Home > Full Speed Ahead > Archives > 2008 > July > 09 > Entry
Budgets and beer
At least two entries in this blog have raised an eyebrow or two from readers I’ve bumped into. One the entries was my accounting of the cost. To clarify, I did not offer the report to brag or complain, just to offer information. Maybe it could be useful, at the least entertaining.
I had hoped to give you the price of a comparable stay at Disney World. The resorts’ Web site claimed technical difficulties prevented it from offering a price, but if my memory of some research we did a few of months ago is correct, Disney would have been as expensive, not counting gas, and perhaps as fun, although that ball game would be hard to beat in my book.
We found several ways to save. I packed a cooler and two grocery bags of snacks, food and drinks. We ate leftovers, ham biscuits, turkey sandwiches, cheese and hard-boiled eggs at rest stops. We brought cereal for our breakfast, and we refilled our water bottles where we could. It all minimized the need to eat out, which can start to add up, plus everyone enjoyed the picnics.
Five fill-ups came to about $350, a hefty price, but about the cost of one airplane ticket. Mom helped out a lot with the gas, too. Gas really is a big expense, one reason it’s so nice to live close to the beach. The trade off, of course, was the travel time.
A lot of our activities didn’t cost a thing. The Celebrate St. Louis festival was free, the concert was free, playing in the fountain was free and watching the fireworks was free. Even the arch didn’t cost that much, about $40 for four of us to watch a movie and go to the top.
Staying in the hotel downtown downtown, the ball game and a couple dinners were worth the splurge.
The other entry that produced a comment or two was how I stated my beer drinking at the ball game affected my video-making skills. I don’t think it caused too much offense, at least I hope it didn’t, because, for me, baseball games and beer just go together, especially in the home of Anheuser-Busch.
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