Leonard sat on his bed and turned on his laptop. His search for an affordable flight to New Jersey for tomorrow evening was on. He debated on whether or not to find a hotel room. Do I really want to stay with mother? ...Definitely not. Finding a hotel room and a plane ticket for two would be tough, but he had all night to book a flight and a hotel room. He checked multiple websites for a hotel and a flight. He finally came across a flight that would land in Philadelphia and a hotel near his mother's house in Princeton. Ahh, Perfect. He scrolled down to the end of the page only to realize the price was over a $1,000 per person. Fortunately, he always had spare money just in case something like this were to occur. Leonard didn't mind paying for Penny, after all she was his girlfriend and he did want her to come. He book the flight and hotel. He decided to stay a few extra days in Jersey so he could go sightseeing with Penny. Even though this trip was based around his sister's accomplishments, it was a mini vacation for them both.
Penny's mind was going a mile a minute, looking for the cutest outfits her trip to New Jersey, she managed to tear her closet apart. Clothes were scattered around her room, bed, and some even managed to make their way to her bathroom. I need to take this bathing suit, and this cute top.. Penny felt like she was shopping, picking out her outfits. She never been to the East Coast before. She always imagined it was like she seen on television. Full of guys who are tan and muscular and brunettes who were Italian and had New York accents.
Penny began to bring some type of order to her room, putting various clothes in her suitcases as well as checking for items she might need to purchase. She realized she would only need to purchase small toiletries for the trip which she could go get as soon as she was done packing. As Penny was putting clothes in her suitcase, she heard her phone vibrate. Throwing the rest of her clothes off the bed to find it, she saw that Leonard had texted her.
Flight leaves tomorrow at 7:42 a.m. Need to go to the store to get a few things..want to come?
Penny thought to herself Perfect timing.
Yeah, I needed to pick up toiletries anyway. Just call me when you're ready.
Leonard had to finish some packing before he could head out to the store. He knew from his childhood that New Jersey could be hot during June, so he scavenged his room to look for shorts. He had already packed dress clothes, t-shirts, sneakers, and the one bathing suit he owned. He figured he needed to buy a pair of flip-flops, since Penny would want to head to the beach as soon as possible. He thought to himself, Beach. Hmm, maybe I could rent a hotel room near the beach.
Leonard turned his laptop back on and looked for a hotel room near Wildwood. When Leonard's Uncle Floyd would take him to the shore, he would always take Leonard and his brother and sister to Wildwood. Wildwood has a reputation of having the best beach in New Jersey. Every summer, Leonard's Uncle would take them down to Wildwood for a weekend. Leonard's favorite part of the shore was the boardwalk. He loved to play the crane machines in the arcades. He always saw it as a challenge to try and beat the machine at it's own game. More often than not, Leonard was successful at winning a prize in the machine.
One fond memory Leonard had was when he was eight. Uncle Floyd always rented a hotel room near the end of the boardwalk which was the closest to the beach. He woke up one morning around 5 a.m. He woke up his Uncle Floyd wanting to go see the sunrise.
Uncle Floyd! Uncle Floyd! Wake up!
What's wrong Leonard?
Can we go watch the sunrise?
Uhhh, yeah sure we can Len. Let's go before your Aunt wakes up.
Even though it was 5 a.m., Floyd couldn't be mad at Leonard, he simply smiled. His brother and sister were still sound asleep with his Aunt Christine in the other room. They both left the hotel room while it was still dark. They made their way onto the beach and found a spot just before the wet sand touched the dry. Leonard and his Uncle watched the sunrise. Leonard thought back to his amazement the first time he saw the sun rise.
He knew Penny would be in awe as well and he definitely had to book a hotel room in Wildwood.
As Leonard searched for a hotel room, he thought about what time of the year it is. Dammit, prom season. Leonard knew he would have a slim chance finding a hotel during this time of the year on such short notice. After searching Google for about 20 minutes, he came across a small hotel named "Casa Del Sol" that could possibly have an opening during this week. He found the number and tried his luck.
"Hello, I'm looking to see if you have a hotel room open anytime this week."
"Hi," the receptionist said, "We just had a cancellation for Tuesday of this week."
"That's Perfect," Leonard said excitedly "How much per night?"
"It's $125 per night and the room is only open until Thursday."
"That's fine, I'll take it."
Leonard exchanged information with the receptionist and hung up the phone. While trying to make these plans, he completely forgot he asked Penny to go to the store.
Let me call her real quick
"Penny?"
"Are we going or no?"
"Yeah we are, sorry. I was straightening stuff out for the trip."
"Alright, I'll be right over."
"Sounds good." Leonard said as he hung up the phone.
Leonard wanted Wildwood to be a surprise for Penny. He was so excited about this plan that he was grinning from ear to ear. Don't blow the surprise, don't blow the surprise. He grabbed his phone and his wallet and made his way out of his room into the living room.
Knock, knock, knock
"Hey you" Leonard said with a smile "Let's go get the rest of our stuff for tomorrow."
They both made their way out of the apartment into Leonard's car, on their way to get the finishing touches for their trip to New Jersey tomorrow.
