Advertisement
Published: January 2nd 2021
Here we are....fresh into a brand new year. We wish you all a healthy and happy year....and one with many good stories to tell.
We stayed pretty busy between Christmas and New Year’s. The park had a Christmas Eve golf cart parade. Many of us decorated our golf carts and drove together throughout the park. The person leading our parade must have thought we were at the Daytona Speedway. We tried keeping up but we were bouncing around and doing our best just to hold on. We sped past some of the areas as a blur at 100 mph I’m positive. Finally, Cory just stopped trying to keep up as I bellowed to slow down in my merry and festive voice. Lulu was frozen in fear and she’s a daring soul...remember?
This was our first Christmas away from our family so we knew it would be different. It was. We woke up to resounding quietness in our RV. No one was around...just the two of us. Total silence encircled us. We turned on the TV for sound. I took advantage of having not to cook....Cory and I went out for Christmas dinner. Sandy & Sam were apprehensive about crowds and
Covid so they didn’t go with us. We planned to dine at the Trough (Golden Corral). Not many restaurants were open. We passed Denny’s and IHOP that had their doors open for business. We went early (11:30 AM) to beat the crowd. Hey.....what crowd? As we entered, there was no one in line....just us!...like in our RV. Where’s the crowd? Not here. We easily found a table......there were lots of empty tables. I guess everyone else was thinking like Sam & Sandy and decided just to stay home to avoid the crowds. There were a few people who dared to venture out to the Trough but it was amazing......we could hear echoes throughout this restaurant. Of course, we managed to do exactly what we swore we wouldn’t do on the few times we have come here. We gorged ourselves into gastric distress even though it didn’t seem that way when we took only small portions of everything! Owwwwweee.
To take our minds off our full and bloated stomachs, Cory drove around Celebration to see their Christmas decorations. Of course, during the day it’s not the same as at night. Some of our friends from TP had driven their golf
carts at night here to Celebration. They visited one street in this magical town that went all out on Christmas decorations. The houses coordinated with one another so the music made their lights dance in sequence. It must have been beautiful. I took a few photos of a couple houses that participated with this display. We came back to our RV and called our families to wish them a Merry Christmas. So good to hear their voices. We missed them. We rested as our food digested!
We were thrilled when some of our friends stopped to visit. They had lived at Tropical Palms for many years before moving on. Mike and Lois rented a Sandcastle last year but their plans are to stay in Panama City this season. Their best friends are in a cottage here at TP and they wanted to be with them for awhile. Jeff and Judy also lived and worked here at TP. They live in a park in Hudson, Florida now. It was wonderful to see all of them again and we truly appreciated that they stopped to see us.
A major highlight in our park brought everyone out of their RV’s and
cottages. I think in my last blog, I told you about some of the Sandcastle cottages being moved out of Tropical Palms and relocated to another park. Well, it happened. Six more cottages were taken away. This was no easy task. They had to first prep them and disconnect everything. Then they had to put axles and wheels under each one. These cottages are on small lots with not much room around them. The skilled workers really had to work hard and jockey these buildings around to get them off their sites without damaging the property around them. Sometimes they used a rail system to actually slide a cottage across the rail to get it moved. It was really something to watch. Then a big truck towed each Sandcastle away. We spoke to this truck driver. He made it sound easy.....no way, José. Prior to this activity, I said I would bring the popcorn for everyone as they witnessed this major undertaking. I stayed true to my word and passed out little bags of popcorn for all to enjoy.
New Year’s Eve was celebrated with friends here at Tropical Palms. Nicki Jo & Mike and Jill & Bob put
on a party to welcome in the New Year. The enormous buffet was delicious. Their crackling fire was beautiful. Their hospitality was so welcoming. We watched as some played a game similar to corn toss. Inside of bags, they used large, metal washers. It was a big hit. Nicki Jo and a few others rang bells at 6:00 PM which was to occur across the states. She offered a toast which sealed the deal. We left shortly after darkness and did our normal celebration for New Years Eve....we went to bed and slept through it. Cheers!
Today, New Years Day, we continued our Celebration by going out to dinner with Sam & Sandy to Cracker Barrel. The parking lot was full but they could seat us immediately.....great. We even got a window seat.....great. Our waitress was right there....great. The menu was limited.....no catfish (that’s what Sam & I order).....not so great but we managed with another choice. The room we sat in was not overly crowded....great! We put in our order right way....great. And then it happened!! An enormous group of people came in and were seated at at least 5 long tables in our room! There had to
be over 50 of them.....loud, laughing, babies crying....not great now. We waited for our food.....and waited...not great. They brought the biscuits and drinks and then more biscuits and drinks and then more biscuits!! We could have sold biscuits from our table we had so many. The waitress apologized for the delay. The manager did the same. The cook had failed to cook Sam’s chicken.....not great! They turned up the air conditioner....not great. They started to feed the massive crowd their food......really not great. Cory went to find the manager.....not good. Sam was revving up his scooter so we could just leave. At this point, the manager and our food arrived. Sandy & Cory ordered the same entree......it was a pathetic facsimile.....even the manager didn’t know what it was. Long story short: the manager took care of our bill which was the right thing to do. In the beginning, the man who seated us said they weren’t prepared for such a big crowd today.....Really? Really? We like Cracker Barrel.....it’s always consistent with good food and service. Today was the exception. Happy New Year! We’ll go back....still want their yummy catfish!
As a special treat, Cory stopped at one of the
local Thrift stores so Sam could hunt and pick parts to use in making his cannons. Disneyworld frequently donates used furniture from their hotels to this shop. This time there was furniture from their Frontier Lodge. Chairs were only $15 each! A steal! We came back to our RV’s so the guys could watch their football!! Happy New Year!
This coming Monday, Cory and I are registered and scheduled to get our first Covid vaccine shots. We will go to the fairgrounds and stay in our car the whole time. Not sure what the line will be like....I doubt it will be like the Trough on Christmas Day.
I have a date to have my right knee replaced. January 11th, I’ll go back to the Celebration Hospital and my same doctor will do the exact same surgery he did on my left knee. I pray it goes as well as that one. I completed my 15 physical therapy visits only to resume them again.....four days after this surgery. I have never exercised this much in my entire life. You would think I am a female version of Jack LeLane. I am looking forward to this surgery so I
can walk around pain free. I hate pain. So plan your schedule with mine....I’ll need your support and assistance as before. You did a great job getting me through the first knee....this one should be a snap. Pray that it is or I’ll be a big mess.
That’s all I have for now. Next blog with be a Déjà vu documentation. Hope I can get some pretty pictures to show you of my innards again. Stay tuned for the next episode of “General Hospital and the Twisted Knee”. See ya! Check out the 24 photos. ?
Advertisement
Tot: 0.367s; Tpl: 0.029s; cc: 10; qc: 54; dbt: 0.1579s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Judy Lane
non-member comment
Surgery
Good luck with surgery. Always in our prayers. Dont forget the shot is in two parts. U will have to go back for part 2. Love you!!