Day 20 - Governor Newsom imposes new restrictions

Los Campianos restaurant at the Mission Inn…

12/5/20. Saturday.

8:00 – 9:45 - I’m up and I take a long, slow shower. Incredible. Lotion. Covid-19 uniform except now I’m substituting my T-back tank top with a sweatshirt.   Light make-up.  I stretch out on the chair in our suite and read a Money Diary as L. gets ready.

9:45 – We have breakfast reservations at the Mission Inn restaurant so we leave our room and check in downstairs.  Breakfast is in a courtyard, under clear, plastic tents, next to a huge fountain.  This has not changed much as breakfast is typically served in the courtyard, although the clear tents and small white lights are a nice addition-that part’s new.  The Xmas decorations are still beautiful.  L. has the waffles and I have the breakfast burrito and two mimosas. Perfect.

12:00 – 12:30 - L and I walk to Casey’s Cupcakes because you can’t go to the Mission Inn without getting a gourmet cupcake. Casey’s is still going strong – there’s always a line – and we buy our cupcakes and head back to the room so we can get some reading done.

12:30-2:30 – Reading.

R. is staying at our house and texts us periodic updates and pictures of the dog.  It’s like having a professional dog sitter for free.

2:45 – 4:30 - L. and I leave for our 3:00 massages at Kelly’s Spa. The locker rooms are closed and there are NO lavender cookies, tea, or sliced fruit waiting for us in the lounge areas because the lounges are off limits. When we check in, L. and I are led through the spa maze until we reach a “villa”, with two massage tables sitting outside, next to a huge fountain.  The beds are super heated and there is an indoor/outdoor bathtub around the corner.  In the past, this particular “couples” room retails for $500 a day, but in the era of Covid-19, it’s the cost of a standard massage because the establishment has to put us outside. I can’t believe our good fortune!

Staff are masked and they want us to mask, too, which is fine.  Previously, L. said she wasn’t going to mask during her massage – I disagreed with that course of action, but I couldn’t convince her otherwise.  Now, she has to, so I’m secretly pleased. Also, and this is crazy, the “therapists” wear gloves!! You would think gloves would detract from the massage experience, but they don’t.  I didn’t realize my masseuse was gloved until around 20 minutes in.

L. and I are done and checking out at 4:30 when the receptionist tells us that Kelly’s Spa is shutting down tomorrow on account of the Governor’s 3-week, shelter-in-place order. Staff says they are not sure if the spa will open again after this. I feel soooo bad for the spa and tip out high.

R. gives the dog a bath in L.’s shower and sends us a picture.  She is white again! instead of that dingy gray. R. should make a career out of dogsitting.

4:30-6:00 – The Mission Inn renovated their hotel lobby, creating a bar area that must remain vacant, called the California Lounge.  L. and I order a cheese plate – I get a glass of champagne and she gets a Mojito mocktail – and we sit outside the lounge, near the pool and under a heat lamp, at a tiny bistro table.  I love it.  The cheese plate is okay – L. actually makes a better cheese plate – but our “cocktails” are wonderful.  As we eat our cheese plate, L. and I hear…carolers!!!  What’s this?  Singing is banned so I can’t believe the carolers are here this year, in a public setting.  We can hear them, moving through the restaurant – the sound is muffled but still beautiful.

6:00-8:00- We return to the room to read and watch Forensic Files in preparation for our 8:00 p.m. dinner reservations at Los Campianos. Around 6:30, we decide to explore the Mission Inn’s exterior – we’ve done this before and we know every nook-and-cranny of this place – but we’re specifically looking for Kensington Kelly’s Suite.  L. and R. have reservations there in the coming weeks. We check out the rooftop gardens and the rooms on the highest level before we come across the Suite.  I like where it’s located and I think they’ll have a great time.  L. showed me online pictures of the interior and it’s amazing!

8:00-10:00 – Time for our reservations and it’s busy.  We’re seated outside, under a heat lamp, and all the tables are filled, shelter-in-place order be damned. I order enchiladas and champagne and L. gets…something???  The food is excellent and…we hear the carolers again!  Here they come – four of them, dressed in Victorian garb and wearing black masks that resemble a multi-faceted duck bill.  Does this mask configuration somehow magnify sound?  They walk from table to table, taking requests and singing!!! I can’t believe it!  The carolers are one of the highlights of the Mission Inn experience.

I watch a gathering of 10, seated at one table far from us, 5 on one side of the table and 5 on the other, talking and laughing loudly as they blow Covid-19 fomites into each other’s faces.  One guy won’t stop laughing – I think he’s drunk – and he sounds just like Santa.  Ho, ho, ho…cough, hack.  The carolers walk by for requests wearing their strange duck bill masks.  This table requests two Xmas carols and all of them, simultaneously, put their masks on when the carolers start singing. When the carolers are done, the table takes off their masks and continue to infect each other as if nothing has happened. Carry on, losers.  Ho, ho, ho…cough, hack.

L. and I have a brief debate about masking.  Should we mask when the carolers sing at our table?  I’m not sure…I really don’t want to because I think we’ll look over-the-top nuts.  L. is not feeling it, but has no problem wearing a mask if that’s what I want.  She’s her own person and doesn’t care if people are judging us.  As usual, I don’t like looking stupid, but L. assures me nobody gives a shit.  The carolers arrive and L. and I request Carol of the Bells and Little Drummer Boy. We don’t mask.

Singing has been banned for so long – since March – and I have not heard live music in ten months. Their voices are so beautiful, even while masked, that I am struck with the realization that I am actually going to start crying.  Here.  At my table. OMG. Somehow, I manage to keep it together by pinching the palms of my hands and saying, “Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.”  They finish and move to the table behind us – the people at the table put their masks on.  I feel like I compromised my health simply because I was afraid of looking stupid. L. says there’s nothing I can do about it now.

L. and I have finished eating when our waiter tells us that Los Campianos is shutting down on Monday on account of the Governor’s 3-week, shelter-in-place order. Staff says they are not sure if the restaurant will open again after this. I feel soooo bad for the restaurant and tip out high.

10:00 – back to our room and we watch a few Forensic Files before going to bed. Tomorrow is our last day.  Back to our shitty lives.