No Whining Allowed

I have a confession to make. The reason that I had a lot going on last week and didn’t really do much blobbing? It was because Honey and I were in Florida.

ALONE!!!!!

Oh yes we were, and it was wonderful! We have not been away together since The Ab-Cat was 2 and The Boy was 5 months old. So, basically,  almost decades. As they are now 20 and 18.

I decided not to mention it until we got back, because it didn’t seem like the best thing to broadcast on the worldwide web that our kids were home alone for the first time ever. The very last day of the trip, I found out that Abby had  posted it on her Facebook. So much for my secret squirrel plan.

We had so much fun! We decided to go for 9 days, as opposed to 2 weeks, because we had never left them before. We weren’t sure how everyone would do. It was as much for us, as it was for them. Everyone did fine.

Except the cats. I have a feeling they were neglected in the lovin’ department. I plan to remedy that ASAP. They are already swarming me. They love the Mama, and Mama loves her kitty-witty boolie-woolies.

Here we are at the start of the trip, at Detroit Metro Airport. Or, as Mrs. Schmenkman calls it, The Armpit of The World. Because we flew Spirit, we were in the old, smaller terminal. Which was quite awesome. It’s the newer, ginormous, Northwest  terminal that you have to walk to China in. That is The Armpit.

We made both The Ab-Cat AND The Boy take us to the airport, because The Boy would be picking us up from the airport alone, and we thought it would be helpful for him to have one trip under his belt. Also, we had  to be fair. Because if one had to get up at at 5:00, and the other one didn’t, the whining would have been catastrophic.

It was a good thing they were together, because as I understand it, they took the scenic route home. Through some interesting neighborhoods. It took the two of them to rectify the situation. Ab said The Boy got SO excited when he finally recognized where they were! I was ever so glad  they were together because if you recall, Miss Ab-ra Cat-dabra cannot navigate her way out of a paper bag without explicit directions. They worked it out!

I need to explain a couple of things about traveling with Honey. He always has an agenda. Always.

He likes to be early. I don’t like to be any earlier than necessary. Honey would say that I cut things way too close. But, I must say, we were there an hour and twenty minutes before our flight.

Before we left, The Boy asked him if those were his “traveling clothes”? Now that he mentioned it, Honey does always travel in this outfit. He has his necessary traveling companions. His coffee and his paper.

And this. His itinerary folder. I told him this was going on the blob. Because I don’t want you to think I make this stuff up. He is all about the papers on vacation. Newspapers, all those flyers in the boxes lined up on the side of the road, real estate brochures, anything that will help him learn more about his new environment. He likes to be informed. He doesn’t want to miss anything. He likes to explore his new surroundings. We call him Clark W. Griswold, from National Lampoon’s Vacation. He likes to go see The Biggest Ball of Twine.

And one last thing, and it is the best thing. Because of his relentless exploring, he knows where everything is. He knows where the ice machine is. He knows where the pool is, where you can get the complimentary bottles of water, where breakfast is served and what time. And he remembers all the roads. This amazes me. I can go to the same places year after year, and have a vague idea of where I am, but Honey remembers the entire map, and everywhere we have ever been. He is just as amazed with me. Amazed that I don’t remember ever being somewhere, that I have evidently been before.

We were rather perky for having gotten up at 4 a.m.

We flew into the Fort Meyers airport by 11. Honey and I just marvelled at that! We have driven to Florida at least 15 times, and it takes forever. We may never want to drive again!

We collected our bags and went to get our rental car. Honey upgraded to an Edge, because the rental guy said it was a better deal. We wouldn’t have to pay any tolls, and some other junk that I can’t remember. That guy stretched the truth about a few other things, and every time we went through the sunpass lane without paying the toll, we wondered if we were going to have  about $800 in tickets waiting for us when we got home!

The next day we took a trolley down to the beach to see a sand sculpting contest. It was the second of three days, so nothing was finished. It was interesting to watch them work, they all had their own ways and tools.

This one took first place. Of course, it was finished then.

This was our favorite. It was called “Food Fight”. The dolphins were tossing around puffer fish. He was an especially personable man and seemed to enjoy interacting with the people. He didn’t win the contest, but we found out later that he won the people’s choice award.

The next day we went to Sanibel Island. We had gone there once with my Grandma Georgia when Abby was 9 months old. We shelled a little and watched a whole bunch of guys surf with kites. Sometimes they came right up out of the water! It was a perfect day for it, nice and windy.

We then went over to another beach further down the island. There was no one in the water. Imagine that.

Honey had the trip broken up into three parts. This was the shopping part, because our location was in a shopping rich area. I had no problems with that! We didn’t buy too much. I did score a bottle of chai!

We were in Fort Meyers for three days, and tomorrow I will tell you about the second part of the trip.