Travel Anxiety II

 

We have our suitcases packed.  Jim has just ordered an Uber for tomorrow at 9 am and we have the driver's name confirmed.  We have checked the weather forecast and it is very windy but no rain or snow in New Jersey.  The TSA lines in Tampa last year were far less stressful than in Newark.  Last year we were able to get an earlier flight than our scheduled 12:15 and maybe we can tomorrow too.  But I am still anxious about travel and will be so happy when we are home in our Princeton apartment. 

I think that this will be our last trip to Florida and maybe my last flight anywhere.  I  feel less adventurous all the time and think that home sweet home is best for me.    I used to fly alone to the east coast from South Bend.  I took the train into NYC, booked a hotel,  and explored the city on my own.  But no more.  And I don't have regrets about that.  We have many travel memories and this time too I will remember how lovely the bay looked from our 5th floor condo.  I will remember those great margaritas that I enjoyed while looking out at the Gulf of Mexico.  

Maybe our ocean trips will just be overnights or maybe even a week's rental in Cape May or Ocean Grove or Barnegat Light.  That would mean an hour drive or maybe two or three hours on the road.  No security lines or Uber drivers to locate in crowded terminals.  We can still get great drinks and good seafood.  We won't have to be concerned about cancelled flights or delays or scary TSA lines.  

My husband just offered me a glass of wine--not my usual later evening treat but maybe tonight it would be a good idea.  The cleaning lady can finish the bottle off if she wishes. There will still be some left.   Now I will say again that I hope my next post is from home!  

January 26 3 pm:  We are home!  We got to the Tampa airport early and were able to get on a flight that left an hour earlier than our scheduled one.  We even got seats together. Everything went smoothly.  We found our Uber ride easily in Newark--maybe the new United terminal is better in that respect.

 And then when we got home there was a very important package at our door!  Jim's RH Charles book has arrived and he is very happy with how it looks! 

Eating and Drinking

 

Easy to find rental car!

I know that a theme of my blog posts and my photos has been our eating and drinking.  But eating and drinking are definitely highlights of our trip to St. Pete Beach.  Tonight we thought we would try a different restaurant and with a car still available until Monday at 1 pm, we could drive somewhere.  I found four choices, two in Pass-a-grille and two at the intersection of St. Pete Beach and Treasure Island. Jim chose heading to Pass-a-grille where The Wharf parking lot was full.  We took a risk and parked across the street at a small grocery that was closed for the evening. The waitress assured us that the owners were their friends and it would be OK.   

We were seated outdoors facing the bay and ordered our tropical drinks (margarita and sunset) and our meals (grown-up grilled cheese for me and chicken sandwich for Jim.)  It was lovely looking out at the water and the sky as night came on.  

Tomorrow?  Maybe another IHOP breakfast.  To be continued! 

---------------January 23  Yes, it was another IHOP breakfast and later supper in our condo of bread and cheese and fruit.  Then yesterday we went to Sea Hags Restaurant where I had their seafood chowder which was very tasty.   

We watched lots of NFL playoff games over the weekend.

Boca Ciega Bay
from our 5th floor condo

We made one more trip today to Publix and Dollar Tree and then returned the rental car having filled the tank for less than $5.  We didn't go far this week but it was nice to have the car available to go to various restaurants that we have enjoyed.  

Now there are just two full days left here and we head for home.  I am ready to go home.  I think that is probably a very good sign that I like home! I hope I can blog about a smooth trip--an easier one than the trip here.

I read recently about how to be a better blogger.  The goal of the article was how to increase readership and even to monetize your blog.  These are not my goals!  My most important readers are Jim and myself!  I put together a Blog2Print book again for 2022 and it should be waiting for us when we get home.  These books have made a great record of our life for the last several years including the big changes of retiring and moving.  As we look over them, we realize how much we have forgotten and we enjoy our memories.  

One week in Florida

We arrived at Sunrise Resort one week ago.  We have one week left here.  Today it is supposed to be 71 degrees--this is the Florida weather we have been waiting for!  Up to this point, we have worn our lightweight winter jackets.    

 In our retirement, our lives are like being on vacation at home or here.  In some ways, this is more stressful because we have to figure out meals and what to get at the grocery store, how to run the washing machine, and maybe most puzzling, how to get the TVs to find the sports we want to watch.  But we are coping.  

My best moments have been going down to the bay mid-afternoon and sitting in the sunshine and just thinking "This is enough."  I don't have to exercise, or read a worthwhile book, or fix a meal.  I can just sit and look out at the shimmering water and listen to the seagulls and feel the sun on my face.  I have pulled out my phone and read through Sacred Space and felt thankful!

Other good moments have been getting our tropical drinks--at the tiki bar at Tradewinds, at Agave, and last night at a restaurant in Pass-a-Grille.  Our first choice, the Brass Monkey, was closed on Wednesdays.  Why Wednesdays?  We were disappointed but went next door and had a great meal of a crabcake melt for me and a large burger for Jim.  With a margarita and a mango colada we were happy--and we had a front row seat for the sunset over the Gulf.  

We are praying for friends this week who have undergone surgery.  One is the son of friends, a three month old baby who had his first plastic surgery yesterday to correct a cleft palate.  His grandmother sent me a video of him sucking on his bottle post-surgery and it was beautiful!  The other one is a friend of many years who is having serious surgery in Philadelphia today.  We are praying for his safety and his recovery afterwards and for his family as they wait for the results.  

January 19  We made our annual trip to John's Pass and the Pirate's Pub where we get Shock Top beers and a lobster roll for me (market price at $23.95!) and a hot dog for Jim (cheap date at $4.50!).  It is lovely sitting along the bay watching boats come and go.  We missed seeing the dolphins this time but were entertained by the middle-aged gentlemen (I use the term loosely) next to us who were ordering beer after beer and whose language was full of one four letter word used as a noun, verb, adjective or interjection. 

We made another almost daily trip to Publix on our way back to the condo and now we are all set for bread and cheese and fruit for supper and more milk and cereal for breakfast.  

Florida in January

 

The skies are blue.  But the air is cold and windy.  I sat outside wearing my light-weight winter coat and decided a bit of fresh air was lovely but it was time to come up to the condo and get warm again.  We know that this is what it is like here in January.  The good part is that there are no lines at restaurants and it's not prime time for rental rates.  

Yesterday I felt so relaxed.  I didn't have to pack anything.  We didn't have to get an Uber, go through security, or fly anywhere.  We ate a late lunch at Flying Bridge at Tradewinds Resort across the street--a big plate of nachos to share with beers.

That was enough for me for the rest of the day.  Today we walked to IHOP and had a big breakfast.  In spite of a race on Gulf Boulevard, there was no wait for a booth. Again, that was about enough activity for the rest of the day.

Tomorrow we need to try to eat at regular times although it is pleasant to be so unscheduled--even if not so good for our aging bodies.  I feel a bit unsettled today and need to get into a vacation mode even if unstructured. 

We have puzzles on our phones and laptops--spelling bee and crossword puzzles--to enjoy. We have books to read and there are always sports on TV in the evening.  In fact this weekend is full of NFL playoffs and NBA extra games for MLK day.  We have reserved a rental car for Monday and then we can travel a bit farther from the condo. 

--------January 15  I was so cold during the night that I got up and put on my winter coat and crawled back into bed under the thin comforter.  I went back to sleep but did open the blinds to see the brilliant sunrise over the bay around 6 am.  Our resort is aptly named--Sunrise Resort.  

  Jim fixed our usual Sunday am breakfast of eggs and a pastry--this time an almond bearclaw.  He made coffee although the pot was so slow that I may need to get some vinegar and try cleaning it out. We worshipped at our home church in Princeton, Nassau Presbyterian, via livestream.  I did a load of laundry (we could travel light with a washer and dryer available).  We have a frozen meal for Jim and a wrap for me for supper so there is no need to do any more shopping today.  It's a quiet day in a beautiful place.  

Sunrise Resort--Year Five?

 We have been coming to Florida for short vacations in January for the last several years.  The first year was just five days in Clearwater.  From then on we kept extending our stay--and have settled on Sunrise Resort in St. Pete Beach for the last few years for a two week stay.  Last year I thought might have been our last year but when June came around,  we decided to go for it again and I made reservations.  After today's travel, I am thinking that I need to enjoy every minute of our stay because this really might be our last time.  The journey was not easy!

We left home before six pm Wednesday travelling with an Uber driver who was pretty grumpy and had Fox radio news on for the hour trip.  We are not Fox fans and it was very loud and very nasty.  I felt myself getting angry but tried to just laugh it off.  Guess he has a right to listen to whatever he wants! Not surprisingly, he was not wearing a mask but it bothered me less this year than last.  We wore our masks anyway. We used a free night that I have had coming for a long time and stayed at the Newark Airport Hilton.  With $15 credit for being Hilton Express members we treated ourselves to drinks and wings in the bar.  Even if there was no $15 credit, we would have treated ourselves!  

It was a short night of sleep and a very restless one for both of us with alarms set for 6:15 and 6:30.  We quickly dressed, checked out of the hotel, and got on the airport shuttle. That's when the trouble started.  We were told to go to the new Terminal A and gate 23. When the app said "new" it meant day one for Terminal A.  The TSA lines were endless and confusing.  It would look like we were almost to the screeners and then the line seemed to twist and turn away again.  At one point, everything shut down.  It was frightening to be in such crowds with some very tense and shouting TSA personnel moving people around.  They were clearly not prepared for day one.  There was also an experiment with facial recognition technology with our faces showing up when we scanned our boarding passes. 

We thought that our gate was moved to A11.  At that point Jim got in line at Dunkin Donuts and got us some much needed coffee and pastries.  He was observant enough to see that the flight number was wrong at A11--That was another Tampa flight which was delayed.  So back to A23 where we boarded on time.  However the plane was held back to accommodate travelers who were stuck in those endless security lines.  My seat mate was a young mother who was going to a bachelorette party and leaving her four children for the first time.  She went through three little bottles of vodka in her bloody marys in a pretty short time.   For her the steward ignored the announcement they had made about providing only one drink at a time! 

We handled finding our Tampa Uber driver very smoothly and were at Sunrise Resort well before the time we could check into our room.  Even though the website said they would store luggage for us, Dawn said they were no longer supposed to do so because of liability but she made an exception for us.  We walked across the street to Tradewinds Resort and the outdoor Tiki bar on the gulf.  We got our favorite drinks--a margarita for me and a pina colada for Jim but they were no longer serving food.  So we just drank and really enjoyed sitting under the palm trees and feeling the ocean breeze.

Shortly before 4, Dawn called us and said our condo was cleaned and ready.  She showed us how to use the keyless codes to get into the condo and gave us the wifi passwords.  We unpacked and then walked to Publix to get groceries for supper and breakfast tomorrow.  It's only about a half mile walk but my back objects and I had to sit down several times.  We had a great supper--and our only decent meal of the day--of bread and cheese and fruit with best of all, Key Lime Pie for dessert.  As always Florida fruit is tasty.  I am aware of inflation when I shop for groceries in New Jersey, but prices were even higher here for many ordinary items.

It does seem that my blog centers on eating and drinking, maybe mostly drinking. But that is definitely an enjoyable part of our stay here.  We are both glad we don't have to set an alarm for tomorrow morning.  We might have rain but the view from our condo is lovely all times of day and in all kinds of weather.  

Travel Anxiety

Maybe I'll feel more relaxed if I blog about my pre-travel anxiety.  The third load of laundry is waiting to go into the dryer.  I have a long list of what needs to be packed.  I have lists of things to do today and things to do tomorrow.

For today:  Send a birthday card and money to one grandson who has a January birthday.  It's ready to be mailed.

Do all possible laundry.  Three loads is a bit much for one day!

Check with Sunrise Resort about procedure for late check-in just in case our flight is delayed.  One year after hours it was a tense time trying to use the right code for opening the lock box.  The last four digits of our phone number?  Which phone number?  My cell or Jim's cell or the landline we first used when making our reservations?  Nothing was working! I hope they respond to my email.

Take care of some personal grooming advisable when heading for warmer temperatures!  Done!  

Use up food in refrigerator.  Bacon and eggs for supper is the plan. Apples and carrots are available but not much else.

Let our downstairs neighbor know we will be gone.  We don't have John's phone number or even his last name.  If the NYT is delivered in spite of my cancellation, he should enjoy it.  If there is a power outage in Princeton, Jeff and Susan have our key and will use our place--so he should be aware that could happen if he hears footsteps above his place. 

Stuff already done:   There are enough prescription pills for two more weeks.

 Jeff and Susan have two of our plants to water.

Jim saw Eboni in the apartment office and let her know we will be gone--to save our mail, to check on our apartment, to receive a box of books from Oxford University Press because Jim's RH Charles biography is almost ready.  

For tomorrow:  Distribute medicines for two weeks in my weekly container.

Water succulents--they should be OK for two weeks.

Open doors under sinks to prevent pipes freezings (suggestion from maintenance).  Set thermostat at 65. 

Return book to library because it was a new volume;  someone else is waiting for it.

Get more cash from the PNC ATM.

Pack one carryon suitcase each with one additional personal bag. Fortunately, there is a washer and dryer in our condo unit so we can pack lightly.  But it always is a process of decisions.  Last year we needed and bought extra tee shirts there.  The year before we needed and bought warmer tops.  Will there be room for a beach towel?  We're not supposed to use their bath towels.  What shoes will we need?  Coats or jackets or sweaters?  

If I don't get an email response from the resort re check-in, I will give them a call.

Pack masks and crackers for trip.

Our plan is to take an Uber to the Newark Airport Hilton Wednesday afternoon and spend the night there so we can get to the United terminal easily Thursday morning and not worry about the availabilty of Uber at that time.  I had a free Hilton night coming so this is a good time to use it.  We've stayed there a few times when our flight from Newark to South Bend was cancelled--one time memorably on Christmas Eve a few years ago when I was supposed to play the organ for our church service.  We can take a shuttle to the airport and get breakfast there. 

We will be very happy to be in Condo 512 looking out at the beautiful bay.  We can go to Tradewinds Tiki Lounge on the gulf and get our tropical drinks and a big bowl of chili nachos to share.  And then we can begin to enjoy ourselves!

I hope my next blog is from our condo with photos of the beautiful view.  Or maybe of our toasting our successful trip with my margarita and Jim's pina colada.

-------------January 11  The FAA canceled all flights this morning due to some problem with an emergency system.  We are so glad we were not flying today!  Hope it is all settled by tomorrow morning.