Teacher Retirement System of Alabama Rocks!

I am SOOOOOO excited!!!!!!!!

As a member of the Teacher Retirement System of Alabama, I am able to get special rates at any of the Renaissance Hotels by Marriott that are in Alabama. There are hotels in Mobile (2), Point Clear, Florence, Hoover, Opelika, Prattville, and Montgomery. The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trails are also a part of TSA, so anytime you visit one of these hotels or play a round at one of the RTJ courses, you are helping out my retirement fund. Thank you, VERY much. ;)

Soooo, that being said, I just reserved a room at the Ross Bridge Resort in Birmingham for December 26 for my hubby and me. We have a deluxe room with one king bed for $89. The same room on the same night without my discount is $189. See why I'm so excited? The rates at the hotels in Florence, Opelika, Prattville, and the Riverview on Mobile are only $79 a night.

Our 16th anniversary is December 20th, but that's the day we're having our family Christmas. Even though we may not buy gifts for each other, we always exchange cards and go out for a nice dinner. Since we're doing the family thing on the 20th, we won't be able to go out to dinner. Actually, we probably won't WANT to go out to dinner after all the food that we'll have earlier in the day!

The 26th works out perfectly for us because that's the day we're doing our immediate family Christmas with Phillip, Katy, Sam, and Jessi at Phillip and Katy's in Birmingham. Instead of having to drive home, we'll just hop over to Ross Bridge for the night.

We talked about going to the Battle House in Mobile, but we decided to stay a little closer to home and to maybe take a trip down there over the summer. I have always wanted to go to the Grand in Point Clear, too. Maybe we can hit that one sometime as well.

A couple of years ago, I went to the AMTESOL conference with Dolly, and we stayed at the Riverview in Mobile. They were in the process of remodeling the hotel at the time, but all of the guest rooms had been done. Oh. My. Goodness. That was THE most comfortable bed I have EVER slept in. Ever. In my entire life. All (almost) 42 years of it. I have dreamed of sleeping in that bed again. I have tried to figure out how I could steal that bed and take it home with me. It was THAT comfortable. It will be even more so snuggled up with my sweet hubs while sipping on a glass of wine celebrating the best 16 years of our entire lives. ;)