Koen: How to enjoy an anniversary with minimal travel

We had a great anniversary last week. We went to the Starlight Canyon bed and breakfast and stayed Friday night. It was great. They have the best little bungalows and they all have their own hot tub. It was a much needed break from all the crazy that is going on in the world right now.

When we arrived, they had chocolate-covered strawberries waiting for us, and the hot tub was the perfect temperature. We ate a delicious meal of brisket tacos with avocado slices and pico de gallo. The meat was tender and reminded me of something you might get at Fearings in Dallas, which, by the way, if you have never tried I highly recommend. It has the best chicken tortilla soup in Texas, which is saying a lot.

The next day we slept in, and Liz the owner set us up a beautiful picnic basket accented with flowers and candles to eat by the little pond on the property. It was a wonderful and relaxing staycation and all we could have hoped for in a 20th wedding anniversary.

We have done much worse for staycations before. One time while we were living in Germany we decided to take a trip to Frankfurt, which was only a short train ride from where we lived at the time. I didn’t know much about Germany at the time and my wife and I were young and innocent.

The main train station in Frankfurt that we walked out of was in the middle of a red-light district, which is basically block after block of houses of ill repute. Needless to say, we were quite shocked at the wares they had to sell in the windows.

We finally made it to a taxi stand, which in Germany they have specific places for taxis, and you take the first one in line. We made it to the hotel and checked in. They require passports at many of the hotels in Germany if you are not a citizen. Immediately once the concierge realized we were not German, he began speaking to us in English.

I bet 90 percent of Germans speak English, which makes it a great country to visit for Americans. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a lot of time for this minibreak, but we did get to go to one of the Frankfurt main walk plazt. This was basically a large open-air market where they had used old what I assume were horse trails they had cobblestoned in between the buildings.

We had fantastic fish and chips and sat and watched the other shoppers at a large beir garten. One of the first things you will notice when visiting many European countries is people dress up more than they do in America. You rarely will see somebody in just a t-shirt and jeans.

We then went to a local little pub where we were introduced to the most fun pub game. They have a log set up on a stand about waist high. You then take an ax or hammer and tap a nail into the log. The point of the game is to see how many times you have to hit the nail before you nail it all the way into the log. The person that wins is the one who nails it all the way in in the fewest hits.

You take turns one hit at a time until the winner is declared. I thought at the time how dangerous it is to have a pub game where a weapon is involved, but that is only something an American would think growing up where you are always liable for even the smallest thing in a business. After having socialized and met some interesting people, we went back to the hotel and finished our German staycation.

David Koen is an Amarillo native who owns Doche Cleaders and is an active member of the Dry Cleaning and Laundry Institute. Learn more at dochecleanersamarillo.com