I have been in a relationship for over 4 years.
We're actually creeping up on our 5 year anniversary as of the end of this month. In that timespan we have been on many vacations and road trips, but only one '#BAEcation' prior to our latest one. Our previous baecation was roughly 2 years prior and right before the start of my senior year in college. The interesting thing about our latest adventure was that we didn't GO ANYWHERE. We stayed right here in Charlotte, NC. Turning our baecation into a simultaneous '#STAYcation'!
What is a baecation you may ask?
Simply put a ‘Baecation’ is a vacation you spend strictly with your significant other. Meaning it's just the two of you with no one to rain on your parade!
How did this all transpire?
Well guys, I believe in making sure to give my boyfriend attention that is sometimes stolen from him because of all of my other commitments to work and my personal endeavors. Just like anything else, I have to carve out time for him.
Earlier in the year my boyfriend attended a work banquet where all of the companies present raffled out gift baskets to the employees. He bought several raffle tickets and to his surprise he won a free weekend stay at the Ashton Luxury Apartments in Southend Charlotte, NC. Basically some of the apartments on the higher floors are rented out to really well of people and we were given the opportunity to stay there with a 10th floor view of the city skyline. We agreed on a weekend in August that fit both of our schedules, called up the location, made our reservation and we were all set!
Friday
We picked up the key and pool bracelet earlier in the day since we were still celebrating a friends birthday that day. During that time we checked out the apartment and to our surprise were welcomed with a bouquet of white roses, a welcome note, a full fridge assorted beers (we don't drink those but it was appreciated), 3 small boxes of edible arrangements, and 4 bottles of different wines. The 10th floor view was of course AH-mazing. Later that evening we headed back for our permanent weekend stay. We were exhausted from the days events, so we crashed as soon as we got there.
Saturday
Our first full day away from home and without dog parent responsibilities we slept in. I think we woke up around 12:00pm, got dressed and decided we could walk to Blaze Pizza for lunch. It may have been a 5 minute walk. If you've never been, Blaze Pizza sells personal pan pizzas, either one topping or multiple toppings; along with salads, garlic knots, desserts, and fruit drinks. It's like going through a Subway or Chipotle line where they ask you what you want on your pizza. What kind of sauce, cheese, toppings, etc. Then they place it in the big brick oven and it cooks for a few minutes before they call your number. We grabbed our orders and headed to a table by the window, where we enjoyed each other's company and conversation.
Afterwards, we headed back to the complex we took a resting break where I devoured more of the book I was reading: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. My boyfriend ended up taking a nap. A couple hours later we were changing into our swimming suits and headed to the pool on the rooftop. We were probably in the pool for an hour just sitting at the edge and deep in conversation about our potential future. I wish I had remembered to take photos of the rooftop, but it was beautiful. With the pool on one side, and relaxed/patio furniture seating on the other side with flat screen tv's playing some golf game.
We left right before 5:00pm and headed back to our room. Good thing I brought my laptop because we don't really watch cable tv. Instead we hooked up the laptop and turned on this anime called GATE that's on Hulu. Really great series by the way. For dinner we ordered from some place that I won't even mention because that's how trash our food was. However, we did watch a romantic comedy: The Ugly Truth, starring my girl Izzy Stevens from Grey's Anatomy and Gerard Butler from my all time favorite movie 300!
Sunday
This was my favorite day. Probably because I finally got to ride one of the city bikes and an electric scooter. We got up at around 10:00am and got dressed for the day. Our main plan for the day was to go bike/scooter riding, brunch and have a relaxing day. We noticed previously that there were several bikes and scooters just around the area and essentially you could just pay to use them.
We left the complex in search of at least two for us to ride. I really wanted to ride a bike and my boyfriend preferred riding a scooter. He felt it would mean less manual labor since it was electric. The first set we found were dead, but we realized we had to download an app in order to use them. So we went about that and ended up downloading Lime. The app showed us where other bikes and scooters were located as we walked to find them, and indicated if the scooter was charged or not. Within a matter of minutes we located what we wanted. The bike is only $1.00 an hour and the scooter charges by the half hour. I think we spent about $5.00 for an hour ride on the scooter.
Sidenote: When you download the app you have to put a card on file, and then purchase $10.00 worth of credits before being able to use them. It won't just charge you when you're done riding. It also only lets you rent one vehicle at a time per phone.
We didn't really go far since there weren't a lot of sidewalks and we didn't feel comfortable riding in the road. We just stayed in a closed business complex and rode around the parking lot and in-between some neighboring townhomes. We did switch for a little bit. Mainly because I wanted try out the scooter. It was a ton of fun. Maybe not as fun as my Segway tour, but definitely a fun experience. After we were finished, we headed over to Pike's Old Fashioned Soda Shop, parked our rides outside, and ended our rides on the app.
Riding my bike had worked up a slight appetite. So we headed into Pike's for any all-you-can-eat brunch buffet. I went with a ton of bacon, some eggs, tried some blueberry muffins, and a bowl of cereal. My boyfriend enjoyed it much more than me. Once we finished we headed back to the complex and finished up our anime from before.
Since everything is so close we decided to venture out again that night for dinner. We agreed upon Chinese food, and saw that there was one nearby, about a 5-6 minute walk. As we walked to get our food we passed by Jeni's Ice Cream shop and the smell was so enticing (ended up being freshly made waffle cones) that I told him I wanted to stop and get some. We agreed we'd get some on the way back from picking up dinner.
On the way back we stopped and hopped in the line which was all the way out the door. He went back to the complex to drop off our food and came back to wait in the line with me. It started raining and we were just out of luck without umbrellas. After about a 45 minute wait we were finally inside taste testing the different flavors. We decided on Coffee and Gooey Butter Cake - a pint of each. My opinion of this place is it's overpriced and honestly not worth it. The flavors are odd, but it probably works for that demographic.
To end my night, and the weekend, I took a nice and long bubble bath, in the jacuzzi style tub, and did some more reading. We went home the following morning well rested for the week to come.
Why have a baecation?
I think it's important to carve out time to spend with just you and your loved one. It shows to each party that you're committed to continuing to develop your relationship. And isn't it a nice refresher to know from the person you love that you're still committed to them? That you want the relationship to continue to work? As days, months, years, and decades pass by; you as a person are ever evolving. Which means your relationship needs to change along with it.
In this environment, you're given the opportunity to grow and express yourself during this designated time with one another. It's a timeframe where all other distractions are put on hold. Distractions such as hanging out with friends, being burnt out at the end of the day from your 9-5 job, responsibilities to any organizational commitments you have, and etc.
We were able to sit down and finish an entire short series of an anime we started watching weeks ago. We were able to start the conversation of why it is that I would like to adopt kids, and the challenges that may bring us down the line. We were also able to engage in trying new things.
Who knows when I would have ever tried out a city bike if we hadn't gone on our '#baecation'? Who knows when I would have ever tried ice cream from Jeni's Ice Cream, just to say I did it? Or to walk around the city? We parked our car at the complex and never once got back in it until the weekend was over and it was time to go home. What did that mean? We ventured out and navigated our way around Southend to the places we needed to get to.
It was something different. It was something refreshing. It was something needed.