BEFORE...
About 15 years ago a movie came out that put a different spin on the commercialism of Christmas.
The Kranks were empty nesters. They decided rather than spend the money they would have spent on Christmas presents for each other, they would go on a cruise for Christmas instead.
Fast forward to Christmas 2021 at the Nichols-Bateman household. They are empty nesters. They have spent many Christmas holidays apart while Georgia was a flight attendant with United Airlines. There were also a handful of Christmas Day layovers with United that included Louis. Most memorable was the one in New Orleans, after Louis flew the whole trip on standby with Georgia. Oh, there were a couple of years they spent parts of Christmas Day together, and in 2020 the first Christmas Georgia was retired, they spent the whole holiday together.
They should have had a talk about just exactly HOW each wanted to celebrate--just like newlyweds have to determine. Having already been married for nearly 20 years didn't count for anything when personal family traditions reared their tinseled heads. Not great memories, that one....
NOW...
This year after struggling with "should I or shouldn't I", I finally made the decision to display my beautiful collection of Nativity sets--probably for the last time. It had been four years since the last one, and I was sure it wouldn't be easier when I was yet ANOTHER year older in 2022.
So, I forged ahead with the open house and turned the house into the magic and miracle of that one, wonderful night centuries ago. The result was that every nook and cranny in every room in the house, except our bedroom and the laundry room, had some kind of Nativity display.
Everything looked great. But there was NO room to put presents under the tree (there was already a Nativity residing there!) Nor was there any way to use the cooktop on the stove or even eat at the kitchen table which was decked out in the splendor of my new origami Nativity set. We had been grabbing a burger here, a taco there. Even some fried chicken or a salad or sub sandwich to go.
That was when Louis brought up a suggestion he had put forward months and months ago--let's go to the Gaylord Rockies Hotel for a little getaway. This time it sounded like a solution to our dilema stemming from what we were going to do about celebrating Christmas at home. That sounded like a good plan this time around. Consequently, after Louis got off work on the 23rd, we headed to Denver International Airport to spend Christmas Eve Day and Christmas Day at the Gaylord Hotel. (This hotel complex has the same parent company as The Grand Ole Opry.)
I had watched as it was being built two or three years before. It isn't right off Pena Boulevard, but large enough that it certainly looks imposing in the distance. I had already concluded it was someplace that would be WAY too fancy for us to stay.
Turns out with Louis' Marriott points, it wasn't too bad. The rooms are just regular but the main and lower floors in the wings are each large enough to house a variety of restaurants, bars, grab and go food pick-ups, coffe houses, pizza, ice cream, and food trucks. Then there are the year round features like the swimming pool, a spa, plus a retail store and market place with Colorado and Western attire and amenities. Whew !
For winter the whole outside turns into Glacier Point which sports snow tubing, ice skating, snowdrift mini golf, ice bumper cars, snow merry go-round, and a snow play area. Lots of chilly activities to choose from. And the colorful lights! It was a delight to see everything in sparkling colors.
Inside the hotel down one of the great halls is Mistletoe Village featuring the predictable shops you would imagine for the Christmas holiday. Stops like Mrs. Claus' Christmas Traditions, Build-a-Bear Workshop, Yuletide Street Market , Gingerbread Decorating Corner, photos with Santa, and a Sweet Shop. It took a fair bit ot time to stroll around and check out each different enterprise.
Because we had been eating fast food, we set our minds--and our appetites--to have dinner the first night at the Old Hickory Steak House. Louis had called for reservations, but was told they weren't taking any until next year! But...we could do a "walk-in" if we wanted.
The double line of cars off the main road to the check-in canopy was moving at a snail's pace. Professional driver that Louis is, he took a left turn into the self park area and approached the front doors of the hotel. Right to the valet parking. YIKES! $39.00 FOR OVERNIGHT! However, the alternative was that we would have to walk about a quarter of a mile from the only parking spaces that were left in an outlying area. Louis was on crutches, and we were starving. We opted to pay for the valet.
Check-in was quick for all the cars of people out there. Turns out most of them were there for the fun stuff which you can do without being a hotel guest. Up to our room and down to the steak place. Aha! Turns out the reason the restaurant wasn't taking any resesrvations for dinner is because all the time slots had already been completely resesrved until after the first of year. And the walk-in wait? Nearly two hours! We decided the Italian place looked pretty good and had a really nice dinner there with NO waiting.
Christmas Eve day we had that steak dinner and went to the movies. Christmas morning, we got up late and had a nice breakfast before checking out and heading home. A nice sunny and snowless Christmas day. It was even pretty warm with temps in the 50's.
Like the Kranks, we spent the money we would have on presents for the hotel get-away. But unlike the Kranks, we didn't have to rush home and "Make Christms" for anyone. We spent a quiet Christmas night in our pajamas all by ourselves.
Do I think I will ever do something like a Christmas get-away again. Nah! Probably not. I pretty much like a traditional Christmas with special Christmas Eve festities,. That is to say: reading from Luke chapter 2 or acting out the Christmas story, a family dinner, and presents under the tree to open on Christmas morning. Call me old-fashioned.
From now on, I'll be jockeying to channel the familiar traditions I grew up with and introduced to my own family from that very first Christmas in 1969 when my oldest was just two months old. The NIchols Family had a lot of great times over the years, enjoying the old traditions and introducing new ones as our circumstances had to adapt to the "what and where" that was going on in our lives at that time.
However, I am convinced that no matter HOW we celebrate, the spirit of Christmas in which we honor Christ's birth has to always be the focal point of our entire holiday experience. And, though the trappings were different this year, it was!
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