About 2 months ago I started thinking about going back to Seattle when the sun would not be setting at 3:30pm. Mom liked that idea too and I began looking at airfare, it was hovering just below $400 and one day it went down as low as $360, but I was reluctant and though I'd wait for a better deal. That's when it shot up to $430. So I continued to wait.
Last week I was "jonsing" for an Italy fix, I haven't been since last November, I know, I know, you're saying, "Marcy, that's only 7 months ago", BUT you all know I have a love affair going on with Italy and I just can't seem to keep away, or stop thinking about another trip there.
So, after "cooling my jets" about Seattle, I started thinking about going to Italy, anywhere in Italy for a week in early September, of course I'd be incorporating our Labor Day holiday in the mix to "maximize" my vacation day allotment!
I began scouring the Delta website to airfare to Rome, Bologna, Naples, Milan and Venice...I was leaving no region of Italy out of the mix! :-)
I really wanted to fly out on a Saturday and home on a Saturday and prices for those dates were well out of my comfort zone for a one week trip, technically it wouldn't even be a full week, just 6 nights.
Then I had the bright idea to tick the "flexible dates" box and Wowza! I got airfares that where just about $500 less! BUT it would mean flying out on a Sunday and returning on a Sunday. Could it be coincidence the returning Sunday was September 11th? Hmmmm...not sure, and not being too superscitious I was willing to fly on September 11th if it meant almost a week in Italy.
Mom was up for this little excursion and we decided that of all the flight options a trip to Rome looked like the best. After checking with work that taking a week in September wouldn't be a problem (even with taking 2 weeks in December!) I started checking out accommodation options. I knew hotels or apartments in Rome in September wouldn't be cheap and after a couple hours looking I narrowed options down to a couple hotels.
Just as I was about to hit the "buy" button on the Delta website I started to seriously do the cost calculations in my head versus the number of days we'd actually be "on the ground". I started having doubts, especially since we still have the trip to France in December and final payments for the 2 apartments we're renting there would be due in the autumn. That damn money tree in my backyard still hasn't sprouted and I thought, this is crazy, Italy will be there next year when we have built up more vacation time and funds and can spend more than 6 days in the beloved Italy!
That's when I walked away from hitting the "buy"' button and cruised back over to the "book a flight' page...yes, it's a disease with me...however, I'm sure Delta Airlines loves me. Being 11pm on a Tuesday night I thought I'd try my luck and see if the airfares to Seattle had come down....can you see the smile spreading across my face????
BINGO...flights in early September from Savannah to Seattle were an astonishing $300 + taxes round trip, that made the ticket just under $350....guess what? Mom and I hare going to Seattle for 4 days in early September...big surprise there! :-)
We're very happy to be going to Seattle for several reasons, yes, it's for fewer days than we were going to be Italy so accommodations won't be as much (we hope!), the food scene in Seattle is terrific, not to mention the great Washington wines...but what we're most happy about is to be in Seattle another month other than January when the sun rises at 8:30am and sets at 4pm...maybe this time we will actually get to enjoy the sunlit days and evenings in Seattle!
And while we were at booking flights to Seattle I couldn't help but check out airfares to NYC for the Veteran's Day weekend in November and yup, got those tickets for just over $300 for a long weekend in the Big Apple, just before Thanksgiving.
Now I have lots of hotel hunting to do!
1 comment:
Woohooo!!
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