Jennifer, my mother and I drove out to Spring Lake, NJ, yesterday, stayed overnight at The Breakers hotel, and returned this morning. We took a walk on the boardwalk when we arrived, enjoyed an early dinner outside by the hotel pool, and had a room service breakfast this morning.
We figured this was our last chance this year to do something like this before the weather gets too cold. It was extremely windy on the boardwalk, and breezy where we had dinner, but it was mild enough that we weren’t uncomfortable. The food and accommodations were great.
I did have an odd experience when I checked out, though. There was a charge on the bill that wasn’t ours. Someone had ordered gin and tonics on the porch and charged it to my mother’s room. By the time I’d spotted it they had already put through the charge to my credit card. At first they wanted to leave the charge in place until they had investigated, and wanted me to sign for it. When I declined to do so, they reluctantly said they would reverse the charge but also repeatedly advised me that they would still need to investigate. I was puzzled that they made such a point of telling me that — of course I understood that they needed to investigate, but what did that have to do with me? It was only after I left that I realized that everything they said indicated that they consider this charge my responsibility until they satisfied themselves that it isn’t.
That surprises me given that I pointed out that we were in the middle of having dinner at their restaurant at the time the bogus charge was made out on the porch. But their assumption seemed to be that I might be trying to get away with something until they had clear evidence that I wasn’t. I was disappointed and a little aggravated by that, especially after I checked my credit card activity and saw that the charge was still there. But my wife, who is in the credit card business, assured me that reversals take much longer to go through than charges, so I guess I just need to be patient and wait for everything to get sorted out.
Paul, I was fascinated by the fact that you 3 went down to Spring Lake, one of my most favorite places. AND stayed in the Breakers, and had dinner and breakfast.
Why? Because I’m seeing such a variety in c?) of safety measure choices among family and friends. As you know, I have friends over to sit distanced outside – and talk sans masks. The Landscape Committee meetings have been handled the same way – in someone else’s yard. Big circle, come with masks, but soon remove. So everyone can HEAR! Of course many people eating outside at local restaurants. Others have not and will not. Out of town visitors? They stay in a nearby hotel and everyone sits outside. Yet I’ve a friend who has driven to VA to stay in the house with her daughter’s family for a week at a time. The daughter is a PTherapist and works with Covid patients. She has also taken a car trip with them to New England. A friend’s grandson is going to college online. Since school opened he has traveled – with his laptop- to MA, CA and CO (flying). Then you have my local son-in-law. He is the boss in his small family of wife and 25 yr old son. Nobody can go anywhere. He is the resident shopper. Strips and showers when back home. Every single pkg, bag, container, etc. gets wiped down. Finally, a local friend I’ve not seen for months says she can come over here, but masks imperative.
I’m trying to catch up with some of your blogs. So admirable.
Yes, I’ve become aware of the wide range of mind-sets about how much risk to take with the coronavirus. I’ve been trying to keep up with what the scientists are saying. I’ve read that (1) there is very little risk of catching Covid-19 if you’re outdoors and staying at least six feet from other people, even if you’re not wearing a mask; and (2) that there’s a relatively low risk of catching it from a surface. So we no longer wipe down packages or groceries, and we sometimes have people over to sit on the deck where we can stay eight or nine feet apart. But we will not spend more than a few minutes indoors with people who aren’t in our “bubble”. That means no dining indoors, even at reduced capacity, either at restaurants or other people’s houses; no trains or planes; and of course no going to theaters or other indoor group events.
There’s a family on our block, though, who I don’t think has left their house since March except to take their toddler for a walk. They get everything delivered, including food, and they wear gloves while handling the packages.
We thought a trip to the shore would be OK as long as we dined outside or in our rooms, didn’t mingle with other people, and wore masks in public areas (which the Breakers requires anyway). It was a short enough drive that we didn’t need to make any stops going or coming.
Fingers crossed!