Twas the Day Before Christmas...

Saturday morning Kevin and I had planned on starting when we woke up. Well I woke up at 6:30 am and Kevin woke up after 7am.  We started out of the house by 8am. We had two stops to make before we hit the road to Ft. Myers.  We stopped and got gas first and then went to Starbucks for coffee and breakfast. We walked into Starbucks and I stood before the counter, I could not remember my favorite coffee, I was excited to be going up north for the weekend.  The girl behind the counter, good morning, you want your coffee I said yes, she knew what we both wanted and fixed them right away.

Kevin drove the entire way, I was happy with that. I really dont like driving on interstates. It makes me very nervous.

We were on the road for 2.5 hours when we pulled into Ft. Myers. We were going to visit Kevin's friend  (D) from Indiana and her girlfriend (T).  We pull up the the house and (D) is waiting on us. We get out of the car and hugged and she introduces us to her girlfriend (T).
I havent seen (D) in like 3 years.  We caught up on old times. We suggested going out to eat.  We ended up going to Perkins.

We sat down at the table, and started chatting.  I kept looking at (T), I knew her from somewhere. Just couldnt put my finger on it.  Kevin started talking about where he used to live in Indiana and T said I know right where that is, that is close to my old address. She said she used to live on Wade street. I said I know where that is, and she blurted out I KNOW YOU!  She figured it out. She said you used to hang out with the Rays and the Burns. I looked at her and said yes I did, she said that she did too.  OMG what a small world. We sat there chatting about our old neighborhood. Kevin and D just sat there and listened to us go on and on.

It was about 2pm and we had to get on the road again, we are going up to Brandon to spend the night with my father and to spend Christmas with him and his family.

Left to right: Allen, T, D, & Kevin

I am not sure why, but people always wants to see if they can pick up my car. They did. lol

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We drove another 2.5 hours to Brandon Florida where we met my father, he wanted us to go out to eat. We went to this Chinese Buffet. It was not the best place to eat. All the food was dry, but I did not complain until my father brought it up. 

He told us to follow him to the motel, and he dropped us off there. He said we needed to be ready by 8:30am so that we could go out to breakfast and then on to church.  We agreed and he left.  

Christmas Morning

The next morning, we were both up before 7am.  Kevin suggested we find a Starbucks. We were hoping there would be one open on Christmas morning but wasnt really sure.  We got into the car and I turned on the GPS and looked up a close Starbucks.  You know they were open. We were so excited.   

By the time we got back to the motel my father was there waiting on us. He said are you ready?  We said yes and we followed him. We went to McDonalds and they were closed, he said lets head towards the church and I am sure we will find something open.

On the way, he pulled in a cematary. It is where my mom and grand mother is. I stood there and tried not to cry, but I just couldnt hold them back. I do miss her something awful.

We had them add a picture to her gravestone, and I was amazed and how nice the picture still was, its been in the sun for the past 12 years and it still looks new.

We headed out again to find a place to eat. We passed 5 McDonalds and none of them were open. We found only one Hardees open.  Not our favorite place to eat, but it will do. We sat down and ate and then headed to the church.

Raymond, Allen, Kevin

Huge Church

Richard, Barb and Raymond

From church we went out to eat, the only problem was there was a choice of Hardees or Clocks. We ate at  here....

The food was pretty good. The service was great and we had a good conversation. It was a nice time.

We then followed my father to his house. He went to his garage and opened the door there inside sat a 1927 Model A, Ford.  He said to me I know you want to drive this. He was right.

I drove the Model A to the Macedonian Building.

Then I had my father take over, he took us on some back roads, I was sitting in the rumble seat.

After we got back, I suggested we go over to the lake. The lake is only 2 houses away. We went up on top a boat house and looked around.

(click to see larger image)

Behind Kevin and I is the Fantasy of Flight you can see their water tower in the background.

My step mom fixed us every kind of dessert you can imagine. We ate a little of each thing. We sat around and talked until about 3pm. We headed out to the car and took more pictures. 

Kevin, (dad) Raymond, Allen

(dad) Raymond, (step-mom) Barb, Allen

 We headed out at 3:50 pm and decided to take a different route back home to Ft. Lauderdale.  We took SR 27.

We went through several little towns. One that sticks out in my head is Lego Land.  From what I read on the internet is a small town with a Park. 

As the sun went down I thought this was a beautiful picture. 

We arrived home at 7:45pm. We had a great time with friends and family.  Once in the door of the house, Michael and his boyfriend suggest we go out to eat.  By the time we got home I was exhausted. I went straight to bed.  It is sure good to be home.