THE FLAVOR OF COINCIDENCE

Coincidence has been a theme for this blog since I started travel-contesting in early March. Just this week, the day after I wrote about the Redken sweeps to New York, which, take notice, includes a haircut, I took Isaac to get his hair cut. So, that’s the first part of the first coincidence: A haircut. Isaac has had his hair cut at a number of places since his first haircut at age three, at my once and future hairstylist’s in Georgetown: neighborhood Hispanic salons, which always cut his hair too short, no matter how perfectly I pronounce: “no mucho, por favor;” Cartoon Cuts, all the way out in Rockville, Maryland, all that schlep so Isaac could be hypnotized by videos while a lovely Iranian woman cut his hair; an Italian barber named Bruno in my hometown of Norwalk, Connecticut, a dying breed with a thick accent who always offers Isaac scotch as a joke and Isaac is never quite sure if he’s kidding or not; SuperCuts, a serviceable chain in Cleveland Park, here in D.C.

This time, we went to SuperCuts. As I was chatting with the receptionist, I noticed a card on the counter, a card that beckoned, “Enter Each Month’s Sweepstakes for a Chance to Win!” That’s the second part of the first coincidence. A travel sweeps. A trip to the Bahamas in December. I was instantly transported. I was already swimming in the turquoise waters. When I got home, I tried to enter, but there was some funkiness associated with a timeshare promotion to Las Vegas with TakeMeOnVaction, and I decided not to bother. There was something, what shall I say, suspicious about the whole thing. Despite the sweet coincidence, I did not enter.

On Tuesday, I researched accommodations in Hershey, Pennsylvania for Labor Day weekend for a possible jaunt there with Isaac and Isaac’s best friend and his mom. Now, it’s not a sure thing, because school will have already started and the school year is a real marathon – ah, the thought of it makes me tighten with anticipatory anxiety -- and I might just want to kick back or do something more relaxed, like go out to the country. But you do have the option of canceling up to 72 hours in advance and getting a full refund. (Both The Hershey Lodge and The Hotel Hershey require a one-night deposit.) Then on Wednesday, as in yesterday, I stumbled upon a sweeps to Hershey, Pennsylvania, for four, the exact number that would be in our party. That's coincidence number two. Again, I was instantly transported. I imagined what a chocolate wrap would actually feel like, and whether the chocolate slather would wash off easily later in the shower without any chocolate getting stuck in the cracks of my toes. Of course, if I won, we could not take the trip as early as Labor Day.

I suppose it’s bizarre that I fantasize to the degree I do about winning these trips – to varying degrees, of course. I mean, I have a life. But Aurimas Cernauskas, the winner of the Audi Streets of Tomorrow Contest, said he dreamed about winning the Colorado road trip that he won, the one put together by, sigh, Abercrombie and Kent. So who knows what the vibe factor is with all this. Or with anything at all.

The prize: Two nights at The Hotel Hershey for four, four spa certificates (yes!), four two-day passes to the park and, if you live 250 or miles away, air. If we win, we’ll be driving.

To enter, click HERE.

Here are the OFFICIAL RULES.

Enter once daily until July 29.