I was honored to spend about 10 wonderful days with my three sisters. We had decided a year ago to go on the KLOVE Cruise together. Since Renee was able to give us some time share points, we were able to stay ahead of time in a condo as we prepared to embark on the adventure.
What an adventure it turned out to be. We coordinated as best we could to arrive at Fort Lauderdale at close to the same time. Renee and I flew on the same flights out of O'Hare and met up with Kathy in Atlanta and the three of us took the same flight down to Florida. Leila was a bit behind us. You would think that three grown women could handle the logistics of this trip, but we were unsure of what to do once we arrived. The dilemma: how do we get four bags in a car with all of their bags? We weren't sure how big the car was we were renting and how many suitcase type bags it could hold. So, we called the men in our lives to get advice. Renee was given the advice to just go to the counter and stare, don't say anything, just stare. See what happens. Well, that would have worked if we even knew what counter to go to. Kathy was offered advice; find a store with magazines and especially "Runner's World" or "Sports Illustrated" and spend the time reading magazines for free. (I am not sure how that was going to solve the issue other than the killing time while waiting for Leila). My husband gave us the logical answer, not surprising. Leave one person with the baggage, go get the rental car, load it, go park, and wait for Leila. So, that is what we kind of decided upon.
So, Kathy waited with our bags and Renee and I went on the semi-long journey to the car rental pick up. This ended up being a long way from the airport property, but it was a very good experience and even though the name was "Economy" they were generous in their customer service. I had not planned on being a driver and decided on the trip over that I should go on as a secondary. So, thankfully it was early enough in the day that I could call my insurance company and get a declaration of insurance. Where would we be without technology??
The agent assured us that we were getting the best car available for the capacity we needed. We assured him that four bags with bags needed a lot of room. They rented us a Nissan Altima. I think we could have fit three dead bodies in the trunk, but not four big suitcases. We were determined to make it work. Our goal was to not have to make a trip to the condo and back to the airport for Leila.
Renee and I returned to the airport and we strategically loaded the suitcases in the trunk of the car. We knew Leila would not have a heavy carry on since she was on a weight restriction following her pacemaker work two days earlier. We felt we could fit a big suitcase in the back seat along with two people, so Kathy and I waited for Leila at the luggage claim and Renee parked at the cell phone parking. (Not sure what that is, but that's what they call it.)
While we waited for Leila to come, knowing she had been a recent patient, we grabbed a wheel chair and waited at the foot of the escalator. Since we were in a touristy area, we decided to write her name on an envelope as if we weren't sure who she was, Then, I noticed someone else had an iPad they had done that with, so I got mine out and put her name in BIG BOLD letters while we waited. Kathy stood, camera ready. When Leila saw Kathy at the foot of the escalator with a camera, she was a bit worried about what she would see as she descended. Let the laughing begin. There was a kind gentleman there, willing to capture the moment for us with our camera.
We had been in touch with Renee and she was on her way. We loaded Leila and her bag in the back seat and headed to the condo.
Once we settled in, we decided we needed to eat something. Looking on the internet, we saw there was a "Ruby Tuesday"within walking distance from the condo. So, we ended up there. The waitress told us we were the most fun she had all day. She said people were either grouchy or they didn't speak English.
Then we went to Winn-Dixie for something, I am not even sure what we got there other than that it took Renee about 20 minutes to check out for her one item.
We needed mani-pedis. I tried calling several places and decided the only option we had was Wal-Mart. We went there and the wait would have been too long. We knew there was another salon in the same shopping center where Winn-Dixie was. We also needed to eat lunch since our huge breakfast had been long since digested. Kathy needed soft foods so we thought a baked potato at "Wendy's" would work. We walked over there and were told they didn't have any potatoes. WHAT???? So, next try for food was "Pollo Tropical" which was next door with a very unfamiliar menu. While placing our orders, we were often told, "We don't have that." They were out of Dr. Pepper and when Leila asked for cole slaw, which was clearly on the menu board with "NEW" right next to it, the gal said, "WE DON'T HAVE COLE SLAW!" I wonder if they really did and she hadn't been informed. The lunch was okay once we actually got something to eat and they had macaroni and cheese for Kathy.
Then, on to the nail salon...if you want to call it that, it was more like a freak show. Walked in and noticed two transvestites getting nails done. The place was dicey, to say the least. We almost felt a need to shower on our way out.
Dollar Tree was our next stop. There we witnessed a near fight break out. I though it was a shoplifter, but Kathy saw more of what happened and it appeared to be tow women who had some history. One was the manager of the store and the other came in as a customer and didn't know the manager worked there. We could kind of put the puzzle together as the customer threw her basket into the store as she was leaving and called the manager a not so nice name. Who needs television???
WE DO!! We needed to go watch HGTV for hours on end, and so we did. But, decided we could go watch a horse race since there was harness racing across the road from where we were. So, we walked a very long way and went to watch horse racing. None of us had ever done such a thing and had no idea what to do as far as betting, se we just observed. Well, that is only entertaining for one race, then what? I said, "Okay, let's do this, let's each one of us pick a horse for the win."
So, we did. Kathy 2, me 3, Renee 4, Leila 5. That was also the order we were sitting in. The race began, I was is first place (my horse) for quite awhile, then Kathy's horse passed mine, as I was complaining, Renee's horse came from way behind and overtook both of ours, then the race finished. Renee, Leila, Kathy, and me. But, funny thing is, of the 8 horses running, our were the four winners. We were so proud and happy that we had doubled out money. Since we were so lucky, we decided to call it a night and go back home, after all, Chip and Joanna were waiting for us.
Sunday, beach day. After going to breakfast at Moonlite Diner, we were going to head to the beach. Kathy had had terribly blood shot eyes since she had arrived. We decided before a cruise, maybe she should be seen by a doctor. So, after breakfast we headed to MD Now, an urgent care. The doctor prescribed steroid ointment and we ended up at Walgreens to fill that. Then, off to the beach. It wasn't super warm or sunny, but it was warm enough to sit and enjoy the waves crashing and get in some sand and salt time. After the beach we looked for something good to eat. We found "Burger Freaks" and since they had hot dogs, we ended up there. Renee saw a pizza place nearby and she had pizza. Leila and I had sweet potato fries with a dipping sauce of marshmallow crème and cinnamon. It was very yummy!! We did spend some time in the hot tub. We met a couple who had taken a year off of life and were travelling in the fifth wheel. They had two girls and their plan was to see a lot of the US. However, since the weather was not cooperating, they had really only been in Florida since leaving upstate New York. That night she and the girls were sleeping in the condo of friends' of theirs and the dad was sleeping in the RV with the dog so he wouldn't be lonely--the dog!
Back to the condo, we needed to prepare to get on the ship. We needed to decide what we were taking and what we were leaving at the condo. Plus, I am pretty sure there were several more "Fixer Upper" episodes that we had not seen yet! We had met a couple in the hot tub that everyone was convinced she was the mother, but they really were a married couple. She was especially strange and was telling about washing her dishes in the dishwasher without soap and if there were food particles left, she would just scrape them off with her finger nail. He said, "Yeah, kind of like how you pick your nose." It was quite the conversation.
We also ordered pizza and Alfredo from "Little Italy" and had them deliver. It was really good. Renee ate her left over pizza and we tried to go to bed early.
Are you keeping up with our menu so far?
Monday morning. Time to get to the ship. We were going to try out "Lester's" for breakfast because of the recommendation from hot tub woman. Why did we believe someone who would not use soap when washing dishes?
So, off to Lester's we went. The plan was to eat breakfast, drop the bags at Port Everglades and leave two of the "bags" there while the other two went to take the car back. We snapped a picture when we arrived at Lester's. Funny thing, Kathy commented on her "stupid camera". Little did she know, she had video recorded the inside of her purse the entire ride to Lester's. When we discovered this later, it was one of the funniest things to listen to. Nothing is as funny as when you do not know you are being recorded. When we "listened" to the video, at the very end was Kathy getting her camera out to take this picture.
She said, "This stupid camera!" Not having a clue that for 14 minutes that camera was giving us great content for the rest of our lives. We will never NOT laugh about what was said on that trip...and NO, we will not share it. Some things just need to be secret among sisters!!
When we got in to the restaurant, you would have thought is was 100 degrees outside. The place was freezing. We ordered. Apparently, if you don't like potatoes with your breakfast in Florida, it is custom to have a tomato instead. When I requested no potatoes, the waitress, in her not really American English accent asked me if I wanted a sliced tomato instead. It caught me by surprise and I was really trying to figure out what she had said. Apparently, the look on my face was priceless, I don't know, I couldn't see it...and no, no tomato either!! Lester's was not one I would put on my list of needing to go there again. As we were leaving, I was forced to go back in to see a woman who had clearing gotten too much Botox.
We drove down to the Port. When we got there, they were already taking bags to the ship. Our porter, Reggie, assured us a safe arrival of our bags. So, we left them and all four of us went back to take the car back. That was uneventful except when the GPS says one name for a street and the street sign says something else, it can get confusing. But, we recalculated and made it in good time. We were shuttled back to the Port and started the embarkation. Oh man, this is where the real fun begins.
Sounds like fun! Maybe we could go next year!
ReplyDeleteWow! I had no idea just how entertaining your trip was!
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