The Village Triathlon, Newlywed Thanksgiving, and Dangerous Grandmas

11.20.2009-11.28.2009: The last week has been both very busy and also very relaxing. We decided to stay longer with Grandma and Pop-pop, as Grandma has been in and out of the hospital twice in the last few days. Our days have been busy with visiting Grandma in the hospital and helping around the house, as well as with playing games and soaking up the Florida sun next to the pool.

One night we took the golf cart to pick up Chinese food for dinner, at The China Buffet. They were so nice as to put our large order of food in a big box.



On one trip to or from the hospital, we discovered a funky little restaurant - The Ramshackle Cafe. We enjoyed some tasty wings and beer, and a couple sandwiches. The walls were also covered with good advice, such as, "Don't squat with your spurs on" as well as old license plates from around the US and world.

Wednesday, 11.25.2009 goes down in history as "The Village Triathlon." We had been playing pickleball pretty much every day, and we decided to explore a few of the other games. We decided our Triathlon would consist of 3 events - pickleball, shuffleboard, and horseshoes. And the games began.

The winner of 2 out of 3 pickleball games - Katrina.

The winner of 2 games of shuffleboard - David.

With the Triathlon all tied up, horseshoes would determine the Triathlon Champion...

Katrina triumphed to win horseshoes and take the Championship title. David only cried a little, and is proud to have a wife who can kick his butt playing games.

On another trip to the hospital, we spotted a hot dog stand along the side of the road. After passing it for three days, we gave it a go and tried 4 hot dogs.

Pictured below are our deputy dogs - Katrina's standard dog and David's Fiery Chicago dog. If eating a Deputy Dog proved one thing, it is that the Wiener's Circle in Chicago is still our favorite hot dog place.

Thanksgiving Day - our first Thanksgiving together as husband and wife. As we weren't sure if Grandma would still be in the hospital, transferred to another unit, or be home, we really didn't do too much planning ahead. Our meal was planned while walking up and down the grocery aisles on Wednesday night.

Our menu: a 3 pound turkey breast, sweet potatoes, gravy, green beans, stuffed poblano peppers, applesauce, carrots, caramelized grapefruit, cranberries, and pumpkin pie. We also picked up a nice bottle of Gnarly Head Old Vine Zin wine.

Since we were not in our own kitchens (we don't have one yet!), a lot of creativity was involved in our Thanksgiving cooking - especially related to spices, baking dishes, and utensils.

We are especially proud of the pie we made in a deep dish pizza pan (we couldn't find a pie plate).

And, no dinner would be complete without Pop-pop's favorite beer - Natural Ice Light. Maybe a new tradition is born?

Although Grandma was still in the hospital, we had a really fun time cooking together and enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving meal with Pop-pop. We have so much to be thankful for.

Grandma did come home from the hospital yesterday, so David and Katrina headed out on the town to give her space to rest. We had a really fun date night, and went to Giovanni's - an Italian restaurant recommended by Grandma and Pop-pop (who are Italian) as the best in the area. And it was good! We especially enjoyed the exceptional service and fun banter with Nikki, our server.

Our next stop is a Village hot spot, and is the first place Grandma and Pop-pop took us when we first arrived in Florida at the beginning of the month. Lighthouse Point sits right on one of the many lakes here, and has live music on the weekends. This is also where we were intrigued by the very interesting shot list (which maybe we have a copy of...).

We had much fun, ordering drinks such as "Citron My Face", a "Broken Down Golf Cart" (or B.D.G.C., as the locals call it), a "Sex on the Lake", and our favorite, a "Dangerous Grandma." The best part of the Dangerous Grandma was that it was delivered to David by a dangerous grandma - who is also part of the Village Dancers. She didn't seem all that dangerous to us, but then again she had already had a couple margaritas already...

Our last day in Florida was pretty low key. We had our usual round of daily pickleball (David won this round two games to one), and packed and prepared for tomorrow's departure. Grandma and Pop-pop took us out to El Ranchito, a Mexican restaurant, which was very tasty. Even with some of the ups and downs, we have really enjoyed the chance we've had to spend time with Grandma and Pop-pop.

The has set on our time in Florida, and this young couple must head West. Next stop - New Orleans, LA.