Something Unexciting, and Probably Not Completely Different

So I’m staying at the Bayshore Resort hotel.  Room rate? Approximately 130$ before taxes.  Last night, I was disappointed, but I was also exhausted, without luggage and notably cranky.   So, I thought, before I write a hot-headed scathing review, I’ll take a day to relax, pay attention, etc. 

Let me start with my complaint from yesterday:
Question: What kind of hotel doesn’t provide a coffee maker in the room?
Answer: The same kind that doesn’t have a frickin’ reading chair.  My reading options are a) on bed or b) in horribly uncomfortable straight-backed wooden desk chair or c) on balcony plastic chair in 50 degree weather.

So, my ranting seems justified.  I can’t remember having ever paid this much for a hotel room, bayfront or not, that was part of a hotel without a restaraunt and room service, and didn’t have a chair with a cushion or a coffee maker. 

Oh yes, and I can hear everything that occurs on the second floor, every door closing on my wing on my (1st) floor, and I think some things that occur on the third floor.  I heard no less than 5 distinct bathtubs running last night, and that did not include my own.

The decor is out-dated.  The beds are not bad, but not great, either.  The pool is ok, and the hot tub is nice, and both are indoors, which is 50 degree weather is a good thing.  The view is great, but opening the door to hear the waves is cold (I know, that is not the hotel’s fault), but the hvac system sounds an awful lot like a garbage truck!  Gah.  And the breakfast is mediocre, even if the coffee is good, but I have to get dressed to enjoy the freakin’ coffee.  Gah, again.

And since there is no-where comfortable to sit, I can’t really knit, which calms me.  You can read in bed, but I haven’t yet mastered the art of knitting in bed.  Shall I say it, even though it sounds frightfully pathetic?  Yes, it makes my wrists hurt.  So do heavy books, which is why I’m picky about the size of a book, even if it sounds interesting.  So I can’t knit, I can’t calm, which means it’s only going to get crankier from here on out.

I miss my armchair.

I have to wonder if the other places down this road are better or not.  Surely, they would not be particularly more expensive, and maybe I could have a reading chair for the evening, and a coffee maker so that I could actually enjoy the balcony I’m paying for in the morning…

Aside from all that, my coworker, her husband, and I had dinner at Amical, a local restaraunt, that I thought was excellent.  I had duck with a beer and (local) cherry sauce.  The both had fish that must have been good, since they ate just about all of it.  And the chocolate raspberry mousse…. well…

We enjoyed a local pinot noir from Blackstar Farms, which is also a bed and breakfast.  It’s a lovely, peppery red that went excellently with my duck (not sure about their fish).  There are a number of wineries around here, which I probably won’t get to see any of, but is apparently a pretty big part of the culture/economy.  Cherries are also in abundant supply, though not so early in the year.

Tomorrow, I intend to be a fully aggravating third wheel and tag along to the Mackinac Island Lilac Festival, which occurs through June.  Not sure what we’ll see, but maybe at least the weather will be warmer and there will be some things in bloom.  Today we saw a lot of plants that looked like hostas, but bloomed of short stalks little tiny flower, and maybe some lady’s slippers?  I’m not familiar with the fauna of the area, but will have to look around online, to see what it might have been.

So far, it’s been a relaxing trip, in spite of lost luggage and (to me) a sub-standard hotel.