You stayed WHERE?!

Once I was married, I learned quickly to spend the money on a decent hotel. Oddly, my wife was more of the cheaper, it's just a bed and shower, kind of person. I was somewhat keen on a decent place to stay, later a nice place, but I always wanted a good location. My idea of a good room was that I could sleep in a hammock, wake up, fall out and land on the beach.
I have stayed at a few less than hospitable places, and it seems like quite often they centered around trips to Las Vegas. Go figure. Our first trip we spent the night at the Bun Boy Motel, cause we just couldn't make it all the way there in one day. Windy and hot, it was 99 degrees at midnight, I saw a leaf scuttling in the wind outside our room. Wait, nope, that's a mouse. Inside the air conditioning wasn't turned on, and the heat had killed a roach in the bathroom.
Other trips included a stay in Barstow, at a cheap room. It turned out that clean sheets were extra. We slept in sleeping bags. I thought of sleeping in the tub, but figured it wouldn't be any cleaner. I would have complained, but I didn't want to see the innkeeper in her nightgown again.
So we spend the money.

On our second trip to Carolina Beach, we stayed at the old Beacon House B&B. It has that nice and cozy look to it, just what you expect from an old beach house. The rooms were a little small, but it was in a nice little quiet end of the island. We were able to get up and walk right out to the beach. Plus, someone cooked breakfast for us.

Nowadays, it's less of an option. B&Bs sometimes aren't as suitable for families, and with dietary concerns, it's tough to get someone else to cook for us. Still it was a groovy little place.

We had stayed at The Golden Sands before, and really liked that place, but they not only pushed their rates up just too much, but they have some weird minimum stay thing, where we had to spend three nights there, for a weekend. Once again, good location, but I just figured we can do better. 

I write this mostly as a reminder for myself. I'm planning a new trip down to that area this spring. And I was thinking of sleeping in a tent, since it was just going to be a quick photo trip. 

Spend the money, Joe. Spend the money.