Pre 9-11 you could go to the airport and sit by the gates to watch planes take off. You could meet your friends who were coming to visit there as well. I guess, in a way, it is nicer that people aren't hogging all of the chairs and there are enough places to sit while you wait for your plane's gate to open. But it was a nice way to take a spring break vacation.
It was about 1995 (I'm guessing) and we really didn't have the money for a great spring break in Disney like I had done before leaving First Wisconsin. I had just started a job in South Milwaukee and the boys were re-adjusting to going to a sitter after school.
But alas, spring break was upon us and the kids friends were talking about going to far off lands with warm sunshine and sandy beaches. Jimmy asked me to go somewhere on vacation since we were all off at the same time and I checked my bank balance. Nope, four years of basic under-employment had pretty much put a hole in our savings account.
I didn't want to disappoint so I came up with an idea. We had a number of hotels in the area and the Comfort Suites on 13th street had just opened. It had everything you wanted in a vacation, someone to clean up your mess, an arcade and most importantly, a pool!
I told Jimmy we would take a vacation nearby, nothing fancy, but it would be fun and relaxing. The sight of me folding up swim trunks and putting them in his roller suite case was good enough for him to get excited.
I went to Target and bought some cheap pool toys, coloring books and snack supplies, not forgetting the Pepsi and M&M's that were now a Nebel tradition started by our Uncle Abbie. I piled everything into the back of the Ford Escort. Next was Andy's supplies, carseat - check. Blankie - check. Medicine - check. Binkie (pacifier) - check. Water wings - check. Pull-ups - check. Willie (Andy's favorite toy) - check.
Finally packing my suitcase and getting Andy in the car we headed to Shepard Hills to surprise Jimmy. He came walking out of the front of the building, backpack securely on, and proceeded to look both ways before running to the car. His face was priceless! I told him we were going to go on a pretend vacation - but we would be sure and end up someplace with a pool.
We drove to the airport, parked the car, grabbed our suitcases and walked into Mitchell Airport. We wandered into the book store and magazine shop and picked up some overpriced soda and snacks. Then we went to our favorite gate - Midwest Express - and sat and watched airplanes land and take off for the next hour.
Finally, when a flight from Orlando landed and the guests exited the plan we grabbed our bags and headed into the stream of excited travelers. We pretended to be from Florida and were going to be visiting Wisconsin for the weekend. We even went so far as to watch the luggage come off the conveyor (well for a little while, then Andy got bored) and headed to our car.
Climbing in I looked at Jimmy and handed him a map to our hotel. "OK, you navigate" I said to him. This time I knew where I was going, but in the years that would follow - he was always the navigator, which led to many unplanned 'adventures'.
We paid for parking and headed to the main street. Jimmy navigated turn by turn until we were at our hotel. We waited as patiently as we could in line for our room. Jimmy smiled at the hotel clerk and told her we were on Spring Break! I think his little smile helped us get a choice room on the first floor by the pool. The room had French doors that opened onto the pool deck and the shallow end was within walking distance.
The hotel was new at the time so occupancy was light. We kept the 'deception' going the entire weekend. Pretending we didn't know what was in the area and bugging the front desk many times for information on area attractions. The movie theater was across the street so we did walk over at one point and watched Jumanji - I still have the ticket stub.
We swam, ordered pizza, watched movies in the room, and pretended to be gone - no phone calls (smart phones weren't really a big thing yet), we listened to music on my iPod as we sat on the deck of the pool. Andy was in heaven - he loved to play in the pool - he has always been good around water - I think he may actually have chlorine in his veins as well.
I was on vacation from work so we extended our stay by an extra day - rates on the weekday were cheaper and I could always forgo something to make it happen.
We went to a nearby Walgreens an found some Oak Creek postcards. Jimmy wrote one to his grandparents and his dad (Jim had to work and couldn't join us).
Tuesday morning we packed the car back up. Said good bye to the hotel room and headed back to the airport. You couldn't only go one way if you were on vacation, you had to come back home.
We went inside and watched planes arrive and leave again - this time for a shorter period. Andy was starting to grow tired of the charade. Jimmy and I didn't want to press our luck so we headed back to the car and drove home.
I'll have to admit - it was a really nice weekend and probably one of my favorite spring break memories.
Feel free to steal the idea and do this with your own family. It really is a nice way to getaway without breaking the bank.
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