Monday, July 14, 2008

Queens of Free

We have been falling upon freebies right and left it seems ever since our big hotel ordeal. The first morning we were here we decided to skip the $14/person breakfast buffet (even though it looked very good) and find the closest McDonald's with a playland so we could sip coffee and visit while the kids played. After driving to 3 different McDonald's and still not finding one with a playland, we gave up and ended up at a pancake house. Later that night we realized that we are staying on the concierge floor, we thought they put us all the way at the top to keep us as far away from the rest of the hotel guests as possible (due to the amount of kids we have in tow) but maybe they were just being nice. Either way, we realized that when you stay on that floor you get a free continental breakfast in the morning and in the evening they serve appetizers and drinks for free. The children are not allowed in the room in the evenings because they serve alcohol, and the lady who is in charge of the concierge room feels really bad that the kids can't come in and get snacks, so she offered to let them buy a movie in the hotel room and she would take care of the bill. She also let us take out as many platefuls of food that we want for them to eat in the room. Then she also offered to send up cookies and milk to the room for a bedtime snack for the kids after they were done swimming. Wow, were starting to get spoiled just a little here. This Oklahoma trip that we were taking out of obligation and were kind of dreading just a little is turning out to be a rather fun AND cheap vacation after all.
Today we decided to go to the zoo after lunch and again got lucky. As I was kneeling down outside the entrance looking for Tony's hat, a lady says to me "are you paying to come to the zoo?" I said yes, not really sure what she meant, since I didn't think there was any other way to get into the zoo. But then she says she has a corporate card and can get in 4 adults and 10 children with her card. I told her there was quite a few more people with us and she said don't worry, they will let everyone in, so we got into the zoo for free. We added it up and we saved about $50 on admittance fees. Pretty cool huh?
So free breakfast, free evening snacks, free movie, free cookies and milk and a free trip to the zoo in addition to the big freebie of the hotel I'd say we are making out pretty well so far. Which is actually a good thing, since we have been treating the family (grandma, aunt, uncle, cousin and dad) everywhere we go.

8 comments:

Elle J said...

You are hitting the jackpot; time to go buy a lottery ticket. :) Glad you guys are having fun and "passing it forward" in treating your extended family and sharing time with them. Way to go.

Natalie said...

Maybe that's how it is there...maybe that is why some people survive in Oklahoma that wouldn't otherwise... GLad it is turning out to be fun though. I don't understand why you say it was a dreaded trip; I would have loved to have gotten to come!

Paula said...

Sounds pretty good! You're luckin out everywhere you go! What a nice lady to offer you the free zoo tickets.

Tina in CT said...

I guess the saying "southern hospitality" is really true! You seven sure have been lucking out. I agree that you need to buy some lotto tickets in OK.

Francie said...

Wow, you guys ARE pretty lucky right now! Make sure you take a ton of pictures!

Shannon said...

Gotta love that "southern-charm". Oklahoma is sort of like the forgotten state on the big map so I can understand the "dreaded" anticipation. Whats to do in OK? Sounds like you guys are having more fun there then on some of your more expensive rendezvous that require passports. (not minimizing how cool those trips are though).
I would love to go the next time. Let me know when it is.

PrincessGreen17 said...

Wow, you have just been having all kinds of good things come your way! Can you send some of that good luck to me next week, I'm going to New Orleans! Thanks! :)

Sasha said...

So glad you are finding us Okies to be hospitable! Glad you had a good trip!

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