Quarantine Dreamin’: A Perfect Post-Pandemic Weekend

I’ve been tagged by Emily from ThatWeirdGirlLife.com to attempt this post! Since things have been serious around the blog lately, this perfect-post-quarantine-weekend tag came at the perfect time.

The tag is very simple. All I needed to do is write about my perfect weekend when quarantine is over. In my post, I’m setting it in a world where the COVID-19 vaccine is not only developed, but it’s widely available and free to all – because it should be!

So quarantine isn’t just over, it’s over for good! At least until the next pandemic comes along, which hopefully is centuries later.

To be honest, I hardly go out in the US, so I wasn’t sure how to approach this tag. I also didn’t manage to befriend anyone physically, though I have a nice group of friends on Twitter. If you find yourself wondering why not many human interactions or activities are involved, this is why.

Oh, I’m also an introvert!

Friday

Morning

I woke up to the sounds of waves crashing and the smell of briny sea breeze in the studio apartment. It was dark and chilly, but I was happy. Fresh, cool air always makes me feel good.

Despite my reluctance to get out of bed, I woke Anth up. We departed the warmth of our blanket nest and got dressed for our little adventure.

I made coffee to go in a thermos, put my hoodie on and we headed to the beach to catch the sunrise!

On the beach, we settled on a beach towel and waited. Within 10 minutes, nature started the brilliant light show she puts up every morning. We passed the thermos of hot coffee between us, huddling close for warmth. Guess what, we also brought donuts! Cream-filled donuts with chocolate glaze, perfect with coffee.

Slowly, the rising sun warmed us up. It was going to be a beautiful day!

Afternoon

We decided to have lunch early because the donuts weren’t that filling. We went to a cafe – the first time in a long long time – and ordered our lunch. I chose a grilled salmon and he decided on a mushroom burger.

Lunch was good and we took our own sweet time. We even talked to the waitress a little! Us introverted hermits!

After lunch, we took a walk along an easy but scenic trail to a cliff. The view along the entire trail was breathtaking! No one on the trail was wearing masks or gloves because we’re all vaccinated and safe. We smiled and nodded at each other when our eyes meet, happy that the worst was over.

Night

We took our customary stroll along the beach as the sun was setting – looking out for pretty shells that we look at then return to the sea. The water was nice and cool as it rippled around our feet, and the strong breeze cooled us down from the sun’s dying but hot rays.

On the way home, we bought a pizza and dessert – a slice of chocolate cake for him, a lemon tart for me.

We sat out on the balcony to enjoy the food, the sea breeze, and a bottle of red wine. We talked and laughed, and played some music. Since the season was winding down, we didn’t need to worry about disturbing neighbors. It was perfect!

Saturday

Morning

We slept in, then we had breakfast at the balcony so we can gaze at the Pacific ocean. The day was nice and cool, with a high of 78 degrees. So we decided to slather on some sunscreen and head to the beach.

I selected a novel from the lobby left behind by previous vacationers – horror genre, naturally. It’s tattered around the edges and yellowed with age. I wondered how many fingers have flipped through these pages and took it as a good sign.

Book in hand, we headed off to enjoy the sun, the sand and the sea.

Afternoon

He sketched in his book, I read, we took turns dozing. Then we had drinks and sandwiches from our cooler box that magically appeared under our beach chairs. The day was both warm and cool and wonderful – the best type of weather to be out on the beach. Not too breezy so the sands aren’t in our eyes.

Lazily, we spent the afternoon at the beach under the soft shade of our umbrella. The book was good and creepy!

Night

We decided to head out for dinner. So I put on my cute little beach dress and dabbed on some tinted lip balm, and we went out to this seafood place. He’s vegetarian so he had an impossible burger with fries while I had mussels in a white wine broth with bread on the side. It was good!

Halfway through the meal, we couldn’t help but realize that the couple sitting next to us were like-minded people, and they realized that too.

Very soon, we started talking, sharing stories and ideas over iced teas and sodas. Before we parted, we exchanged social media handles (because that’s what we do now) so we can keep in touch!

Sunday

Morning

Breakfast on the balcony again! It was so lovely we discussed permanently moving here, into this tiny studio apartment that contains everything we’ll ever need – including a cute balcony with a lovely view of the ocean! It seems like a good way to live a life.

After breakfast, I sat with my laptop on the balcony – it was time to write! Anth sat beside me, sketching the statue of a turtle he found in the apartment. It was quiet with the exception of the crashing waves and the calls of the gulls, it was almost meditative.

Afternoon

After lunch, Anth decided to take a nap, so I went out alone. I love walking along the boardwalk, taking in the colors and spotting old signs. The season may be winding down, but there are still people around. It felt nice to be able to walk around other people without the fear of catching a virus!

When it got too hot, I sat on a bench overlooking the beach, sipping cool water from my thermos, and people watched, pausing now and then to write in my notebook. Then I continued walking.

On the way back, I picked up some cupcakes – the ones I wanted to buy the last time but didn’t manage to! Yippee!

Anth was delighted to see the cupcakes – that kid! We went out again to shell -search and feel the sand sink beneath our feet and the tiny clams pinch gently at our soles. I collected some plastic I saw floating around to dump in the bin.

Then we splashed around the water like a couple of kids and sat on the sand to watch the sunset. All the beautiful colors, as if the sky and the clouds are on fire.

Night

It started to storm. (Yes I was inspired by Emily’s rainy weather.) It was raining so hard we had to close the doors to the balcony completely. We decided it was the perfect night for noodles!

After a simple but comforting dinner of instant ramen with frozen vegetables and an egg each, we settled down to watch movies! No perfect weekend can happen without a movie night!

I picked a horror movie and he picked a comedy. Naturally, we watched the funny flick first! Because scary movies are better the later it gets!

For snacks, we have tortilla chips – I had salsa with mine and he melted cheese on his. We wash it down with San Pellegrino sparkling water in glass bottles.

As the movies ended, the rain slowed to a light shower. We fell asleep to the sound of the rain pattering against the window and the sound of the waves in the distance, happy to know that we have another week here!

The end!

And that is how my perfect weekend post-quarantine-days would’ve gone. Uneventful and thoroughly chill. Also not new. It’s inspired by my trip to Atlantic City.

I could’ve made it about traveling across the country on a Greyhound bus… I could’ve swum with the dolphins! It’s “quarantine dreamin'” after all. Oh well, maybe next time!

That said, I enjoyed writing this so much I’m surprised! It was a little like I took a vacation. I guess in my head, I did. Thank you, Emily! Go read Emily’s perfect weekend, by the way. It’s much more engaging than mine!

It’s now time to pass on the tag to my fellow blogger friends:

Crystal @ Crystal K. Li // Writer
Lucy @ The Tea Room
Kez @ K-In-Motion
Naomi @ Inching Forwards
Lisa @ Agapephilia Life Coach
No obligations guys, but I’d love to read about your perfect weekends, be it a poem or a vacation, simple or elaborate!

To anyone else who’d like to imagine a perfect weekend, feel free to do the tag too! I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.