He came over Friday night, then we got an early start Saturday morning and headed south toward Dania Beach and James's new car. He says it's "our" new car, but that's hard for me to say, since I'm not paying for it. It's easy for me to share things I buy, but hard for me to accept things others buy as "mine." Or "ours." But, this time, I'll make an exception. :) The car is sweet, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Maybe the highlight of the trip for me (or one of many) was a stop along the way in Palm Beach, where I was born and where my grammy and grampa lived forever. It's been over 20 years since I've been to the condo community, but after a wrong turn, we easily found it. I'd visited maybe a million times since I was a baby, and even though the area had grown into a concrete jungle, honing in on a place of fond memories was like finding my way home.
The complex itself remarkably looks almost exactly the same as I remembered it as a child.
The community is an "over 50" community, and I was a literal-minded child. Sometimes I had a little trepidation if I wandered the property alone, fearing someone would ask me what I was doing there, being under 50 and all. I never considered that grandchildren were probably a common sight.
As we turned into the parking lot, James pulled into the same spot I used to park when I visited with my own car. There was a pickup truck in the spot my grandfather had parked his always new Lincolns or Buicks.
It was fun pointing out all the sweet memories I'd experienced here that helped to shape my life. Like the little area outside where we searched for Easter eggs on many Easter Sundays.
Then we walked to their condo, number 110, which was on the ground floor, on the end.
Memories about that door came flooding back. There is another door next to it--the door into the kitchen. We never used this door--to the hallway. But once we came in through the kitchen, the first thing we had to do was take off our shoes and put them by this door.
This is the window where whenever we left, my grandparents would go and wave to us for what seemed like five minutes. I always had a hard time saying goodbye, so I would wave and wave. Lol. I didn't remember the awning, but it must've always been there, because you can see it in the picture of me and my brother above.
The rear side of the condo was where they had a screened lanai, and I remember waking up early to wait for the bunnies that would come out in the early morning sun. My grandmother would give me a carrot and I'd tiptoe as close as I could get, sit down, offer the carrot, then wait until the bunny would hop tentatively up to eat the carrot from my hand.
This is the dock where we used to throw bread to the ducks and ducklings.
And the lake my grandmother and grandfather would take me for a walk every day. My brothers didn't like those walks, so they never went, but I loved them.
And of course, the pool. There was always a pool.
After our stop on Memory Lane, James and I continued to Dania Beach, where he picked up his custom built, brand spankin' new Tesla.
It's an amazing car, and FAST. James was like a kid in a candy store, and I loved seeing the excitement on his face.
I was shocked and honored that he let me drive it home!
He's already bought matte black rims and a spoiler, which he'll put on this weekend. He's also going to get the windows tinted.
The computer is really cool, and we got to name the car. It's A'Viking, as in "Let's go a'viking!"
We found a hotel, then set out to sightsee a little. We took a short walk on the beach...
I loved the contrast of the blues and green of the crystal clear water...
Then we went to an indoor go cart place and was surprised to see it was like a little pro track. If you've seen professional go cart racing, this was on a slightly smaller scale, but these go carts still went amazingly fast, and the crashes could be pretty intense.
We raced three times, and the first time (well, every time, but mostly the first time), I was too aggressive. I didn't see the sign that said they would limit aggressive drivers. And didn't see the sign that said we were racing for time, not position. James beat me by less than a second, because he was very consistent and steady and didn't get caught up in trying to pass everyone else. On that race, he came in 5th and I came in 6th.
So, on my second race, they limited my car for the first seven (out of 14) laps. It frustrated me, because I had seen the sign by then and knew how to modify my driving. Lol. But I still came in third out of 9 or 10 drivers, and most of those guys looked like they lived there. James came in 5th again.
The third race we were on a different, easier track. There were a lot of people in this race who had never raced before. James was in the first car, so he took off while I was stuck in the herd of slower drivers, and two of them wrecked right in front of me going into a turn (I managed to avoid collision) which made the "referees" stop the race cold. So James won that one easily, and I came in second.
After that workout (we were both red faced and covered in sweat), we went to Dave and Busters to eat, have a drink, and play basketball. James was immediately captivated by the Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots we encountered upon entering the arcade.
We played the timed basketball thing, and I won every game (except for one where we tied). I think James just had an off night, because we are usually very close in our scores. Then we saw the thing where you throw the ball at the clowns and try to knock them over. I tried once, and I don't think I hit a single one. Then James did it, and knocked a lot down by just launching these power throws like I don't even know how to describe it. Fast and powerful.
That made me want to try harder, and on my next game I emulated him, and beat his score. Then we played a few more, trading wins. He then got an amazing score of 240, and I knew that would be really hard to beat, but I wanted to try. I failed miserably the first few tries, but then I got a 210. If I had hit one more, I would've tied him. So I had to try one more time, but when I put the card in, we'd run out of credits, so I was forced to concede clown baseball to him.
Anyway, after all the go cart racing and ball throwing, my arms are sore today. Lol. And now it's time to be an adult again and get ready for work.
What a great weekend, though...it was filled with fun and happiness. And Joe was going to go with us, but he went to Disney with his friends. His friend's dad is an "Imagineer" at Disney and they got a VIP sneak peek at a new part of the park that's not yet open to the public. So he had a great weekend, too!
Nice ride!