Now Playing -
smoove jazz.
Now Eating -
a turkey sammich.
Now Feeling -
unsatisfied.
Now Tweeting
- Melanie
Florida was great. Perfect weather, relatives that only drove us nuts for one day out of six, good food, shopping, swimming and mini-golf!
Thursday: Flight took off late (you know it�s a bad sign when they begin pre-boarding 10 minutes before departure time), and was bumpy until we broke through the clouds and saw that glowing ball in the sky that we hadn�t seen for several days�oh, the sun! That�s what that is! I remember now! But there was plenty of sun to come. Landed, reveled in the snazzy new terminal and its exceedingly convenient rental car garage, and made our way to the hotel. (I am so regretting not getting a picture of the �Panther Crossing� signs on the road leading out of the airport.) Checked in, cleaned up a bit and hit Cantina Laredo for dinner. Guacamole made tableside! Expensive margaritas! Negra Modelo in those squat little bottles I love!
Friday: Headed to The Bell Tower to officially begin the shopping portion of our festivities, and lunched at Johnny Rockets. Mmm�fries. And, as a tribute to my growing culinary maturity, I ate a burger with yellow mustard on it, and it didn�t make me cringe! What would have been considered sacrilege to me 15 years ago was now kinda kicky!
Yes, I am from the New York Metropolitan Area and We Do Not Put Mustard on Our Burgers. Moving along�.
Dined in the hotel restaurant (meh), and went for an evening swim. And an evening hot tub. Mmm�hot tub.
Saturday was �Welcome to My Family, Version 1.0.� SIL was taking the kids for haircuts (and running late as per usual), so we knew we could safely enjoy a leisurely brunch at Perkins. Yes, Perkins. Huz hadn�t been since college, and I hadn�t been since I did scary dinner theatre in Illinois 14 years ago. Gotta tell you, it was the best breakfast I�d had in years. Any place that chars my bacon perfectly has my heart.
We met the family in the Encore parking lot. The kids are growing like the proverbial weeds; my nephew is as tall as I am. MIL was having a good day. She called SIL and my niece by name several times, and still seems to recognize us, even though her grasp of our relationship to her is mostly gone. (Case in point: she remarked to Huz that it�d been a long time since they�d �known each other,� and then asked �How long has it been since we dated?�) But she�s in good spirits, and general good health, which is all we can ask for. We went to Lakes Park, and the kids played on the playground and played tag with Huz (until his heart threatened to explode) and rode on the miniature railroad.
We brought MIL �home� and went to Rib City for dinner. I got to watch my nephew take one bite out of a hot dog, and my niece take one bite out of her grilled cheese. All the fries managed to disappear, natch. Even Huz is appalled by their eating habits. Niece has calmed down a lot (she no longer spends the meal running around the table) but Nephew? Hoo-boy, adolescence. Gotta love it. Pouty, argumentative, and prone to fits of gross exaggeration. Did you know a cricket contains more protein than a gallon of milk? And that his teacher used to waitress (for a whole year) and made $500-600 a night in tips? Hell, why�d she even bother to go into teaching after making money like that? And note to self: do not listen to his recommendations on spicy food. Order those Buffalo Chicken Tenders �hot� next time.
And then we ditched the mishpoche and headed on to Castle Golf! Yes, we finally hit a mini-golf course on vacation. Neither of us had played in years, and we�re both used to the run-of-the-mill �hit the ball through the windmill� type courses. We�ve driven by all 3 Ft. Myers courses every time we�re down there, and this time we took the plunge. Huz whupped my ass (even got a hole in one), but I think we both performed admirably given our lack of recent experience. I wish we�d taken the attendant up on his offer of bug spray before we started playing, though, �cause we were eaten alive.
In the past, I�ve had trouble wrapping my mind around the notion of traveling the country to play on all the great golf courses. But traveling the country to play mini-golf? Now this is a sport I could get behind. The greens fees are a lot cheaper, and you don�t have to travel with your clubs; there�s always a putter wherever you go! And the endless variety! Castle golf, Pirate golf, Jungle golf, Volcano golf, Congo golf, Hawaiian golf!
End of Vacation, Part I. Pictures to follow, but in the meanwhile our day on Sanibel-Captiva is viewable here.
We�re together ten years today. Happy Anniversary-That-Dare-Not-Speak-Its-Name, m�dear. I look forward to many more Ten Year Nights with you.
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a very fine cat indeed - Friday, Jan. 17, 2014
happy new year! - Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013
this is where i am - Saturday, Jun. 30, 2012
this is how it is - Friday, Feb. 24, 2012
a very late last year's wrap-up - Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012
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