Moments

"Remember the time when..."  Actually, we do not usually remember the exact time, day or even year something happens, but we remember the happening, the moment.  Like that moment you discover your eyebrows (video).  Ha ha ha, just had to throw that in here.

I love the song "This Is One Of Those Moments" that Barbra Streisand sings in the movie Yentl, when she (he) is given access to education.
"There are moments you remember all your life.  There are moments you wait for and dream of all your life.  This is one of those moments!  I can walk through the forests of the trees of knowledge, and listen to the lessons of the leaves.  I can enter rooms where there are rooms within rooms, wrapped in the shawl that learning weaves."

Monday, the second day of this new year, was a day of travel for most of us, as we headed home from our Florida vacation.  By the time I got up at 7:00 there were only seven of us left at Silver Sands.  I hadn't really adequately said goodbye to most of the ten who left in the wee hours of the morning so was feeling regretful.  But, my fever had broken once again, and I was thankful that I was feeling a little bit better.  At the moment, travel seemed doable and visiting friends justifiable.  I just didn't want to expose people to my germs but also didn't want to miss out on the moments Joe would be sharing with them.  And besides, two of my possible alternative rides were already on the road.  I hoped my health was making a change for the better.

We drove Jean and Brianna to Mom's in Winter Haven, had a quick lunch and just as Cathy arrived (with Ralph and Mom) we were out the door.  After breakfast, and again after lunch, I felt bloated (or too full) so wasn't sure what my ailment was.  However, it seemed I now had more of a head cold.  So I grabbed some Tylenol Cold/Flu medicine during our next gas fill up.  On hindsight (after quitting the cold meds) the Tylenol was really helping me feel better.

As soon as we left Mom's, I found these Funny Teeth,  a gag gift Jean had stuck in my purse.  This time the joke was on me.  I texted everyone, to state that these would now be the new traveling gift to replace the rubber pig that had been passed from traveler to traveler for many years.  (Last I had seen it, I had stuck it in Daniel's army duffle bag a year ago when he flew into FL from Kuwait.)  Nicole texted back "I am guessing that you didn't find the original pig on the grill of your car then."  What?  Joe immediately pulled over, and sure enough (seen above, and again, zoomed in on the left) there it was.  You all just beware now.


On the way to Jim and Debbie's, who live in Jacksonville, we made good time until we hit traffic due to a bad accident on I-95.  We were rerouted around it, adding almost an hour to our trip.  It was so nice to get to our destination and be out of the car.  Joanis, their big, old, lab, was glad to greet us when we arrived.  It was great to visit with such wonderful friends, formerly from Danville, and catch up with each other.

This was taken Tuesday night.

After a fantastic dinner of ham, cheesy potatoes, and zucchini, we went for a short walk.  We played more bridge, which we had started before dinner.  I can't remember the last time I have played bridge.  Boy was I ever rusty (and my cold was making my head foggy).  After several rubbers, we moved on to poker.  Joe was teaching us Texas Hold-em.  We were having such a fun time, a moment to cherish, we were up until midnight.




Tuesday morning Debbie and I took Joanis for a 20 minute walk.  Jim fixed us a great breakfast of bacon and scrambled eggs and we also had some super coffee cake Debbie had made earlier.  The boys went to the dog track to play some poker and we girls talked and then had quiet time. (Debbie read and I worked on last week's blog.)  Once Deb finished her book, we were off to the library to return it.  After the trip to town, I toured the backyard with Debbie, eating an orange right off the tree.  We were just finishing a salad for lunch when Jim and Joe got home.  They ate and then we started back in with more bridge.  I really need to bone up on this game.

Showered and dressed, we all headed for an evening out in Jacksonville Beach.  The rain had finally stopped, so we walked around, checking out the beach, visiting a fun park with all these life guard stands...
 








...and also we admired this very real to life (almost creepy) statue of two surfers.

After checking out the pubs and grills, we chose to sit outside at Sneakers for our first stop, enjoying champagne with our hors-d'oeuvres (a loaded nacho and gater bites).  What a moment to remember.

The clouds in the sky changed colors over the Atlantic ocean, as the sun set, which could be seen in the reflection of the windows of this Red Cross Lifeguard building across the street from where we sat.


We then moved to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner, and more drinks. 
In this selfie Jim took, the ocean is close behind us.  It was warm outside and a nice place to eat because it didn't smell fishy and we could see the beach and hear the surf.

Once home and in our pj's we played more bridge and then Texas Hold-em.  I contributed my bad playing to fogginess from sinus headache, cold medicine, late night hours, and alcohol.
 
We were in bed before midnight.  Once lying flat, my cough got really bad, even though I had just re-medicated.  Ughhh!

Wednesday morning I woke at 6:30, feeling pretty raunchy again.  Traveling is already hard on me, but even worse when I was feeling so rotten.  I really was not a happy camper.  But it was so good to have seen Jim and Debbie and share precious moments with them.

Joe and I left Jim and Debbie's just after 9 am, now headed to Bob and Marge's in Bluffton, SC.  We made great time, with smooth sailing down the highway, even after being slowed down by another accident.  A semi had run off the road and come to a stop with the front right tire on the cart path of a golf course.  There were golfers, police, and fireman standing around.  At least no lanes of the highway were blocked, so we got past it without much delay.  Boy would that be a scary moment for the guy in the semi and the ones in the golf cart.


We arrived before lunch, unloaded the car, visited, and got settled in.  Marge had made a great chicken salad that was enjoyed by all of us.  Then we loaded into their car and drove to Hilton Head.  The beach was empty.  It was off season, and was a rather cool (67 degree) and cloudy day.  But the ocean and view were beautiful.














We drove around the island some more, and I noticed lots of debris still to be cleaned up after Hurricane Matthew.

Next we landed at the NautiBar, part of the Poseidon restaurant.  Good drinks and conversation were enjoyed by all.  I think the Amaretto Sour helped my sore throat. We were outside, and as the wind picked up and the sun went below the horizon, it started getting a little cold.











The workers soon closed the plastic roll down windows so the over-head heaters could really warm up the bar area.
These plastic rolls were great, and I thought they would be a good option for our screened porch, to kind of make it a three season room.

We hopped back in the car to drive back to Sun City, where we were going to have dinner.  But we hit a traffic jam trying to get off the island.  Seeing that an accident was going to cause the back up to last a few hours, we stopped at Frankie Bones for dinner.  They had a leg lamp in the entry, seen right, which brought back the moment in the play, A Christmas Story, when Old Man Parker first won it.  What a hoot.  Sarah also had a lamp like this she puts out every Christmas.  I just love it.  Frankie Bones was a fancy, pricey, and delicious restaurant.  And by the time we were done with our fine dinning experience, the road to leave Hilton Head was clear.  A cozy evening on the couch, chatting, ended the evening.




Thursday morning was leisurely and relaxed.  This is a view out the Stretch's great room window, of their lanai and the lagoon in their backyard.  Marge had made a breakfast ham and egg casserole that sure hit the spot.  A little later, Bob and Joe went swimming and to the hot tub, while Marge and I caught up with our world of family and friends on our electronic devices.




Later, when Joe and Bob left to play some golf, I hitched a ride and then walked three miles back to Stretch's house.  It felt good to get some exercise.  I had been looking in all the ponds and canals for an alligator, but never spotted one.  Bob saw this one at the pond he dropped me off at and I later took this photo.




We did hit a cigar store on the way out to dinner.  It was certainly an interesting and charming smoke shop.  One room was set up for listening to music and smoking.














They sold all sorts of cigars and pipe tobacco.





Our evening meal was at Red Fish, another fancy, pricey, and delicious restaurant.  Moments like this I feel so blessed to be with great friends and enjoy fantastic food.

Stuffed and back at Stretch's by 8 pm, we watched TV and chatted.  The boys went out to smoke their cigars with their fancy drinks (Moscow Mule) while Marge and I enjoyed the ice cream cake she had made.  We only stayed up till 10 pm with plans to get an early morning start.

heavy traffic

Because of a prediction of bad weather and I still didn't feel well, we decided to skip our last leg of the trip to Durham NC, and instead just head home a day early.  So, Friday morning, after another great breakfast (potato, sausage, and cheese casserole) we packed up and headed home. 
We left SC at 9:30, under cloudy skies, hit rain at Macon GA, and were slowed down getting through Atlanta, from McDonough to Marietta.  We only made one stop for gas and ate lunch (from our cooler) while Joe drove.  Then we hit some sleet and freezing rain near Dalton GA.  I started to freak, thinking we would have to stop for the night and would never get home.

rain and sleet

snow

Neither traffic, rain, sleet, or snow was going to keep us from getting home.  But, some moments are best left forgotten.

The bad roads and weather didn't last long and the worst driving was on the side roads once we got into Crossville.

When we stopped at the kennel to pick up Maggie, Joe and I both had to use the rest room.  Next we ran into food City to buy staples like bread, milk, OJ, and some fresh fruit.








We arrived home to our cold, wintry landscape, but warm house that had the heat up (thanks to Shirley).  Also the Christmas lights were on, which made it cheery.



While unpacking the car, I wasn't sure what to do with the rubber pig.  A few days later, Shirley shared with me this video about a horse with a squeaky, rubber chicken toy.  Too bad the pig doesn't squeak anymore, otherwise I could give it to Zorro.  Do take time to watch the video, it will bring you a moment of laughter and smiles.