. Charles and spending what'll surely be at least a few hundred bucks on gas and food is not at all a wise thing to do.
It was a difficult decision, and we're both sad that we won't be able to enjoy that room, that view and a much-needed getaway. But it was the right decision for us right now.
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