Wrangler Dani

A couple of weeks ago, my hunnybunny and I were feeling a tad grouchy. A little overworked, a little underwhelmed, a little tired and neglected and in need of an adventure. So we took Friday off, packed up the car and headed south to San Diego for the Day of Gift Card Redemption, a made-up holiday which we are now going to faithfully observe every year, because it was AWESOME.

Our first stop was the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla, for which we did not have a gift card but it was allowed to count because we DID have a coupon. It was very fishy. Bah-dum-CHING!

After scouting out the kayaking situation in La Jolla (pronouncement: come back with Thelma and Louise, pronto) we headed to our next destination: an Indian restaurant in downtown San Diego, for which we had an almost-expired Groupon. It was a cute restaurant with an indoor waterfall, and, even more impressive, a never-ending lunch buffet. We normally consider a bag of beef jerky, some Triscuits and a pound of cheese in a cooler sufficient lunch for our travels, so this plethora of lunch options was a tad overwhelming. The food was fabulous and after I had to stop lest I make myself sick, we decided to move on to the next adventure.

We had a voucher for a boat tour of San Diego Harbor, so we considered going straight there. (I know, after stuffing ourselves with food at an endless buffet, we planned a boat ride. We’re brilliant.) However, we were rescued from our own stupidity by the U.S.S. Midway, looking gloriously at us from across the harbor. History! America! A coupon! We were sold. The Midway had our allegiance for the next two hours.

The Midway was SO worth (almost) breaking the D of GCR rules. We had to stay on our toes because we only had two hours to see the whole thing, but it was completely awesome. Really cool history and amazing technology. Also, Adam learned that he would never make it as a sailor, since he hit his head roughly 105 times, so it was educational, too. Bonus!

After the Midway, we ran back to catch our Harbor tour boat. We were very worried that we might miss our free tour so we ran around frantically, grabbing sweatshirts and waving each other down and what-not, only to be the first in line. Kinda like how we get to the airport four hours early because “you just never know” and then regret it after three trips to the tiny overpriced bookstore and a bag of gummy worms later.

The tour was fun, especially because it was free and so we splurged and bought beer. I love themed holidays of my own creation.

After the two-hour harbor cruise, we went back to the car, took a little spit-bath, sprayed on some perfume, changed into jeans and “going-out” tops (mine had sparkles) (who needs a hotel room when one has a car?) and went to…. RUTH’S CHRIS STEAK HOUSE, for which we had a gift card, natch.

Adam MIGHT have sighed in bliss over his steak roughly eleventy-billion times, and I MIGHT have sprung for a little steak and a half of a lobster, which I was not prepared to see looking fully alive and in possession of his eyeballs, but was ridiculously good nonetheless. We bought a half-bottle of Chianti and relished our meal from start to finish and watched the city lights dance on the water. It was a perfect end to our holiday.

That, my friends, is how we do the Day of Gift Card Redemption. I’m already making plans for the next one, which I might not be able to hold off for another year.