Today isn’t the official start of the road trip… a long time friend named Albert lives in Florida and since we’ve never actually met in person (online gaming friends) it seemed like the perfect time to meet and be introduced to Florida as well!
I did my best to sleep in, which is about 7am for me. Others on the trip aren’t up as early as I am so it’s likely the wee hours of the morning will be my blogging time. Most, though, were up early today as we had breakfast plans. Albert, his wife Renee, Bubba, and our other friend Aaron all woke up early, showered, and headed to breakfast at a chain called “Kiki’s”. It’s a smaller chain of restaurants currently, though recently bought by Denny’s, and breakfast was good. I had an omelet, with just a little too much bacon! The coffee was good, the meal was good, and soon we were off to the next adventure of the day… the shooting range.
I haven’t fired a gun in probably fifteen years, and even today though I did fire one I need to say a big “thanks” to my friends for loading the ammo, putting up the targets, really making it as easy as “Hey Brad! Point the gun that direction and fire!”. It was fun, I might consider buying another hand gun! It’s something I haven’t considered in years, but it was also fun just to hang out, joke around, and generally relax for the first time in quite a while.
Similarly after the range… we all decided to hang out at the pool behind Albert’s home for a while. I got a light sunburn but couldn’t be happier! It was great to just enjoy the sun. Aaron went for a swim, but I elected not to. Food came shortly after, and while that might not sound exciting it was actually an authentic Jamaican meal from a neighbor! Apparently she supplies Albert often, and he asked her for some help with his buddies in town! It was an amazing spread of curries and meats, chick peas and chicken! I loved the spice, and the diversity in the food from texture to flavor to color. The pictures here won’t do it justice but… trust me I wish you could have taken a bit or two. It was really good and I ate too much!
After a late lunch and hanging out at the house watching a movie…. Bubba suggested we drive to the beach. I’ve never been huge into beaches, even as a vacation, but I’m always glad to spend some time at a beachfront or riverfront bar! This time… though… the bar we’d planned on visiting was packed, I mean it is a holiday weekend, and after quickly giving up on parking we decided to head to the actual beach… where the four of us went for a walk.
I walked about half the distance the rest of the guys did, after meandering for a bit and grabbing some photos I realized I wanted to sit down and just listen to the waves, but having not gone expecting this outcome I didn’t have a blanket, nor flip flops, so I decided to leave in search of any other close bar to the beach. In short… there weren’t any, but I did have fun on my walk just the same.
I met up with the guys back at the rental car, and we headed back home as the sun set. Tomorrow is going to be a big day. We return the rental, park Albert’s truck at the airport, get an RV, and have to make it to Mississippi before the following day. It’s going to be a lot of logistics, but I’m sure we’ll figure it all out with relative ease. Tomorrow… the real adventure begins.
