My best trip ever to DL was the first one my wife and I took 20 years ago this month:
We were married in 1985 and had a very cheap wedding with no real honeymoon. We moved to a city in the Midwest shortly after the wedding where I started a new job. Looking back at it now, I have no idea how we survived. I got paid next to nothing and my wife couldnt find a job for 5 months and when she did it was part-time in a low paying retail gig.
As the junior guy in the office, I had to work through Christmas and New Years. In return I was allowed to take my only 2 weeks off the year in the middle of January. So I had 2 weeks of hanging around our dingy little apartment to look forward to. Needless to say, I was starting to feel pretty sorry for myself. Here I was, still a newlywed, barely getting by in a strange city while working for a horrible employer.
I got off work on Friday and my wife was waiting for me out front in our dumpy little car. She wasnt depressed, though. In fact she seemed down right giddy. I tried to figure out what was going on, but she wouldnt say a thing. She just had this big goofy grin plastered on her face.
Well, maybe you can guess what happened. We didnt go home. In fact, I didnt see that old apartment of ours for another 2 weeks. My wife pointed our car south and just kept on driving. At first I thought she was just having me on. But by the time we were an hour south of town I demanded to know what was going on. She pulled over at some fast food place and I went to the trunk. Sure enough, there were a couple of packed suitcases there. I looked at her in amazement. She kissed me and told me we going to Disney World. And sure enough, we were in Orlando 24 hours later.
Since the day we had moved, my lovely incredible wife had started saving. She saved and saved. Even when we had no money, she still found something to save. She didnt know what the money was for, but she knew we were going to need it.
Then when we found out what was expected from me for my holiday, my wife started to plan. Remember, this is long before the days of the internet. Tracking down info on DL took far more time and persistence. Luckily, my wife worked with someone who had been down before who helped her. She had everything planned out and we travelled very well on very little. We got some incredible deals on cheap motels. But as a splurge, my wife somehow found a way that we could stay 4 nights at the Poly to finish off our trip.
Anyway, it was the honeymoon we didnt have. It meant so much to me to know that my wife cared like this about me and was watching out for me. She knew how unhappy I was and she knew how much it meant to me to get away from that town and have a real vacation. I think of all the things we needed and could have spent that money on newer car, some decent clothes, an apartment that didnt smell funny and so on. But she found the one thing that mattered to me more than anything. This was an expression of love and I am grateful to have this blessing still today.
Weve been back a few times since and had a wonderful time with our kids. But it still chokes me up a bit to think of the first time I went to DL with my wife.
Thanks honey. If anything, I love you more now than I did then.
We were married in 1985 and had a very cheap wedding with no real honeymoon. We moved to a city in the Midwest shortly after the wedding where I started a new job. Looking back at it now, I have no idea how we survived. I got paid next to nothing and my wife couldnt find a job for 5 months and when she did it was part-time in a low paying retail gig.
As the junior guy in the office, I had to work through Christmas and New Years. In return I was allowed to take my only 2 weeks off the year in the middle of January. So I had 2 weeks of hanging around our dingy little apartment to look forward to. Needless to say, I was starting to feel pretty sorry for myself. Here I was, still a newlywed, barely getting by in a strange city while working for a horrible employer.
I got off work on Friday and my wife was waiting for me out front in our dumpy little car. She wasnt depressed, though. In fact she seemed down right giddy. I tried to figure out what was going on, but she wouldnt say a thing. She just had this big goofy grin plastered on her face.
Well, maybe you can guess what happened. We didnt go home. In fact, I didnt see that old apartment of ours for another 2 weeks. My wife pointed our car south and just kept on driving. At first I thought she was just having me on. But by the time we were an hour south of town I demanded to know what was going on. She pulled over at some fast food place and I went to the trunk. Sure enough, there were a couple of packed suitcases there. I looked at her in amazement. She kissed me and told me we going to Disney World. And sure enough, we were in Orlando 24 hours later.
Since the day we had moved, my lovely incredible wife had started saving. She saved and saved. Even when we had no money, she still found something to save. She didnt know what the money was for, but she knew we were going to need it.
Then when we found out what was expected from me for my holiday, my wife started to plan. Remember, this is long before the days of the internet. Tracking down info on DL took far more time and persistence. Luckily, my wife worked with someone who had been down before who helped her. She had everything planned out and we travelled very well on very little. We got some incredible deals on cheap motels. But as a splurge, my wife somehow found a way that we could stay 4 nights at the Poly to finish off our trip.
Anyway, it was the honeymoon we didnt have. It meant so much to me to know that my wife cared like this about me and was watching out for me. She knew how unhappy I was and she knew how much it meant to me to get away from that town and have a real vacation. I think of all the things we needed and could have spent that money on newer car, some decent clothes, an apartment that didnt smell funny and so on. But she found the one thing that mattered to me more than anything. This was an expression of love and I am grateful to have this blessing still today.
Weve been back a few times since and had a wonderful time with our kids. But it still chokes me up a bit to think of the first time I went to DL with my wife.
Thanks honey. If anything, I love you more now than I did then.
what a sweet story! 
