A Challenge for a Holiday Weekend at Home

You've probably heard the term 'staycation' a lot lately.  As soon as the economy started to weaken the term has been a media favorite.  And, soft economy or not, everyone is always trying to pinch a penny.  Like many people, I am always trying to take advantage of those far too frequent three-day weekends.  Living in Florida, I have many choices when looking to select my three-day weekend of fun.  Over Memorial Day weekend, we trekked a few hours south to Naples and spent the weekend there.  It was a great trip and we didn't spend too much and a had really enjoyable time.  But, we still had to pack, travel and spend.  As this Labor Day was approaching, I thought about ways to take advantage of it.  And, the idea of a staycation kept coming to mind.  Knowing I wanted to have a fun, relaxing, vacation-like weekend I devised what I termed The Ultimate Holiday Weekend of No Spending...a challenge, if you will.  

Spending the holiday weekend like we are on vacation, staying at our house and spending no money.  Like zero dollars for the whole time.   

After discussing my plan with my husband, he agreed and I began planning for an awesome three-day weekend of fun, in my own house, in my own destination.  We wanted the vacation feel without the vacation stresses--of packing up, getting there and travel budgets.  

Our itinerary & menu: 

Friday night - watched the Cardinals on the MLB Network and enjoyed some delicious left-overs from the dinner party we hosted the night before.  A great way to wind down from a busy week and it's always an extra treat to watch our hometown team!   Cost for the evening - 0 dollars 

Walking the trail at Sawgrass

St. Pete Beach

Saturday - I made coconut toast (from my Grandma Kay's recipe) and a fruit salad for breakfast.  In the late morning we took a trip over to Sawgrass County Park with our dogs, Zeus and Jordan.  After that, we came home to rest up and have lunch.  We utilized some left-overs from the week for lunch.  A little later in the day, after spending some time catching up on reading, we packed up the picnic basket and headed for St. Pete Beach for sunset.  We enjoyed some champagne and a dinner of hors d'oeuvres.  It is amazing to us that we partly moved here to be near the ocean because we love it so much, but we aren't always able to visit it.  When we first moved we were there all the time, but for some reason when you live near it, it becomes easier to take it for granted.  Then, the next thing you realize is that you are planning to get on a plane and spend a good amount of vacation time and funds to go to another beach to relax for vacation.  To slow down.  To enjoy.  This was a great reminder for us to do just that--slow down, relax and enjoy ourselves--in our own backyard.  Cost for the day: $1.00 for tolls 

Our set-up

Sunday - We were up and going on Sunday morning because we were taking a day-trip down to Anna Maria Island to meet up with our dear friends.  Anna Maria is about an hour drive from St. Pete and makes for a pretty good half-way point between us and where our friends live in North Port.  We spent most of the morning and day (until the normal afternoon storms come) enjoying this beautiful island with our friends.  We packed our lunch along with snacks, brought the chairs, beach toys (for two-year old "nephew" Carson) and umbrella and had a blast.  In fact, my friend Carlie even made the comment, "who needs the Caribbean when you have this?"  Now while we all love a trip to the Caribbean, it's a good reminder of the assets we have at our disposal as Floridians.  And, it's a great way to relax and recharge without spending a lot of dough.  After a day in the sun, we headed home around 2:30 in the afternoon.  After we showered, rested and Nick drafted his fantasy football team, "Festivus 4therestofus" we were beat.  We decided on a dinner out.  I know, I know...we broke our no spending rule for the weekend.  However, we used a coupon and savored our meals at Estellas.  Cost for the day: $2.00 for tolls, $28.71 for dinner and drinks for two.  

Nick taking in the views

Monday - While Nick slept in, I decided to get up and finish the book I was reading--Bram Stoker's Dracula.  (What good holiday doesn't include finishing the book you are currently reading?!)  After a breakfast at home of bagels and eggs, we loaded up the bikes and headed over to Fort DeSoto Park.  We biked the park from end-to-end and even took a sand trail through the mangroves.  We saw white herons, a black racer snake, countless butterflies, road along the award-winning beaches, took in views of Egmont Key, saw kayakers, paddle boarders, road past the fort and saw many people out enjoying the various activities available.  It was a great afternoon.  Following the afternoon fun, we had our own little Labor Day cookout for dinner with the usual suspects-->hot dogs off the grill with fresh summer veggies and a beer.    We spent the rest of the evening relaxing at home with our pups.  Cost for the day: $0.85 for tolls 

Total weekend cost: $32.56

All told, the weekend at home, partaking in local activities, having fun and started our week off rested and renewed cost us just under $35 bucks.  It was a challenge not spending money (or trying not to), but it forced us to take our time and plan out our days and meals.  Many times it's easier to just get food out or go to a restaurant or go to a movie.  A good deal of the fun we had was just taking our time and working together to prepare for our activities and our meals.  We were also reminded of how amazing this area is and how lucky we are to have it as our backyard.  Even in these economic times, with many concerns and no shortage of things to save for, we found that you can still have a fun, restful holiday at home...on a budget.  I hope this encourages you to go out and plan your weekend of fun on a dime by capitalizing on your area's assets!  

*I've linked some of the places and things that we did during our trip.  If you live in the Tampa Bay area, feel free to check out some of these gems!