Dec 19 Mon  It was a pretty quiet day.  CaptDan decided to finish some of the home projects  Our bedroom closet door had a case of the rattles since it was new.  We took a good look at it and it needed to have a bead of sealant to stick it to the frame better and now the door doesn't sound like its going to break every time I open or close my side of the closet.  Yippee!  Progress has been made on the flagpole holder and the weather station holder, so we may have those things out and blowing in the wind soon.

Dec 20 Tues.Nothing of note today....

Dec 21 Wed.  I had been looking online for a replacement bike and I found something very close to what I had at Sears.  It is a Schwin and I really loved my old bike so I scouted around and it looked like the Sears a few miles north of us had what I wanted, funny the mall parking lot was a minor case of chaos but Sears was fairly sane.  We found they had just the bike I wanted so it looks like I got another Christmas present and we asked them to hold it for an hour while we went out and found the local Torrid store in the mall, we were hoping to fide another pair of sweats for Sophi as the ones we sent earlier were just a tad small, and we scored again, they had them and the matching Sweat shirt.  Then a real Chai Tea, and a little people watching as we relaxed for a few minutes.  Back to Sears and we picked up my new bike and headed on home.  We will keep the bike inside with us until we leave this park, we really don't want to give the thieves another bike.

Dec 22 Thur.  While this is on the edge of insanity we braved the holiday crowds at Costco.  This was the biggest Costco I have ever been in and we scored a parking space while so many others were circling for hours with a glazed look on their faces...We needed a brisket, that was what we wanted for Christmas dinner and Danny had to get a few lobster tails to accompany the meat.  A pumpkin pie and three more bottles of wine went home with us.  It was a successful trip and really went pretty fast and we sampled its of thinks that we decided were very good, but we didn't need.

Dec 23 Fri.  Danny had been looking at bikes and found what he thought he wanted so we headed over to a local bike shop and hoped to find what he wanted.  Unfortunately, they had the bike, but not the size, we looked at various others but nothing that he really sparked to.  Out in the truck we talked about the bike shop in Stockton that we bought his original bike from and they had an outlet here in Ft. Lauderdale so we headed down there to check it out.  The gal that helped us was really great.  I told her we joined their club and she looked up the bike.  Again they had the bike, but not in his size, BUT, they have another outlet in Jacksonville and we can order the bike and have it shipped to Jacksonville.  Since we will be closer to there on Jan 1, it should work out fine.  So now we both have bikes.  Or soon will.  I spotted a bakery as we entered the parking lot and we were still in need of some sourdough bread for Christmas dinner.  Yes they had 2 small loaves, we really only needed one, but why buy 1 when 2 will do.  Then as we headed back to the truck I was drawn into The Spice Lab,  what a great store, the aromas as we came in the door were just over whelming and made me dream of grilled chicken, and fish and Tri-Tip and teas....they had teas.  All good stuff.  I found a rub for the brisket and tasted about a dozen others, deciding to take another one home for Chicken later in the month.  Danny sat and sipped tea and I tasted salts and spices and smelled teas....this place is amazing.  If you ever find yourself in Ft. Lauderdale I recommend the Spice Lab on Federal Highway.  We were in there for 2 hours!  and I got a few bottles of spices to send off to friends.





Dec 24 Sat.  So those projects I mentioned, Danny mounted the second Wine rack in the kitchen today and now we have 8 bottles of wine on the back of the kitchen island.  It's nice to have a few bottles out where we can just decide to enhance dinner without having to dig though boxes.  He also got the brisket out and rubbed it down with the new rub and then wrapped it up and returned it to the fridge for 24 hrs.

Corona with cheese and crackers and Farkle

Dec 25 Christmas.  Merry Christmas!  We had a slow leisurely day.  About 11 Danny started up the traeger and the brisket headed out.   I just took things easy, after all steaming lobster is pretty much a low energy activity.  I had bread to prep and salad to prep.  We decided to have dinner outside today so the table and chairs came out and I got some crackers and cheese ready and got the Farkle dice out and we spent a few hours just playing dice and talking on the phone to friends and family while the brisket smoked.  Around 3 we pulled the beef out and put the bread in.  When that finished the asparagus went on the grill.  This dinner shaped up very nicely.  Added some wine and we just sat outside until we ate all we possibly could.

Christmas Dinner Smoked Brisket, Lobster, asparagus, bread, salad and wine.   

 


















Dec 26 Mon.  Movie day.  We decided on Assasins Creed for a good action flick and it didn't disappoint.  Popcorn and soda and the movie I didn't get on Christmas, perfect.  Then an early dinner at Sweet tomatoes, we really love Sweet Tomatoes, just a really clean and fresh salad bar and they had a Carmel Praline Bread Pupping for Dessert, oh my goodness, that was really good!

Dec 27 Tues.  We didn't get going early enough to do breakfast so we went looking for a Mexican restaurant for Lunch and found a very good one.  LaBamba III,  really good food and a nice Margarita.  We discussed the agenda for the day and Danny had been wanting to get his own mask and snorkel and fins so we headed down to Dania Beach to Divers Direct and 3 hours later we came out with his gear and a head full of new knowledge.  We have talked about getting dive certified and this might be where to do it.  It would give him the chance to dive in North Carolina for Megaladon teeth....So we will discuss it more and make a decision soon.

Dec 28 Wed.  We headed up to Palm Beach Gardens today to meet up with Cathie and Lou for lunch. We got to the decided spot, and texted Cathie.  She replied and soon she was pulling in too, but no Lou.  Seems he had needed to check into the hospital and we were very glad to hear it wasn't anything too drastic.  So we hunted around the area for a lunch spot and settled on Paddy Mac's.  Cathie was really pleased as she has a severe allergy to onions and they had lots of options for her.  I had an open faced chicken and cheddar on chibata and it hit the spot.  So while we missed Lou it was a great lunch and visit.  By 3 we were headed home with leftovers and no desire for dinner.

Dec 29 Thurs.  While we were out today I decided there wasn't going to be a better time to get my snorkel gear, so we headed back to Diver's Direct and I got my full mask, snorkel, boots and fins.  Now we will be ready when we find the right place.  Then we headed over to Popeye's for dinner and they blew the order and we got home with 2 mashed potatoes, darn.  I really like their cold slaw.

Dec 30 Fri. Just seemed a good movie day and we wanted to see Passengers.  Really very good movie!

Dec 31 Sat.  It was prep day, we got all the interior stowed and the tanks drained.  As the hook-ups were all on the passenger side of the rig at this park, we figured to at least get the sewer packed up today and save time in the morning.  This was the first time we had stayed put for a month and we really did have more stuff spread out.  We had wanted to try at least one 'special' restaurant while we were in they area, so I did a little digging and found a "Triple D"  place called Grandpas Bakery.  It was about 2 in the afternoon which is generally a good time to try out a place that has a great reputation.  It was easy to find and even had some parking.  Danny ordered Lamb Shank and I had Veal Stroganoff, and we had another meal with the leftovers.  Of coarse we had to take some dessert home and 2 pieces of carrot cake sounded good, and it was good, not great!  We shared a piece about 6 as we were not needing a full meal at that point.  The meal we had was excellent.  We agreed, if in the area again, that would warrant another visit.  Oh yeah, we did take a sausage dog with kraut home also, Danny said it was calling to him.   We listened to the explosions and the sounds of partying but we were both anxious to get on the road in the morning, so by 10, we were tucked in and off to sleep, See you next year.