When you’re a mom celebrating a milestone birthday I can’t think of anything you’d want more than for your husband to surprise you with a short weekend getaway … away from him and the kids. I kid, I kid. But… an uninterrupted evening with girlfriends? With no curfew? And all the amount of sleeping in, your sleep-deprived body could want? Where do I sign up for that kind of birthday surprise? Apparently, here.
For about a month, our new friend Greg has been sneaking about and planning a staycation in the Colonial Zone for his wife, Amy. And the plan worked. She had no idea what was happening when we burst through her door. Greg popped a champagne bottle behind her and we gave her some ideas of what to pack. Besides that, she was like Jon Snow; she knew nothing.
Two uber cars, 7 oversized bags, a glass of champagne, and 30 minutes later, all 7 of us had arrived at a hotel in the Colonial Zone. But what were a handful of moms without kids or husbands going to do? (insert evil laugh) “Rooftop pool” was the unanimous decision. On our way to the rooftop pool at the swanky Billini Hotel we made a couple of other stops.
CHOCO MUSEO
Located on El Conde, we stopped in the ChocoMuseo shop. Some of us had been there before but why turn down a free test shot of rum infused with cacao and chocolate… or chinola… or pineapple. Trust me on this… delicious. I bought a macadamia flavored honey and tested out some of the cacao lotions and knew I’d be coming back for some local made jams too.
WANDERING
The Colonial Zone is an interesting place. Being that it is the oldest city of the Americas, many of the buildings look the part. On the outside they look weathered, donned with distinguished character, but it’s age is obvious.
CASA ALFARERA
The doors of the Colonial Zone are a lot like oysters because you’d never know from the outside that what lies on the inside is the true treasure. You could walk by the same door for years and never know what is on the other side. So we stumbled across this place the way most people stumble across most things in the Colonial Zone.. by total accident.
The pieces in this storefront were so beautifully crafted that I reimagined a home where these pieces lived. That home is a decade away, when my kids are older and won’t break all of our nice things, but still. I plan on going back for Christmas presents… and a few things for myself.
Billini Hotel Rooftop Pool
We finally made it and not a moment too soon. Moms were thirsty.
The rooftop pool was a magnificent idea. For moms, how many times do you get near a pool these days without floats, sunblock, and 32 goggles? How often these days do you get to truly enjoy a cocktail at the pool, uninterrupted and able to have a grown up conversation? You’re feeling me, right? It was that amazingness plus sauce. The only interruptions were to get the waiters attention for another glass of cava.
The sun had set and we had dinner reservations at Lulu’s, a tapas bar not far from our hotel. Dazzled and dressed and armed with a gaggle of girlfriends, we headed to dinner and into whatever else the night held for us.
Where would you go for a short weekend getaway with friends?
P.S. Why moms are absolutely awesome and how to look at birthdays.
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