Vacation - Part Three

While I was showering this morning (watch it, perverts) I came to the realization that at the rate I'm going, I'll be finished talking about my vacation sometime around Groundhog Day.
Unacceptable.
So, in an effort to keep things moving along and keep things interesting, I'm changing it up a bit. Also, the pictures from the trip are on the computer at home, so I'll be posting those at some point - which is VERY exciting. There are some really great pictures that I can't wait for you all to see!

Thursday, 11/27 - Thanksgiving Day

Jim and I woke up, had a little breakfast with the folks and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (not all that impressed, especially with the Broadway performances - pretty damn boring, if you ask me). After the parade, Jim and I drove Betty to the Super Wal-Mart down the road. First of all, who the hell knew it would be open? Second of all, who could ever have guessed that it would be PACKED. It was insane and I just couldn't get over the fact that people were out and about in droves on Thanksgiving Day. I realize that we were out shopping as well, but STILL....we just ran out for a few things and we were looking to kill some time before lunch. From the looks of it, most of these folks were out doing their weekly shopping. Crazy.

After dealing with that insanity, we arrived back at home, changed, and drove to the restaurant where we were having lunch with my parent's friends. Lunch was VERY good. I was a little hesitant about it at first, but we were pleasantly surprised. They were having a 'Thanksgiving Feast' - which consisted of turkey and all the trimmings, plus dessert. We all decided to take part in the feast, and it was a great choice. Everything was so good, and even though I'm not usually a fan of pumpkin pie, I decided to give it a try and was SOOOO happy I did. Yum-O!!! (Shout out to Rachael Ray, who's about to go under the knife and get a benign cyst removed which is affecting her speech. Apparently that's the reason she sounds like a 75 year-old, chain-smoking, trucker most of the time).
After the meal, we headed home and hung out for a while (turkey coma) and relaxed. Later that night (around 8-ish) we decided to head out in search of some light nourishment (evidently retired people not only stop working full time, but they also stop cooking full time). We ended up at UNO's of all places, and had a little pizza, which was both yummy and just what the doctor ordered. If doctors prescribed food.

Friday, 11/28

On Friday, we went to see the place where the Boston Red Sox practice when they're in Ft. Myers for Spring Training. For those of you who don't know, my dad works for the Red Sox down in Ft. Myers. On non-game days he gives tours and on game days, he's running around either selling merchandise or making sure all the merchandise booths are stocked. This will be his third year working for them and he LOVES it. You'll see pictures of him on here eventually, and if you're ever down there at a game, be sure and say hi. He'll be THRILLED....and probably talk to you for 7 hours. Anyway, we went to see the practice fields and we ended up getting a tour of the entire facility. Pictures and details to follow. Yes, I have a picture of Jason Varitek's locker....and the showers. What?!?! Don't judge. You would have done the same thing.

After the tour, we went to a Flea Market, which is something that my parents said we HAD to experience. It was kind of insane. Picture endless booths, full of people selling lots and lots of junk. I'm sure there were some great deals to be had, but I guess we just weren't looking in the right places. Jim and I felt like we were wandering through a giant yard sale. I will say that everyone was SUPER nice and seemed to enjoy being there. They also seemed to enjoy the fact that we were tourists. One guy immediately knew we were tourists because we "were still white (as in pale) and were wearing shorts and t-shirts." Excellent.
Oh - and one of the many food places there was serving Fried Gator Tail. Yikes.
After the Flea Market, we went home and swam for a while at one of the pools in the 'community'. That night, we went to Naples for a quick tour of the downtown area (the main 'strip' there is BEAUTIFUL - full of great looking fancy restaurants and shops) and then went to visit a friend of my dad's from high school. My dad's friend had spent years working as a secret service agent and protected a ton of presidents and their families. He told us some amazing stories. His favorite president to work for was Reagan (which kind of made me puke a bit, but I said nothing) and he also said that Hillary was a complete and utter bitch, who dropped f-bombs like it was her job (which made me love her even more that I did before). Talking to him was fascinating, and we had a great time.

Saturday morning we began the trek to South Beach.....more on that tomorrow.....or later, we'll see how the day goes. :-)

PS - I realize that my attempts to condense my story telling didn't exactly work as I'd intended, but I'm trying....bear with me. We Italians like to talk. :-)