Let it Rain Down on Me

Two years ago just about right now, I was somewhere in the midst of a cross-country trip with my daughter, son-in-law, and their two little boys. SIL is in the Navy and had just finished a year of schooling in San Diego. They had two vehicles to get back to the East coast, and I was along partly to keep daughter company, partly to help with the boys, partly to vacation. (We saw the Grand Canyon, the Garden of the Gods (wowee!), the St. Louis arch -- all the wonders left of the Mississippi. ;) )

Outside Albuquerque, we stayed in our one and only Holiday Inn Express. To set itself apart from the rest, HIE has bumped up its amenities, and indeed it was the nicest place we stayed. The soft, thick towels were nice, the snow-white textured shower curtain was nice, that curved shower curtain rod that allowed plenty of move-around room in the shower/tub area was nice, etc. etc.

But the spray that came out of the shower head was heavenly.

A card in the HIE room indicated that all the luxuries in its Stay Smart collection -- including the shower head -- were for sale, and when I got home, I found the shower head and bookmarked it.

Two years later I still think of that shower, like a fondly remembered night of mysterious romance carried close to the heart for decades.

The only thing that stopped me from ordering the Holiday Inn Express shower head the moment I got home was that it was a stationary fixture. I like my shower heads detachable, on long hoses. This preference goes back to the days of having to shampoo small, wiggly heads, but the detachable heads also make spraying down the shower area a lot easier at cleaning time. I also like to rinse my hair with the spray right next to my scalp, and...

Enough about my showering habits.

Two years later I still pine for the HIE shower head, but we remain apart.

Now I need a new shower head. It's no longer a mere desire, and it'll be a critical need before too much longer. So I went shopping, and last night on a modest end display, I found my beloved, in hand-held form, waiting for me in Home Depot. (Compare the photos, the specs, etc. of the HIE shower head and the Forte. They're the same. The same!!! This Home Depot internet link shows the stationary head, but the brick and mortar store had the detachable version.)

Still, I didn't buy it just then, and I wasn't sure until this morning, when I came online and compared the Kohler Forte:



to the Holiday Inn Express Kohler Stay Smart:



Except for the hunky man having the shower of his life, the two photos look the same to me.

Time to go shopping!