When my friend from work received an offer to try out a stay in one of the Hyatt’s new hypo-allergenic rooms, we knew we had a day trip to plan. We wanted some place outside of the city, but close enough so that we could keep our expenses low and not travel too far.

Our choice—New Brunswick, New Jersey. Some might (and have) laughed at our chosen destination, but after having spent the day and evening there, Amy and I are happy with our choice.

Although the town’s main claim to fame may be the fact that it’s home to Rutger’s University, there wasn’t really a huge student presence when we were there. Maye they were all away on holiday. Still, we managed to eat at a cute little Italian place, eat ice cream in the freezing cold from Coldstone, and take in a play at George Street Playhouse (we saw “The Subject Was Roses.” And while Amy wasn’t impressed, I thought it was pretty good. Not that I’d recommend traveling to New Brunswick to see it, but I thought the actors did their town justice).

I would like to give the manager at the Hyatt in New Jersey a special shout out of gratitude for sending us up complimentary room service— shrimp, chocolate covered strawberries, and red wine.

All in all, we’d say it was a very successful outing. And in all seriousness, if you’re worried about traveling because of allergies, you should really look into the Respire Hypo-Allergenic rooms at the Hyatt. The room purification process includes:

• Application of PURE Shield and PURE Clean to minimize presence of allergens on the carpet, upholstery, and other surfaces
• One-time shock treatment to minimize irritants
• Complete disinfection of Air Handling Unit and installation of removable tea tree oil cartridge to maintain conditions
• Installation of hypo-allergenic mattress & pillow encasing
• Installation of a powerful air purifier by Healthway, listed as a Class II Medical device by the F.D.A.
• Recertification every six months

Bid bald, friends, and may you have fun wherever your day trips take you!

P.S. Chris is off to Mt. Snow for a snowboarding trip next weekend. Maybe I coerce a post out of him.