"When I was younger I was hard to hold, seems like I's always goin' whichever the way the wind was blowin', now that travelin' feelin' calls me again"
Last day, Saturday. Woke up at 4 am to what I thought was the above room deciding to rearrange the furniture. It was the winds moving the outdoor furniture around on their patio, I think. Either way I was up. Took some time to reflect on the past few days of a fast & furious vacation. Decided around 6ish to sneak my butt out the door and fill what was a large Cuban Coffee Queen order for the 4 of us to fuel up for the travel day. Ordered a breakfast burrito w/ chorizo for me, two Key Westers for the house to share (one w/ bacon other w/ sausage), some turmeric milks, some caramel con leches, and a cold buster smoothie. At least this morning I planned ahead and brought a backpack for the food. Made my way back with the haul and quietly did somethings around the room so everyone could sleep at least until 8, knowing it was gonna be a long day, our flight didn't leave until 4ish and we weren't scheduled to be in BOS until a little after 10pm. Everyone started to stir and get ready, check out was at 10, and we were ready to go by then for sure. We had to kinda play it all by ear as to what we would do, there was the dilemma of walking around w/ our carry on luggage.
The group headed down to Pirate Cove at the Galleon. We all grabbed a beverage and enjoyed what little time we had in the warmth and sun. While game planning the missus and I realized we never took our recreation of one of our favorite pics from right after the wedding. Us waiting at the TiKi Bar for our celebratory cocktail. So we moved the group over to have the pic recreated. And we had to include the Cannonball in one of the pics! Hung there for a bit, some shopping was done by the ladies and we headed out for lunch knowing we weren't really going to eat again for the day, let alone somewhere decent on the rest of the travel home.
Conch Republic, that's where we decided on. While browsing the menu, I saw some stuffed mushrooms on the starters page that had the ladies name all over it. We grabbed a table outside in the sun with no wind, perfect weather. Ordered the obligatory cocktails and apps. We got Stuffed Mushrooms Martinique x2, smoked fish dip (I was sad knowing it was the last time, I love it hands down) and a pound of peel & eat. After the short time and too much food, the ladies and I decided we should go light and have salads for lunch. I opted for the house salad knowing I'd put some of the peel & eat on it for protein. They both got the spinach salad w/ fresh mahi. The Cannonball went for the fresh mahi fried sandwich. No regrets from anyone. There was a dessert on the menu that mocked the ladies so they ordered it, a Hot Pineapple-Upside Down Rum Cake. The Cannonball deferred to getting his one last Key Lime Pie on a Stick from Kermit's right across the street.
Grabbed our check, procured an uber and hit the airport. Breezed through TSA, short of them questioning my clear quart bag of toiletries, but not telling me what the issue was. We made it downstairs to the departure lounge. Found some seats, plugged in our devices to the chargers and had some quiet time. Collectively you could tell we were all kinda burnt from the vacation and knowing we were headed home highlighted that. Some waters, some snacks and an hour or so of waiting led us to boarding time. We normally do Jet Blue for all our travels, but we booked American on the return leg due to different airports from out arrival. Jumped on the plane and off we went.
Smooth flight for about 45-60 mins, right after drink/snack service the weather hit. Got a bit shaky for the duration. Kudos to the pilots and crew to handle what was a rough ride to PHI. Some of the passengers had a bit of rough time with the turbulence, the crew took care of them despite the conditions. We have family and friends who are in the Airline industry and it's not always the easiest job to deal with.
Touched down in PHI for our connection to BOS. We had just enough time to hit the bathroom and me to grab a croissant for a snack. We jumped on the flight home and we pleasantly surprised to hear that due to the winds we were landing 30 mins earlier. All of us appreciated the fact it was going to be a 52 minute flight to home base. There was a little turbulence on that leg but not nearly as bad as the flight before.
Hit BOS, turned on the phone, got a text from the car service, grabbed our bags and got on the road. We started using a local car service that is amazing. The communications and service is well worth paying over trying to pay for parking in BOS or doing the bus thing out of where we live. Having used them before we knew there would be bags of snacks and tons of water. At this point is was 11ish at night. We finally hit our house around Midnight. Gave our hugs/love to Andie as she still had to head home. Walked in the door to be greeted by the Newf & Cat. Lotta love from the pets when we got home. The Cannonball gave us a quick wave and went directly to bed, long day for a 13 year old traveler. We weren't far behind and hit the pillow running.
Overall summary. Was a great trip as always. Forgot how that having a full itinerary can take up a lot of the trip, not always a bad thing, unless you have Clark Griswold expectations (that's a dig on me). Tons of smiles, laughs, and memories. Being that we live in the seacoast area of New Hampshire, getting away in January to a lush, green place is good for the soul and body. The whole trip was to celebrate The Cannonball turning 13, us going back to where it all began for us and to take a close friend on a new adventure. Looking back on it right now, I thing we achieved those 3 things. Not sure where the road leads us next as far as a large vacation like this, but I can say there's some short one's coming up and there may be some more stories to come. Thanks to all who have taken the time to read, follow and comment. And a big thanks to Carol and Eric for this board!!!
