August2014 Roadtrip: Day 1-Pelham Alabama

We are visiting 12 states in 29 days on this Roadtrip.  This Trip was the dream trip of Ron's focusing on racetracks in Kentucky (Keeneland) and New York (Saratoga) with a few extra states added by me.  In addition to horse tracks, we hope to do some hiking and visit the Amish in both Pennsylvania and Ohio.

We have been hoarding hotel points we earned through various hotel frequent flyer programs in preparation for this long road trip.  We expect to end up paying very little, if any, for hotel accommodations.  We are elite members of both Club Carlson, Hilton, SPG & Hyatt.  We get BOGO free as Club Carlson members since we are redeeming points.  We also took advantage of  a recent IHG Points Break promotion to book rooms @ just 5K each night, which really allowed us to stretch our points.  The majority of our stays will include breakfast, saving on dining expenses.  We are not big breakfast eaters anyway.

We left home in the early morning heading to our first stop in Pelham, Alabama (near Birmingham).

Lobby area

complimentary coffee station

We arrived at Holiday inn Express-Pelham around 11am and were thrilled to discover our room was ready.  The hotel is undergoing renovations so weren't sure what to expect.

 Our room was clean & inviting.  We could tell it had been recently updated, it was perfect.  There was a small refrigerator & microwave but no safe.

The toiletries were bath & body and smelled really nice. So far I would say this Holiday Inn Express far exceeded our expectations!

After we brought our belongings into the room, We found nearby Oak Mountain State Park which offers hiking.

We hiked for about 2 hours, the park was very nice.

Supper was a small place named Margarita Grill.  They made fresh guacamole right at our table, everything was delicious.