Mini Munley: Anniversary Stay-Cation

What is a Stay-Cation?

The word "staycation" was coined by Canadian writer, Brent Butt, for his TV comedy, Corner Gas. In October of 2005, gas station proprietor Brent Leroy (Brent Butt) stocks up on sunscreen, suntan lotion, and sunglasses, then spends his "annual vacation" (which comes around once every two or three years) relaxing in a lawn chair outside the gas station.

Brent calls his getaway a "staycation" - short for "stay-at-home vacation". The word caught on, and now you will find it in reference sources such as Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and the Urban Dictionary.

The staycation has been referred to tongue-in-cheek as the equivalent of being unemployed for a week or a chance to sit around and look at all the reasons you wanted to get away for a week in the first place.

In reality, it refers to any vacation at or near home.

So why would you want to take a staycation?

• To save money on gas and airfare. Check

• To visit local sights you have never seen before. Check

• To avoid the hassles of planning a formal vacation. Check

• To avert the stresses of packing and traveling. Check

A staycation requires some planning but done right, it can leave you refreshed and rejuvenated in a way that most vacations cannot. Better yet, you will not have to mortgage the house to pay for it.

Activities might include:

• Visiting local attractions Check

• Trying fancy restaurants that you normally would never eat at Check

• Going to your College Football game with awesome firework show Check

• Sleeping-in in your own bed, for free Check

On the way home from the football game, we stopped at BJs and had dinner. This is a normal place we eat at, but it was fun to eat slowly and enjoy ourselves at midnight, without a grumpy baby.

Being that we live in San Diego, a great vacation spot in and of itself, we really had the opportunity to create the perfect staycation. The next morning, we slept in and then headed to a restaurant I had always wanted to try, but is oh-so-expensive called Jakes Del Mar and it is right on the sand. The goal of a stay-cation is to splurge on local activities that you normally would not splurge on. Jakes was no exception. We spent almost $70 on lunch after tip and parking, but it was so good.

I wanted a nice glass of wine, because I was away from the baby and had the opportunity to drink a glass. Oh how I missed sipping ice cold Chardonnay in a beautiful long stemmed glass. Of course, Justin ordered a Diet Coke. For him the question is with or without rum. Haha. As our starters, I had the Maui Onion Bisque Soup and it was soooo good and Justin had a Caesar Salad. Then for our main course, Justin had a Bistro Burger with onion strings, Tillamook Cheddar and barbecue aioli. I had the Brandt Farms Steak and Wedge which is a USDA Prime bavette steak, petite iceberg lettuce, heirloom tomato, bacon and blue cheese dressing and it was to die for! For dessert Justin had the Peanut Butter Brownie with Chocolate Peanut Brittle and Chocolate Ice Cream.

Lunch took over two hours. The food was divine, but the service was horrible. In fact, I need to write a letter to them about that. My entree came out and they brought 2 of them. Justin's burger was no where to be found. I ate super slow while we waited for Justin's entree to arrive. It finally showed up and I was just about done. Guess what they offered us? A free dessert to share. Now this is a lovely gesture, but we were getting a free dessert anyways because it was our anniversary.

By the time we finished lunch, we headed home and changed and then headed to the San Diego State Football Game and KGB Skyshow!!! We love the Skyshow. We talked all week long about buying tickets online. We never did it because we did not want to pay the ticketmaster fees. Well, we got to the game and they were sold out of all 3 sections we wanted to sit in (because of the view for the skyshow later). We ended up buying 2 tickets that were one in front of the other. I sat next to Justin and if someone showed up and wanted their seat, I would have to move the the seat in front. Luckily, no one showed up to claim that seat. While we were there, I had Nachos and we shared a refillable Diet Coke.

The Aztecs won by a lot and the skyshow was awesome. We went to Dave and Busters after for dinner. I had Chicken Tenders and a White Peach Sangria. Justin had Mac N Cheese and a Lava Flow. We played games until midnight, cashed in our tickets for some mugs and cups and headed home. The next morning we had an amazing champagne brunch in Carlsbad with my mom before heading up to Ladera Ranch to pick up the Monkey.

Upon arrival, this is what we found...