Staycation 2015

I’ve felt an incredibly strong desire for a holiday lately, but time and money constraints have made it impossible. I decided that we’d try a ‘Staycation’ and spend one night away from home somewhere in our own city. This ended up being far less expensive than heading away for the weekend, but we still felt like we’d gotten away for a bit. I did a bit of research and decided on Rendezvous Scarborough, because it’s a place we’re familiar with and the location is quite lovely. To add to the experience, I booked us both in for a Swedish Back, Neck, and Shoulder massage at Vanilla Face & Body Spa, which is located within the hotel. We both had a lovely experience at Vanilla. The service was top notch, the facilities were great, and the massage itself was wonderful. The only downside for me was that I came up in a horrible rash (which I noticed the morning after the massage) – but I do not put any of the blame on Vanilla. They gave us a form to fill out prior to the appointment, and I clearly stated that I had no allergies to nuts (which is the oil that was used during the session). Well, as it turns out I do have a kind of allergy. The more you know. After our massage we checked in and headed up to our room, and were happy to see that we had a beautiful view of the ocean from our balcony.

Now it was time for us to wind down. What I’d been waiting for all week. We kicked back, relaxed, and tuned in for some blissful uninterrupted TV time. It’s funny, if we watch TV at home I always feel like I have 100 other things I could be doing and I never really relax. Having all of that taken away from me really made it easier for me to unwind. We watched a couple of episodes of Daredevil, and then decided on dinner. I initially wanted room service, and although there were quite a few gluten free options available on the dinner menu (props to Rendezvous for that), nothing caught my eye. We decided on Grill’d, which is conveniently located at the base of the hotel. Grill’d now offer a gluten free bun option on their burger menu (although I am confused as to why there is a disclaimer that it may contain gluten, no other product that ‘may’ contain gluten that I’ve come across ever calls itself gluten free), and happily it was quite delicious. Yes, that is Seinfeld in the background. We only have one season left!

Sebastian wanted something quite specific for breakfast (a smoked salmon bagel), so we did a bit of a google search and discovered The SandBar just down the road had exactly what we were after. Sebastian ordered his bagel and I ordered poached eggs with mushrooms, bacon, and gluten free toast. I like a big breakfast. The breakfast was delicious, and the gluten free bread was so yummy I even asked the waiter which bread they use and I’ll be attempting to hunt it down sometime soon. After breakfast we went for a stroll along the foreshore and witnessed a man doing some vigorous dancing on the grassed area near the water. What a way to start the day! We headed home mid-morning, and both felt refreshed after our mini Staycation. I think it’s a great way of taking a break without traveling too far from home, or spending too much money.