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Sarasota,
Florida
January 18th through January 22nd, 2007
Thursday, January
18th - 33°, Cloudy
We managed to get
out of our house around 1:40pm today – later than we had really wanted to get
going but still enough time to make it to the airport. We made a mistake in
going through Milford to get to the airport, as the town was way too busy for us
to make it through quickly. We stopped at McDonalds for lunch on the way because
we didn’t leave early enough to stop for a sit down lunch like we had hoped. We
did manage to make it on time however, and the plane actually left Detroit
early. Our flight was pretty uneventful as the kids all managed to behave
themselves for the most part (although Drew got pretty squirmy during the last
45 minutes or so). We landed at the St. Petersburg/Clearwater airport around
7:30pm, and stepped off the plane outside into the nice balmy 70° weather of
Florida. Dad & Mom, along with Sherry & Connie, came to pick us up in two
vehicles (we don’t fit too well in a single vehicle anymore, especially with
luggage). After we made a quick stop at McDonalds (once again) for dinner, we
had an uneventful drive down to Sarasota, where we headed to Dad & Mom’s trailer
and did some quick unpacking before settling in for the night.
Friday, January 19th
- 73°, Sunny
Everybody in the
fifth-wheel was up around 7:00am today. Jayden needed to be fed, so that meant
that I woke up with her and Tara (since we all slept together). Dad & Mom
typically get up much earlier than we do, and they were up as well. The kids
were all woke up so that we could get ready to go to morning coffee at the
park’s hall, called Woodland Hall. They were going to be mentioning
Great-Grandma Parrott’s birthday at today’s coffee. Since she didn’t know that
we were down to see her, we thought that would be a good time to surprise her.
She didn’t see us all walk in, and Tara went over and kissed her on the cheek
while telling her happy birthday. It took a while to register what was going on,
but she was very excited. She squeezed Samantha so hard when they hugged that
Sam’s hot chocolate squirted out of the cup all over her sweater.
After the morning coffee, we split up to do separate things.
Dad & I went to Dennis & Karen’s to help him finish laying the wood floor in
their new addition. Tara and the kids went with Mom, Grandma, and Connie to
“Sugar and Spice” to eat lunch after dropping Steve off at work at “Publix”.
They also took a drive through the subdivision that my grandparents lived in
many years ago to see what the two houses that they lived in looked like today.
I later learned that my Grandfather actually built the second home (with help,
of course) – I had always assumed that they had it built for them.
We met back up at the fifth-wheel to get ready to go to the
“Michigan Dinner” that evening. The “Michigan Dinner” is held in Woodland Hall
also, and was basically a pot-luck style dinner (you were responsible for
bringing a dish for the 8 people at your own table) while sloppy-Joes were
provided for everybody. Since our group took up one whole table (that is with
Great-Grandma & Steve eating at another table!), I was guaranteed at least some
food that I would eat. We also saw our friend Jeff’s parents there, as they were
also staying in Sun-N-Fun this year. Tara talked to them briefly, but we were
barely awake enough to eat after spending the last few nights up late packing
and getting ready to go.
Once the dinner was completed (we won a free lunch at “Boon
Docks”, the parks on-site restaurant), Tara and Connie took Tyler, Sam, and Drew
to the pool for a quick swim. They spent so much time in the water that Drew’s
diaper filled up with water and fell right off. Dad and I spent some time
walking around the park after leaving the dinner and stopped at Great-Grandma’s
house for a short time, we all then headed back to Dad & Mom’s to turn in for
the night.
Saturday, January
20th - 78°, Sunny
Once everyone was up and dressed today, we headed out to the end of Dad
& Mom’s street (“Avenue C”) to watch the “Sun-N-Fun Homecoming Parade”. Just
before the parade started, my cousin Shelly and her husband Dan, as well as
their daughter Logan showed up to surprise Grandma. She was especially pleased
to see another one of her great-grandchildren. We weren’t really sure what the
whole parade was for, but it started out with a bunch of veterans marching and
was followed by several groups of people that were bunched by state (or province
for our Canadian friends). Tyler even participated in the parade by jumping on
somebody’s motorcycle to finish out he parade route. Once he was returned to us,
we walked down to the pavilion to have lunch (hot dogs and hamburgers were for
sale in addition to pop and beer). A “Blues Brothers” group also provided
entertainment, although we ate inside to provide some breathing room for Sherry
to put her leg up on the table (she had surgery on her ankle the week prior to
our arrival).
After we finished eating, Mom and I took Tyler and Sam to the
pool for a swim, while Tara stayed behind to feed Jayden and Dad stayed behind
to help get Drew to take a nap. When we returned from swimming we got ready to
go out to eat.
We ate at “R.J. Gators” tonight. It is a restaurant located
just down the road from Sun-N-Fun and we were told that they had decent grouper.
Our group tonight consisted of Dana, Great-Grandma, Steve, Connie, Logan (who
spent the night with Connie), Dennis, Karen, Justin, Meghan, as well as our
usual group of Dad, Mom, Tara, Tyler, Sam, Drew, Jay, and Me. We took the
opportunity to sample some Florida alligator tail (mainly just to allow Tyler to
have a taste – both of the times I have tasted it I thought it was kind of tough
and chewy). After we finished eating the wait staff sang “Happy Birthday” to
Great-Grandma and brought her a free dessert, which she then passed around the
table for everyone to take a bite of.
After we had eaten, everybody rode over to Denny & Karen’s
house to talk for a while. Mom, Tara, Drew, Jayden and I took a detour into
Target to pick up a few essentials before joining them. Tyler took the
opportunity to do some wrestling with Logan and Justin’s dachshund Kobe. When we
finally left, we returned to the trailer to head to bed for the night.
Sunday, January 21st
- 82°, Sunny
We slept until about 9:00am today, and after everyone woke
up we made bacon and eggs for breakfast. Mom had showered first today because
she had to help get things ready for Great-Grandma’s surprise party today and
because of that she was in and out all morning. We took turns getting ready and
helping out with the party. Dad and Tara took Tyler, Sam, and Drew to the pool
for a while. When they returned, Dad laid Drew down for a nap and Tara fed
Jayden while I went to help Mom set up the party items.
Once everybody was ready to go, we headed to the Pavilion to
attend Grandma Parrott’s birthday party. We missed the actual “Surprise” part of
the party, but Great-Grandma seemed happy to see everybody anyway. We got to
meet Timmy’s girlfriend Anna and her Mom, and we also got to see many people
that we hadn’t seen in a long time. The kids had a good time playing in the sand
volleyball area and on the tennis courts. Julie’s husband Randy joined in along
with Grandpa Gary and Tara, while Sam took the opportunity to keep score for the
group.
After the party wound down, Tara & I took the oldest three
kids out to “Checkers” to get a shake (I was looking forward to a banana shake,
but it wasn’t nearly as good as I remembered them to be). When we returned, I
took the kids up to the pool while the rest of our group headed over to
Great-Grandma’s to hang out for a while. Dennis & Karen, Chris & Gina, Dan,
Shelly, and Logan, and Julie & Dana also joined us at the trailer, but had left
by the time we returned from the pool. When it came time to return to the
fifth-wheel for the night, Tyler decided to spend the night with his
Great-Grandma (he had been wanting to for a couple of days now, and this was his
last chance for this trip). Tara & I took one last trip back to bring him his
pajamas from the camper, but he had already passed out. Once we returned, the
rest of us turned in for the night.
Monday, January 22nd
80°, Sunny
Being that today was our last day in Florida, we
weren’t in any real rush to get anything done. We took our time getting up and
getting ready this morning. Once we did get moving, we headed back to the
pavilion one more time to participate in the “Sanilac County Picnic”. This one
consisted of families that originated in Sanilac County, and have since settled
in the general area of Sun-N-Fun (although it wasn’t limited to people who stay
there).
I wasn’t too thrilled with the pot-luck options here, so
after eating I took Tara, Tyler, Sam, and Drew out to get some KFC and to try to
fill up Dad’s truck with some fuel (we passed 2 stations with diesel to go to a
station that was recommended only to get there and find that they didn’t even
offer diesel). On our way to get the truck from the site, we stopped by Lake
Ibis to watch the radio-controlled sailboat races for a short while. Once we
finished with this lunch, Mom took Tyler and Sam to the pool once more while we
stayed behind to repack the suitcases and to get the other two kids to lie down
for a nap.
With our packing completed, we loaded up one final time to
head out for dinner. This time Dennis, Connie, and Steve, all of whom were going
to assist us in going to the airport after eating, joined our family. We ate at
“Don Pablo’s” tonight, since we couldn’t come to a consensus on any place to eat
and they had immediate seating for us. After we finished our meal, we started
the drive north to the airport. Besides some confusion with the signs in St.
Pete, the drive was uneventful. We made it to the airport shortly after 8:00pm
for our 9:55pm scheduled flight. The plane took off a little late, but we made
it safely to Detroit, landing around 12:20am. By the time we got our bags, the
van, and drove home, it was around 3:00am before Tara and I actually climbed
into bed.
Trip
Summary
All in all it was a safe and successful trip. We had a
good time while we were in Florida, although the flights were a little
stressful. Drew did really well for the most part, but that last hour or so he
really started to get antsy. We thought that he would fall asleep for at least
part of the flight home, but no luck. Tara and I are both not sure if it was
worth the effort to fly. The timesavings were a definite advantage, but we were
both pretty stressed out by the end of each trip. It is much easier to control a
crying kid in your own vehicle than it is to do in a plane full of strangers. If
we were to go again for a longer trip, I think that we would definitely drive.
If Drew and Jayden had been older (perhaps the age that Tyler and Samantha are
now), this may not be the case – but then we would be forced to buy two extra
seats, making the trip much more expensive!
The primary reason for the trip was Grandma Parrott’s
surprise birthday party, and that was a rousing success in my estimation. She
was genuinely surprised, and everyone there enjoyed themselves. A lot of her
grandkids came in from out of state, and she was excited to see us.
The rest of the trip felt pretty hectic, as we were
constantly on the go. That seems to be the norm for our trips to Florida,
however, so we weren’t caught too off-guard by that particular aspect. As
always, we wish the trip could have been longer. Until next time…
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