Vacation expectations

We had our spring break a couple of weeks ago. Have you ever been on a vacation where things did not go as planned? I have. Our latest trip was accompanied by quite a bit of rain. The day we arrived at our destination was really wet. It was hard to tell if we were soaked from the rain coming down or from it bouncing back up off the sidewalk. Either way, we had a great time, even though what happened was different than what we planned.

Seven years ago, Brian had some medical meetings in New Orleans. It also happened to be our spring break. He left for his meetings, and the kids and I drove out to meet him a few days later. We had four days to spend in Louisiana.

Thankfully, a friend grew up in New Orleans, so she gave us lots of ideas of what to do, what to see, and where to eat. We had a plan.

Things started going south as soon as we arrived. We had reserved two hotel rooms to accomodate our big family. When we went to check in, one of the rooms was a smoking room. UGH! It smelled pretty awful. The other room smelled like it had been a smoking room previously, and had been converted to a doused-in-air-freshener room. Brian and some of the kids went in the smoking room, and I took the rest of our family to the other room. It was a rough night.

The next morning the front desk called and said they had two non smoking rooms, but they wouldn't be available until the afternoon. Hurray! We jumped at the chance. We packed up our things and brought all the luggage downstairs to the lobby. They had us leave everything in a tiny office until the rooms were ready. I was hopeful that our new rooms would be better, and they were.

Regardless of the rocky beginning, the next days were fun-filled. We toured a plantation, ate beignets (too many to mention), climbed trees and visited the Audubon Zoo. We walked and ate all over New Orleans. The most anticipated activity that we had planned was a swamp tour. We were so excited! Our expectations were high, as many friends told us it was not to be missed.

The day for our tour came, and it was cold and windy. Undeterred, we loaded all 8 of us on the boat, ready to go. We were going to see alligators!

Well...things didn't work out quite how we expected.

The boat ride was FREEZING! We huddled together like penguins. Honestly, I was having a hard time appreciating the swamp surroundings. There was not an alligator to be seen. In fact, we weren't seeing much of anything. Our guide did point out a raccoon.

After what felt like a long time and scanning the water and seeing nothing, our guide excitedly pointed to the water.

"An alligator! Look everyone...an alligator!!"

We turned and looked in the direction he was pointing. I couldn't see anything, and neither could anyone else. Our guide got a marshmallow and threw it into the water. It landed right next to the tiniest alligator I've ever seen. Seriously, this creature was itty-bitty. His little head was floating just above the water, and it never moved, so I still sometimes think it was fake.

Can you see the alligator??

By the end of the tour, we had also heard some scuffling noises made by wild boars, according to our guide. Who knows?

Cold and disappointed, we headed back. Samantha turned to Brian and me and said,

"You know, I thought this tour was going to be more fun."

Truer words were never spoken.

But here is the thing...we still had a great time! Even with the hotel room fiasco and the coldest swamp tour in history, we had lots of fun in New Orleans. And now we have some family stories that my kids love to retell and remember.

The next time your vacation plans have a snafu, or you lose your luggage, or you bring some rain with you...don't stress out. It's ok.

Those stories are the ones you remember.