We had it all today. Bad weather, good weather, bad traffic, good traffic, bad drivers, good drivers and we also learned how valuable our OnStar system is to finding our way around.
All good things must end and it was time to take Elin and Abby back to Ft. Lauderdale and their hope that they could catch a flight to Boston sometime on Thursday to get home. Weather in Boston looked pretty marginal and two of their flights, the original one and a back up reservation, were both cancelled on Wednesday in anticipation of the major snowstorm blowing into that area.
We left the campsite about 12:30 p.m. with hopes of having lunch at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami Beach. I have learned to trust the OnStar directions and they did not disappoint today maneuvering us through several freeways to get to our destination in just a little over an hour.
One look at the prices and Joan and I decided to forgo even a taste at Joe's, but the girls each dug deep into their finances and purchased a delicious item. Elin bought the Stone Crab claws and Abby purchased a Mahi Mahi sandwich.
It was a pretty nice place and the travel book said if you wanted to eat dinner there the wait would likely be two hours or more and would cost you some serious palm grease to the Maitre'd if you wanted anything sooner. No reservations at the place.
I'm lucky, because I don't like crabs, stone or otherwise, so not a big deal for me.
But after the five-star lunch for the girls we took a short walk through the Art Deco section of South Beach and witnessed a little drama from a woman who was loudly and explicitly telling off her former date for loving and leaving her. It was quite a performance and I always wonder if people talking on cellphones don't realize that half the planet can hear their conversation.
Elin kept shushing me as she was taking in every filthy word the woman was screaming into the phone as she walked 50-feet in front of us explaining in graphic details what this man had done to her both physically and emotionally. Made me feel just a little uncomfortable for her.
We took a quick stroll on the beach, just long enough to snap a photo and say we had been there and then we returned to the car in time to avoid an expensive parking ticket.
Then OnStar helped us find our way to the Sawgrass Mills Outlet Mall where the girls wanted to shop. We arrived there about 4:45 p.m. and the girls went one way and Joan and I went another.
When we met up at 7 p.m. to leave Joan and I had spent $0 and the girls each had small purchases from the excursion.
Not that I didn't try to buy something, because I tried to convince Joan I needed a pair of designer sunglasses. The conversation went something like this:
"I need a pair of designer sunglasses," I said. (They were expensive)
"You don't even wear sunglasses," Joan said. (She's right)
"But everyone here wears them on top of their head or hooked onto the front of their shirt," I said.
"What's the point of that," Joan said.
"I want to look cool like they do," I said.
"You already look cool, you don't need the sunglasses," Joan said. (She was lying about the cool part but I knew I couldn't afford the glasses).
Then Joan went shopping for shorts (which considering that we are in sunny Florida should be in ample supply, but are very scarce this time of year). That led to a brief and animated discussion (the animation was on my part) about how stupid the sizes are for women's clothes.
Every time I would find a rack of clothes, Joan would look at me in a disgusted way and say "Those are Misses, you have to be a paper thin model to wear those." or "those are 'women's' sizes those are for large women" or "the medium sizes in that brand actually run small."
My suggestion, for the little it is apparently worth is that women's' clothes should be sized like men's, with just a waist size so a guy could help you pick out clothes. Anyway, she never found any cheap shorts she liked so we left the mall empty handed.
Also we stopped in a J.C. Penney's Outlet at the mall and Joan asked an employee for help in finding 'shorts.' The employee's answer: "No comprende Inglis." In fact, we heard very little English spoken for more than two hours in the mall. Many of the shoppers appeared to be Brazilians and they were seriously shopping.
Then it was off to dinner at Olive Garden in Plantation, Florida where we had a nice, if late, meal and then we dropped the girls off at their hotel near the airport with a prayer that they would catch a flight sometime on Thursday to get home and back to work.
During the two-hour drive back to the Key Largo campsite I was able to catch the last part of the Detroit Red Wings game, which turned out to be a 3-1 win over the New Jersey Devils. My friends Greg and his daughter, Chelsea, were at the game, which I knew, so I was excited for them and it certainly made the drive go faster.
We also remembered out Wednesday night Bible study folks at Taecken's Terrace back home and said a little prayer that they are doing well in our absence. We do miss them and the folks back home a little.
All good things must end and it was time to take Elin and Abby back to Ft. Lauderdale and their hope that they could catch a flight to Boston sometime on Thursday to get home. Weather in Boston looked pretty marginal and two of their flights, the original one and a back up reservation, were both cancelled on Wednesday in anticipation of the major snowstorm blowing into that area.
We left the campsite about 12:30 p.m. with hopes of having lunch at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami Beach. I have learned to trust the OnStar directions and they did not disappoint today maneuvering us through several freeways to get to our destination in just a little over an hour.
One look at the prices and Joan and I decided to forgo even a taste at Joe's, but the girls each dug deep into their finances and purchased a delicious item. Elin bought the Stone Crab claws and Abby purchased a Mahi Mahi sandwich.
It was a pretty nice place and the travel book said if you wanted to eat dinner there the wait would likely be two hours or more and would cost you some serious palm grease to the Maitre'd if you wanted anything sooner. No reservations at the place.
I'm lucky, because I don't like crabs, stone or otherwise, so not a big deal for me.
But after the five-star lunch for the girls we took a short walk through the Art Deco section of South Beach and witnessed a little drama from a woman who was loudly and explicitly telling off her former date for loving and leaving her. It was quite a performance and I always wonder if people talking on cellphones don't realize that half the planet can hear their conversation.
Elin kept shushing me as she was taking in every filthy word the woman was screaming into the phone as she walked 50-feet in front of us explaining in graphic details what this man had done to her both physically and emotionally. Made me feel just a little uncomfortable for her.
We took a quick stroll on the beach, just long enough to snap a photo and say we had been there and then we returned to the car in time to avoid an expensive parking ticket.
Then OnStar helped us find our way to the Sawgrass Mills Outlet Mall where the girls wanted to shop. We arrived there about 4:45 p.m. and the girls went one way and Joan and I went another.
When we met up at 7 p.m. to leave Joan and I had spent $0 and the girls each had small purchases from the excursion.
Not that I didn't try to buy something, because I tried to convince Joan I needed a pair of designer sunglasses. The conversation went something like this:
"I need a pair of designer sunglasses," I said. (They were expensive)
"You don't even wear sunglasses," Joan said. (She's right)
"But everyone here wears them on top of their head or hooked onto the front of their shirt," I said.
"What's the point of that," Joan said.
"I want to look cool like they do," I said.
"You already look cool, you don't need the sunglasses," Joan said. (She was lying about the cool part but I knew I couldn't afford the glasses).
Then Joan went shopping for shorts (which considering that we are in sunny Florida should be in ample supply, but are very scarce this time of year). That led to a brief and animated discussion (the animation was on my part) about how stupid the sizes are for women's clothes.
Every time I would find a rack of clothes, Joan would look at me in a disgusted way and say "Those are Misses, you have to be a paper thin model to wear those." or "those are 'women's' sizes those are for large women" or "the medium sizes in that brand actually run small."
My suggestion, for the little it is apparently worth is that women's' clothes should be sized like men's, with just a waist size so a guy could help you pick out clothes. Anyway, she never found any cheap shorts she liked so we left the mall empty handed.
Also we stopped in a J.C. Penney's Outlet at the mall and Joan asked an employee for help in finding 'shorts.' The employee's answer: "No comprende Inglis." In fact, we heard very little English spoken for more than two hours in the mall. Many of the shoppers appeared to be Brazilians and they were seriously shopping.
Then it was off to dinner at Olive Garden in Plantation, Florida where we had a nice, if late, meal and then we dropped the girls off at their hotel near the airport with a prayer that they would catch a flight sometime on Thursday to get home and back to work.
During the two-hour drive back to the Key Largo campsite I was able to catch the last part of the Detroit Red Wings game, which turned out to be a 3-1 win over the New Jersey Devils. My friends Greg and his daughter, Chelsea, were at the game, which I knew, so I was excited for them and it certainly made the drive go faster.
We also remembered out Wednesday night Bible study folks at Taecken's Terrace back home and said a little prayer that they are doing well in our absence. We do miss them and the folks back home a little.
Sometimes I get frustrated with technology, mostly because I don't understand how it works. But on Wednesday I realized in so many ways how it makes life so much easier. For one, we are able to safely navigate unknown places, for another we can stay connected to important things back home like friends and hockey games, but there was one big moment on Wednesday that drove home the convenience of technology as we were driving home.
Joan received a cellphone call from her son, John, who said Addisen, our four-year-old granddaughter, wanted to read us a story. Obviously, I was driving so couldn't hear, but Joan got to hear Addisen read her first story over the phone from 1,450 miles away while driving on a freeway. It was a big moment for Joan, who told Addisen that reading is the ultimate power and how proud she was of her for learning how to read, but I'm sure it was also a wonderful moment for Addisen who was able to share her accomplishment at pre-school with her grandmother.
Probably no posting for Thursday as we plan to just take it easy and do little or nothing, maybe some laundry in anticipation of moving to a new campsite in Venice, Florida on Friday. Talk to you then.
Probably no posting for Thursday as we plan to just take it easy and do little or nothing, maybe some laundry in anticipation of moving to a new campsite in Venice, Florida on Friday. Talk to you then.
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