Eric is so funny. I woke up before the alarm went off this morning, but I purposely didn’t look at the clock. I didn’t know if it was an hour before I had to get up or 10 minutes, but I wanted to enjoy my rest and hoped to fall back to sleep until I heard the alarm. All of a sudden Eric said, “We have four minutes,” meaning it was 3:26am, because the alarm was going off at 3:30am. So, he ruined my last four minutes in bed, because now all I could do was lay there and wait for the alarm! When it did (four minutes later), I got out of bed and started getting ready.
As soon as I got out of the shower, Eric was right behind me. We were all packed, so we just did little stuff like take out the garbage and pack my laptop, and the shuttle called us at 4:20am to say they were outside.
We got to the airport in 10 minutes and got our e-tickets in 5 minutes. There was no line at security and we were settled at the gate by 5:00am. I went to STARBUCKS. We also stopped at a store and Eric bought a paperback and I bought GLAMOUR magazine. We boarded and took off on time and I slept the entire flight. Eric read his book. There were three seats in our row and Eric was stuck by the window and I was in the middle. I think he was very uncomfortable, because there isn’t much legroom, and the flight was over 4 hours.
We arrived in Atlanta at 1:30pm and had a long walk to the terminal for our fight to West Palm Beach at 2:38pm. I had my pink suitcase on wheels, so I was fine, but Eric has a big duffle bag filled with all his clothes and his bicycle stuff and it’s pretty heavy and he insists on carrying my laptop, too, so he was really struggling. We got to the gate and had some time to spare, so Eric sat with all our stuff and I got us both lunch. He just wanted some French fries (but they were REALLY good French fries) and I got a tuna sandwich.
We boarded and took off on time again – very lucky for us! Again, I slept almost the entire flight and Eric read his book. This time we were in the airplane's center three-seat section and I was in the middle and Eric was on an aisle, so he had more room.
We landed in West Palm, called my parents, stopped at STARBUCKS again and waited outside on a bench for my parents to arrive. When they picked us up at 5:00pm, I was so happy to see them both. They look great! We told them how exhausting it was running from terminal to terminal all day in both airports and we wanted to try to find a luggage caddy, so that his big duffel bag could be on wheels, too. My parents took us to WAL-MART, which I HATE (I think WAL-MART is going to cause the demise of America as we know it, but that’s a whole other blog). Anyway, we went inside and – sure enough – they had one. So, we got it!
Then, we headed to FISHERMAN’S CATCH for a delicious seafood dinner. My Mom, Dad and I all had the tilapia; Eric had the rainbow trout. It was all really fresh and beautifully prepared. My parents go there once a week usually Friday nights, before synagogue), so they’re treated like royalty, which is really nice. This restaurant gives you fresh-baked bread (I didn't have any), soup or salad (I had salad with house vinaigrette), and you get coffee and dessert. Mom, Eric and I all had chocolate cake (a little square, which wasn't that great, but -- hey -- I ate it anyway!) and my Dad had vanilla ice cream.
Our waiter had a very strong New York accent. He looked like an Brooklyn born Italian guy from the Mob. I asked him “Where are you from?” He said, “Da same place as you!” We all laughed. It’s true – everywhere I go people either ask me if I’m from New York or tell me I must be from New York. I never realized how strong my New York accent was, but I can’t fool anybody out here!
After dinner we came home. We unpacked a little, made up the beds, relaxed with my parents and watched DANCING WITH THE STARS. It’s funny, because to us it’s really three hours earlier, but I’m so exhausted from this long day that I feel like it’s three hours LATER! I’m sure I’ll sleep well tonight!
Tomorrow my Mom is going to take me for a manicure/pedicure (wheeee!) and then we may go to the movies tomorrow night while my Dad is bowling. It’s so great to be here with them and wonderful to see them both looking so well and feeling so good. I’m going to enjoy every minute!