Hangin' with the Ps

 

One of Nancy's and my favorite trips in recent years has been an annual trek to Florida, first to my parents' place in Zephyrhills for a few days, then on to Disney's Vero Beach Resort for a little seaside relaxation and renewal for the four of us.  The first part of the trip involves checking on the status of "my" palm tree, shown below, that my parents are keeping for me.  It's about the tallest in their park and one of my proudest possessions.

 

After confirming that all is well in the palm world, we commence with the warm ups.  This year it included a couple of "practice" happy hours and some cutthroat Mexican Train (a domino game our good friends Jan and Miguel Rodriguez introduced us to last year).  Here are a few pics from one of the more tenacious games.  The last two are of me first discovering and then trying to figure out how my mother scored exactly 42 points four turns in a row (we later discovered that she was exercising a well known and very powerful privilege called "whatever mama says goes").

Once our relationships were sufficiently damaged, we headed off for the healing vistas of the Atlantic.  Disney's Vero Resort is an ocean front complex on a barrier island in the little town of Orchid.  The resort is everything it should be.  This is the front entrance as you pull off Highway A1A. 

Here are a few pics of the five-story atrium lobby where you check-in.

 

And the pool area which has a two-story slide and a nine-hole miniature golf course around one side.

 

 

 



And the sea side of the resort which offers ocean view hotel rooms, three-story vacation home complexes and six beach-front cottages that accommodate up to 12.  This time we were in a third floor one-bedroom vacation home with attached studio and a beautiful view of the water.  The veranda of our vacation home is shown in the third pic. 

 

 

 

Just before we made this visit in mid-November, Hurricane Sandy had passed by.  Though the storm was well out to sea, the outer winds created powerful waves that wrought havoc on the beach.  Here are a few pics of Nancy, my mother and I surveying the damage from the observation deck and the shoreline.  Note how the sand was cut away from the shore in several pics, creating a new "bluff" along much of the way and burying the bottom portion of the walkway down to the beach.  In the final pics here the crew is digging out and restoring that walkway (with equipment Nancy would love to have at Wiser Times).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, the highlights of our fall trips to Vero have always been exchanging stories about the various contingents of the family (at present - Florida, Michigan, Texas, New Jersey and "missing"), observing the family happy hour traditions (the Disney Vero Resort is actually considered Wiser Times South), and playing more than a little cribbage.  Here are some shots from the most recent trip.  First a little nerve-steeling through pre-event parallel play, then lubing up for the competition, and finally - in mortal combat.

  

 

 

 

Despite the accusations of cheating at cribbage, fudging domino point counts and watering down the Manhattans (hey, I'm now living on a fixed retirement income with a reduced allowance - cut me some slack), a good - no great - time was had by all.  One of my blessings in life is that I know few people who are more fun to hang out with than my parents.  So I plan to keep on doing it - at least until I win a few more cribbage games.

 

If any of you have "hangin' with the Ps" stories of your own, I'd love to hear them.  And for the background of the Burk family history with Disney, please check my previous post entitled Disney.

 

And some great news on another previous post - Lunch Poetry.  The tradition is being renewed in January with an outing to the Mexican Town Restaurant on the 16th.  If your invitation was lost in the mail but you're interested, just let me know.  The event has given rise to the first new lunch poetry in over 10 years.  It is repeated below for your entertainment, set to the tune of Gene Autry's Back in the Saddle Again.

 

Get back with those tacos again,

Out where friends cheer up friends,

Where the working weary feeds,

And retirees tend their needs,

Back with those tacos again.

 

Dipping' those chips just once more,

Throwin' our cares on the floor,

Where we sort out every fright,

And make our mood just right,

Back with those tacos again.

 

 

 Until next time.