May 24, 2008
The flight last night was uneventful. No delays. On time. Little turbulence. We left one city with temps in the lower 70’s and arrived in another city with temps in the lower 90’s. It was as though we left spring and arrived in summer.
I love the southwestern coast of Florida. The sands are white and the gulf is clear and warm. Last night upon our arrival, we stopped and ate at Bellini Italian restaurant in downtown Dunedin. The atmosphere was warm & relaxing. The food was tasty. They had a woman singer who had a beautiful soothing voice. Afterwards, we walked the streets of downtown Dunedin before driving over to see Bill’s Dad.
Bill lived in Dunedin before I met him. My parents also own a vacation home in the town. Bill’s parents (his mom is now deceased) live in Palm Harbor. He has other relatives in and around the area too. Florida is a nice escape for us when we have the time and money to travel. With the rising costs of fuel, I hope it does not become too expensive to fly, because I would miss being able to hop a flight (2hrs) to escape to the one place that brings me serenity.
I slept well last night. There were no disturbing dreams. As a matter of fact, I can’t remember any dreams. This morning the sun shines high in the sky and it promises to be a glorious day. We are going to hit the beach and my beach reading material consists of a school textbook. It may be vacation in one sense, but there is still a class I have to attend and be prepared for upon my return to Philadelphia.
May 25, 2008
Being on the beach was so relaxing. I felt as though my sanity was returning in leaps and bounds. Hearing the sound of the surf hitting the shore. Children laughing. Children playing. Children crying. Making me miss my own grandchildren. Watching the wave runners and sailboats off in the distance as they made their way through the gulf.
We had lunch at the Palm Pavilion, which was nestled on the beach. The temperature was a wonderful 92 far from the low 70’s back in Philadelphia. Later we had dinner at Peggy McNeil’s where I ate Irish stew.
We thought about staying at my parents’ house over in Dunedin for the weekend. The house is vacant and we could have had our privacy to go along with the peace and serenity. However, Bill’s father appeared so unwell, sickly and had a few episodes where he was somewhat confused and unfocused, we decided to stay with him. The more time I spend with this man, the more I think it will not be long before he is unable to live alone. He takes so many prescription drugs and I counted five different prescriptions alone for his heart. There were also meds for diabetes, asthma, blood pressure, anxiety and depression. No wonder the man falls asleep at the drop of the hat. Anyway, we took him to dinner with us last night. Then, we drove over to the causeway to watch the sun set over the Gulf of Mexico. It was truly wonderful. After we took my father-in-law home, Bill took me over to a place called Crystal Beach were we walked out over the water on the dock and took in the sights of the Honeymoon island out in the distance. It felt great standing on the dock with my husband’s arms around me, as the wind blew through my hair and the lights from the distance reflected off the water. I so love it down here and hope that one day I could live here.
Right now Bill is out to breakfast with his brother (I opt out for reading the newspaper while drinking my coffee) and upon his return we will head back out to the beach to enjoy some more sun and surf.
I spoke to my youngest son last night and he sounded so cute as he told me in an excited voice how well Ava slept the night before. “Mom, I put her to bed at 10:30p and she slept until 8:45a. When I woke up I jumped up to check on her, because she was so quiet. But there she was sound asleep in her crib. I hope she sleeps that well again tonight.”
It is a fun experience to witness my child parent a child of his own.
11:30p
We had a wonderful day. We drove over to St. Pete’s Beach, then to Treasure Island Beach. We found a nice comfortable cabana and planted ourselves for a glorious day. Generally, we go to Clearwater Beach, but today we thought to try new places to play in the sun. I wonder if Treasure Island was named after the treasures that wash up upon the beach. We collected several interesting shells and colorful sponges to take back home. There were these spiny sea creatures that washed up on the beach that I thought were dead until I picked them up, and turned them over, and noticed they were moving. I threw them all back into the gulf. I thought of my friend Syd (marine biologist/scientist in South Carolina) and how he would know exactly what they were had he been here. I should have taken a picture of them, before I threw them back into the gulf.
Sleeping Sickness. I swear I have sleeping sickness. I have been sleeping until 9a (I am usually up before 6a) since I came down here, then taking an afternoon nap, whether it is at my father-in-law’s house, or on the beach under a cabana. I brought my test books for good measure, but other than doing some schoolwork on the plane; I have not opened any of them. I am sure there will be payback when I return back north.
I also do not have access to Internet. Therefore, I have been writing these entries on Word and will copy and post them upon my return. It is actually nice not to be tied to the Internet. Anyway, Bill just came into the room and disturbed my quiet writing time so I will resume later.
May 26, 2008
It is our last day here in the sunshine state of Florida. We return home to reality and Philadelphia on a late flight tonight. We will spend some time at the beach this morning after breakfast. Last night I did not sleep as well as I did the other nights since being down here. My father-in-law was up a lot last night and I could hear the television on in the living room and the noise he made every time he went into the bathroom. I know he is not physically well. However, I believe he is suffering from depression too. He spends many hours sitting in front of the television in that one chair and sleeps off and on all day long. He also eats very little and by the look of the empty cabinets in the kitchen, he does not shop very often either. Since we have been here, we have eaten all our meals out.
Anyway, I had fun torturing Bill last night. Every time he was on the verge of falling asleep, I touched his nose or eye causing him to wake up. He told me to stop “tinkering” with his face. I laughed. I told him I was innocent. He told me I was as innocent as a sack of shit. Then, he told me I was pure evil. I told him he had the pure part correct. Our time down here in Florida has been good for both of us.
830p
It has happened. We are in route to home. I am writing 34,000 feet up in the sky from the plane as it is heading northeast to the place we call our home.
We had dinner at Molly Goodhead’s. Interesting name for a restaurant, but that is the name nonetheless. I had fish and it was delicious. After dinner we dropped Bill’s dad off at his house, and then made a stop to the bookstore, before we dropped the rental car off at the airport. Of course, we thought the flight was scheduled to leave at 9:30p. Imagine our surprise when we looked at our receipt, and saw the flight was scheduled to take off at 8:10p. We arrived at 7:40p and by the time we made it through security, we had to board the plane. All I could think of was my mother, and how something like this would have freaked her out completely. If a flight was scheduled for 8:10p she would be at the airport by 5:00p. As a matter of fact, I doubt she would have made the mistake of thinking the flight was later than it was suppose to be. Anyway, we made it without a second to spare. Well, I guess I wrote more than you care to read about this mini vacation, but what the hell. I am nice like that.
Tons of pictures to follow.
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