Vacation on a Budget: Time Travel
My son Hans called me in mid-June, to inform me that he and his girl friend planned to be handfasted at the Santa Barbara Renaissance Faire. Though Hans is a young man, he is my only child, and I was delighted that he and Megan felt ready to make this commitment.
I also happen to love Renaissance Fairs, and wearing period garb. When one enters a Renaissance Fair, one almost literally steps back in time. So this trip would be doubly delightful!
My friend Tricia planned to go with me, and she gave me a fairly tight budget with which to work. My business Visa card gives me frequent flyer miles with America West Airlines, and I receive frequent flyer miles from Southwest Airlines when I make purchases with my personal Visa. I had enough frequent flyer miles for two to make a round trip from Phoenix to Los Angeles International (LAX). It would have cost about $200 apiece for a round trip from Phoenix to Santa Barbara. I would have preferred the Santa Barbara flight, but Tricia preferred the four-hour drive from LAX.
I reserved a rental car, an economy model, at Enterprise while I was booking our flight through Southwest Airline's website. The Southwest website contains links to several car rental companies.
Little did I know that the hardest part would be trying to find lodging at a reasonable rate. I had never visited Santa Barbara, so I didn't know what to expect. I searched many travel-related websites and learned that all the affordable accommodations in the Santa Barbara area had no vacancies for the weekend we would be there. After many hours of frustration, I tried searching hotels in the nearby towns of Solvang and Buelleton. I found nothing that would fit Tricia's budget. I called her and told her that the best I could find was $100 a night in Buellton. Someone told me about Orbitz.com - one of the travel sites I had somehow overlooked. And there it was - a room at the lowest rate I'd seen so far, $80 a night. I knew, after two weeks of searching, that I wouldn't find anything more reasonable. So I reserved the room before it could disappear.
One more thing remained. I bought advance tickets for the Renaissance Faire. They would be $16 per person at the gate, but $13 if purchased in advance.
Tricia and I were ready to go! We landed at LAX on time, and took a shuttle to the Enterprise office where we picked up our rental car. All the Enterprise employees we met were very young and very courteous. I was impressed with the level of service we received.
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