Gerwyn and I got back early Friday morning (3:00 am) and have finally caught up on our sleep from the trip. (We slept in two twin beds pushed together so we each took turns falling into the crack.) Now we're refreshed and I'm ready to blog!!
Our vacation was SOOO relaxing, the sun was out, the temperature was HOT and Gerwyn's nephew Jackson was SO CUTE! Every morning we were awoken by a little voice knocking on the door asking for his "Uncle G". It was the sweetest thing ever. Then he'd jump up on our beds and give us a big hug and kiss to wake us up. And as hard as we would try to get him to lie down with us for a little nap, he would somehow manage to drag us out of bed and next thing you know we're in the living room watching cartoons in front of the tv.
We arrived in Fort Lauderdale around 8:30 pm on thursday night and Gerwyn's sister Cheryl met us at the airport. Jackson was already asleep in the backseat so we didn't get to meet each other until the next day but I admired his long eyelashes during the 2 hour ride home. When we arrived at Cheryl's place, we had a little nighttime snack and then went to bed.
The next day we all piled into Cheryl's car and she took us for a little tour of her town Naples. Picture a quiet, lazy retirement town with a beach. Just the kind of place for a nice quiet, relaxing vacation. We stopped in downtown Naples for lunch (sushi with kiwi and mango, very interesting...) and took a walk up and down the main street. It was really beautiful and even better at night! The streets are all lit up with Christmas lights, perfect for an after dinner stroll. Anyway, after lunch we went to the outdoor mall. Seeing as how it was "Black Friday" we thought we'd find some good deals but then we forgot that we were in a town with a bunch of rich retirees. They don't need sales. So we just window shopped at Tiffany's, Cartier, Burberry and Gucci. That night we went out for dinner with Cheryl, Jackson and her boyfriend Chris. The restaurant had live music (well, a guy playing a bunch of instruments anyway) so I asked Gerwyn to dance with me. Unfortunately someone was feeling a little shy that night so instead I got Jackson on the dance floor with me and the two of us gave the entire restaurant a little show. It was so much fun. (I even managed to get Gerwyn to dance with me for about 3 whole seconds before he ran off...)
Day 2: Miami Day! Saturday Gerwyn and I were planning on renting a car and driving to Miami for the rest of the weekend. We had originally planned on getting a Kia or similar (it was in our price range) but luckily the car they gave us (a Dodge something or other) had alignment problems so what did we end up with? A convertible! Whoo hoo! We drove out of that car rental place very happy campers.
Then it was back to Cheryl's to pack and head out to Miami. We managed to get to Miami without getting too lost, it only took us 1.5 hours along the highway they call "Alligator Alley". Apparently its dangerous and there is only one gas station along the entire stretch of highway so they say make sure you fill up before you leave. Gerwyn got to know this highway very well, but more on that later.
Once we arrived in Miami, we checked into our hotel and got ready for our fancy dinner on Ocean Drive. We ended up at an outdoor patio of a place called Fox Cafe. It was very romantic and of course, Gerwyn asked everyone and their brother to take our picture.
After dinner, being the old people that we are, we changed into our comfy clothes and went for a walk along the boardwalk. It was a beautiful (yet windy) night and I wanted to go right out onto the beach but I think someone (and I won't mention any names) was a little scared (it was really dark out there.) so we stuck to the boardwalk and then eventually walked home.
Day 3: We woke up and enjoyed our "continental" breakfast after running out to feed our parking meter. (We got a ticket the night before for being only 5 minutes LATE! $18 later we learned our lesson.) Then we checked out of the hotel and went back to the beach to enjoy the great sunny weather. Gerwyn spent lots of time in the water while I baked on the beach. We saw a lot of interesting characters getting some sun and of course, someone made sure to get lots of pictures of them. (Yes, even the topless lady!!) Then we went for a drive to the outdoor mall called Bayside and enjoyed the sights after we ate a couple of big steaks at the Argentinian Fast Food place in the mall. On the way back, we got a little lost (couldn't find the highway) and got to see the "bad" part of town, it literally changed from one street corner to the next. Beautiful outdoor mall to rundown dirty street littered with mattresses and homeless people. I was nervous because we had the top down on the convertible and they looked like they wanted to approach us. We ended up getting stopped at a light and I was all panicky but Gerwyn just laughed at me. (Can you tell the romance is dead?) Finally made it back to Naples just in time to spend an evening with Jackson while Cheryl went out on her date. We took Jackson to McDonald's (like any good aunt and uncle would do) and then watched some cartoons before going to bed. Jackson didn't want to sleep alone so Gerwyn and I ended up in his King Size bed on either side of him. Every so often I'd feel a foot or some other tiny limb thrown on top of me while Jackson got comfortable. It was so sweet.
Day 4: Naples Day!
Today we started our day with Starbucks with Cheryl and then a trip to the Naples Beach where Gerwyn made us RUN (yes, I said RUN) for exercise. I finally had to stop before i passed out but gerwyn kept going and we met up halfway down the beach. It was good exercise while it lasted and made up for all the ice cream, pizza and chips we had ingested on the weekend. We got back to our car to find another parking ticket on our dashboard. Just as we're about to freak out, I notice its only a "Friendly Reminder" to pay for parking next time we come by. That's Naples for you, in Miami we get slapped with $20 for being 5 minutes late, in Naples, the ol' retirees only get "reminders". How nice.
Later that day, we picked up Jackson from daycare and took him to the local Farmer's Market where he and Gerwyn taste tested every fruit and vegetable they had. We ended up buying a big bag of tangerines and Gerwyn peeled about half of them in the parking lot while Jackson and I waited patiently with our mouths open.
That night we put up the Christmas tree and had pizza (yes, again) for dinner with a side of ice cream and chips. We were definitely on vacation.
Now I'm starting to get a little fuzzy on the rest of the week so I think I'll have to consult Gerwyn before writing again. Be back...
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