Life as we knew it changed drastically in March 2020. I traveled to Jackson Hole Wyoming with my husband, parents, and kids in tow for a fun-filled, snow-packed, skiing spring break adventure. Or so we thought. There was a small rumbling of a virus as we were packing, so I brought extra hand sanitizers, wipes, and plenty of Vitamin C packets to last a century. It would all be fine once we were in the snow! Well, plans did not go as planned. The slopes closed two days later and restaurants started to close one by one or offer to-go meals. Our hotel restaurant and amenities were still operating up until the final day. We made the most of our time, sledding on makeshift areas, building snowmen, women, and children. Walking, and exploring the great outdoors. In our little place, we did not feel overwhelmed with the virus overtaking the world until we had to fly home. Flights changed, delayed, an unexpected overnight just to get back home.
We arrived home and the world stopped! No toilet paper, everyone wearing masks, bathing in hand sanitizer ( what about our natural germ defense, is all could think), grocery delivery, Amazon, but worst of all no school or working in an office. My once solitude of time working alone in my house was now taken over by my children and husband. Ordered desks for the playroom (thank you Amazon), so my kids could Zoom into class, the guestroom became my husband’s new office and my sanity quickly left! No more date nights, gathering with friends, or family outings. Just the four of us in our bubble, Zooming away. We, like the rest of the world, were freighted by this mysterious virus and angry that we were trapped in our homes. How did this happen and why came up on a regular basis. Our mental health took a dive. We are not meant to be isolated.
In this moment I decided that we were not going to let this stop us from living. So we decided to try new recipes, no joke I cooked Ina Garten recipes for an entire month! My son developed a love of Indian Food and most importantly we cooked as a family. We were going to get outside. Hey, we live in Florida, so that is an easy thing to do! We started playing golf once or twice a week. Riding bikes, getting take-out from our favorite local restaurants to help them stay afloat, and creating a Covid bubble with a few close friends so that we could all get together and bar-b-que, play games and chill outside. Our family started to heal and feel whole again.
Summer 2020 was fast approaching and I decided that we were going to travel. (sorry Dr. Fauci). I was scanning the web for a place to travel in our state, numbers were down, that we could get away too. And Marriott popped up with “Where can we take you next?” So I thought “Marriott, Where will you take me?” And we have not stopped traveling since!
The first trip was July 2020 and we stayed for a week at The Ritz Carlton on Amelia Island. Convinced my parents, who also wanted to break out of Covid jail, to come along. We sat by the beach, drank cocktails by the pool, ate dinner outside on the beautiful patio, roasted smores on the beach under the stars, played a little golf, and exhaled a big breath of thanks. This is exactly what we craved and needed! Marriott had social distancing, cleanliness, and all precautions down to a science. Memories were made.