This week, Scott and I moved our middle child, Nina, into her Freshman dorm at The University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA. Since her designated move-in time was 8 am, we opted to drive down the night before and get a hotel room. We wanted to be fresh for the big day. The hotel room was nice until the architect looked out the window and noticed our view. Or perhaps I should say lack of view.

Apparently, our second-floor room was right above the entrance to the hotel. Someone had the bright idea to add a nice little peak to give it some interest. Or at least that’s my guess. Either way, it had Scott pointing out the flaw to Nina, and asking me how much I paid for the room. I got a “no wonder” when I quoted him a pretty low rate for the room. He continued to mutter under his breath about the view. Meanwhile, I moved on to other things–like making the most of the remaining time we had before Nina’s move.

By the next morning, I had long forgotten about the issue and assumed it had passed. Then I noticed Scott texting. Apparently, he had not only NOT forgotten about the view, but he had taken a picture and was sharing it with his Leadership Washington County group. They must be far more tolerant than I am about these architecture rants.

As we drove, we passed another hotel, and it had the same obstructed view behind the entrance. At least, that’s what Scott said since once again, I was paying attention to things that aren’t architecture. Like the impending drop off of our middle child. Silly me. Regardless of my wandering thoughts, Nina and I hear all about how that room should have been storage or an employee break room instead of a guest room. My big take away from all of this? Views matter. Even if it’s for a one night stay at a hotel off the interstate. Go figure.