miniMoon Madness

If you've read KJ's blog you'll already know what this post is all about.

In honor of the final four games this weekend and the national championship game tonight, I thought it was very appropriate to post this today.

I've told you all about our decision to take our official honeymoon after recovering from the wedding. So we've turned our efforts to finding out miniMoon destinations. By miniMoon I mean a small, less expensive trip you take right away after the wedding when you are planning a more elaborate "honeymoon" at a later date. We decided our miniMoon would be someplace within a days drive, and living in the midwest, we are semi-limited to where we could go.

There were a few places that came to mind right away, the top "seeds", if you will, but then there were a few places that if we looked into a little deeper, they could be winners to, underdogs.

So, in true college-sport lovers fashion, we made a miniMoon madness bracket!

March was pretty much dedicated to filling out the bracket, and April will be time for the hotels and regions to go head-to-head.

So, with no further ado, our bracket:



I know it's a little hard to see, we have a large version of it sitting at home for us to actually cross off, but here is a listing of all the players:

Nashville
1 Hutton Hotel
2 Union Station
3 Renaissance
4 Opryland

Mid-West
1 Branson, Missouri – Chateau on the Lake
2 Niagara Falls – Hilton Niagara Falls
3 Branson, Missouri - Hilton Branson
4 Black Hills (Mt. Rushmore), South Dakota - Powder House Lodge

Wisconsin
1 Lake Geneva – Grand Geneva
2 Door County – Stone Harbor
3 Milwaukee – the Pfister
4 Wisconsin Dells – Rhapsody on Lake Delton

Michigan
1 Mackinac Island – the Inn at Stonecliff
2 Bay Harbor – the Inn at Bay Harbor
3 Holland - City Flats Hotel
4 Mackinac Island - Chippewa Hotel

Florida
1 Amelia Island – Amelia Island Plantation
2 Santa Rosa Beach – Watercolor Inn
3 Point Vedra Beach – Point Vedra Beach Resorts
4 Destin - Hampton Inn Destin

South
1 Savannah – Westin Savannah Harbor Gold Resort & Spa
2 New Orleans - Windsor Court Hotel
3 Savannah – Bohemian Hotel Riverfront
4 New Orleans – Ritz Carlton

South Carolina
1 Hilton Head Island – Hilton Oceanfront
2 Charleston – Francis Marion Hotel
3 Charleston/Isle of Palms – Wild Dunes Inn
4 Charleston – Vendue Inn

North Carolina
1 Ashville – Grove Park Inn
2 Outer Banks - The Sanderling
3 Outer Banks/Kitty Hawk - Hilton Garden Inn
4 Charlotte – Ballantyne Resort

WHAT DO YOU THINK? I'm taking bets on who the winner will be, where is your favorite?

miniMOON

So, it's pretty much decided that we will be postponing an official Honeymoon till a few months after the wedding so that we can save up a little money and make the trip one of the ages. While I am not a huge fan of this idea, I understand saving and being able to pay for the honeymoon so we don't go into debt. In exchange, I've set out a few guidelines to our postponed honeymoon including the stipulation that it must be taken no later than April 2011, must involve a spot with palm trees and a balmy sun, and preferably a location out of this country. Now, that being said, I'm not going to go through this whole planning ordeal without looking forward to some type of R&R after August 14th. The idea of taking a few day "minimoon" came across and it seemed like a good idea.

A few of the initial thoughts on locations include places accessible in a day's drive: Mackinaw Island, Door County, Nashville, and a staycation in Chicago. So I started looking into Mackinaw Island and Door County today, and I am sick to my stomach. All I've seen are family-friendly, floral wall paper, baby bunny decorated, old-fashion bed and breakfast type of places that are making me queasy!!! NOTHING about this says "romantic minimoon". No chic hotels, yummy trendy restaurants to experiment at, spa's to enjoy a couples massage, or sandy beach (sans mosquito's) beckoning me to lie upon my newly gifted Martha Stewart beach towels.

Now I know I'm not going to get tropical rum drinks on this minimoon, but "OH!" the disappointment and FEAR I'm feeling regarding this option when the list of room amenities includes items like "white picket fence room trim" and "ceiling fan"...

...rather than valet parking, plush bathrobes, flat screen tv, and luxourious linens.
I'm not a country girl, I don't like camping, bugs and lakes creep me out, majorly. While I enjoy escaping to places like this occasionally, this is totally NOT what I've envisioned for our minimoon. Needless to say, I'm not giving up my tropical paradise daydreams just yet. Mackinaw Island and Door County... I'm moving on. I'm going to look into Nashville next. While there isn't the beautiful coast that Lake Michigan provides, at least there are some "Luxury" hotel options (and after looking at what most of the options "up north" are, Hampton Inn looks luxury). Oh my goodness, wish me luck...