Flying visit!

About two or three months ago, Alice told me that she would be (relatively) near me in Anna Maria Island/Bradenton and hoped we could meet.  We immediately made arrangements that she would fly down on a Sunday morning during her holiday and back on Tuesday morning.  

The plot thickens when with literally about 24 hours to go before seeing Alice, I suggested to Enid, that she look at flights and "just come".  Well, we knew she was in trouble when she saw the price of flights, there were amaaazing, no getting out of it now!

So Enid came over.  That's pretty much it tbh.  Can't polish it up more than that. Lol.  And we went to the airport to pick up Alice - dressed in the same clothes, Enid standing with Patrick and me hiding (badly) behind a pillar.  And all of us laughing hysterically.  I won't go into details but our little airport prank, while funny, failed miserably!

We packed a ton of activities in over the day and a half/two days.  Went out on the boat to check the crab traps, ate stone crab, drank prosecco while chatting in the pool, key lime pie, beach time, cocktails and lovely food.  We did it all!  And while it was too short of a time before Alice went back to her AM island we were delighted with how much we did and the time spent together.

And that left Enid and I.  What a lovely time we had.  I was going to take some time off work but in the end I just left Enid to her own devices during the day and we got together in the evening.  She went fishing one day and caught a TON which we cooked in the house one evening.  We went to Martin's for wine and tapas which was just great.  And of course Half Shell Raw Bar and Alonzos.  And during the day she did lovely things like museums and the beach.

Oh! We also met every morning before my work for a coffee and chat in Cuban Coffee Queen.  Was so nice!

The time came around too quick too for her leaving too.  But wow.  What a great time spent here.

A few small photos which capture things nicely.

A great start to the year!

 It feels like since we came back from Miami we have just been celebrating or having a lovely time - whether with friends (OUTDOORS to stay covid safe) or our own eating out or eating at home.  It is like...things were good before that trip, but they are even better now.

New Years eve:

I worked until 3pm when Patrick collected me which was a nice treat.  Easy to throw the bike in the back of the jeep when the roof is off.  Later that afternoon/early evening we had a few drinks and a bottle of bubbly (prosecco) with our neighbours out the front of our house until about 8pm. We then had takeout of awful dirty sweet fire chipotle chicken wings which were fabulous! Toasted happy new year and were in bed asleep by 10.30pm lol (I was in work next morning at 7am fyi)

Half Shell Raw Bar:

Happy hour.  We were sat at the bar for the first time in forever.  While there was a big (nice) space between us and others at the bar which was good for covid safety, it still just felt nice and almost normal.

Saturday evening in our friend's house:

Yesterday we visited with G&K for drinks and dinner. We bought a bottle of bubbly (cava) and dinner was an amazing home made in the crock pot bbq pulled pork and divine mac and cheese. We ate outdoors.

Sunday on the baby boat:

Mixed it up and went out this afternoon rather than our usual Sunday morning trip.  Caught some throwbacks - an exotic looking (and foul tasting lol!) porkfish, and a big (but not big enough) mutton snapper.  And then caught some keepers of lovely porgy (aka "Sea bream" in Ireland). And three crab legs to add to our stockpile. 

Normally Patrick pulls the one crab claw off the crabs.  (Did you know? You take one, they grow it back. You don't take two as it leaves them defenceless).  Today I took over that task. It is hard! They are TOUGH! You need to be so careful you don't have your fingers near their pincers and then you really need to push/pull with all your strength to get the arm off cleanly.

Back to work tomorrow for this lad!  But I think he will tell you himself that he had a good break, and this was a great ending to his Christmas vacation

Family visit October 2019!

I had Lydia and Mam staying with me for a week and it was a wonderful visit. I would rate them 10/10 as house guests.   Ahahahahahaa

First day they arrived Lydia and I took ourselves off fishing and it was wonderful!  Even more wonderful was coming home and cooking it on the barbecue.  That is something that I think will always be a novelty to us Irish people...cooking outdoors with regularity.

While it was an ordinary working week for me, I did decide to take a day off in the middle of the week while they were here.  How often do I have guests staying with me after all?  We had a great day - Lydee and I went snorkeling at Fort Zachary Taylor Beach and then did a guided tour of the Fort which was very interesting.  That evening we went to Trivia in Viva which we always enjoy. 

Check us out in our colour co-ordinating outfits at Trivia :)

Other than that, Mam and Lyd looked after themselves during the day while I worked and then we went out for dinner most evenings.  They hung out at the pool, did a little shopping and some sight seeing - Hemingway House was their number one stop as usual.

We had some nice food out at the likes of Half Shell Raw Bar, La Concha and El Siboneys.  It was Mam and Lyd's first time at El Siboneys and their first foray into authentic Cuban food was a complete success. 

Their last day came and because their flight was out of Miami, and I was driving them there, we decided to leave early and stop off at an outlet mall close to the airport.  We all got a few bits and pieces which was good.  I got a jumpsuit for work which is a little bit new and different for me.  We also ate a nice lunch in crackerbarrel which we always enjoy :)

Their flight went off on time thankfully, it is a long trip home back to Dublin and even further for Lyd who has to fly on to Amsterdam and then train it to The Hague.  Me, it was a long drive back home too to Key West, and I eventually got there just after midnight.  No worries!  All good!



Brunch - The Great Wood, Blanchardstown (Wetherspoons)

 I met with Enid and Alice this morning for brunch in Wetherspoons (The Great Wood) in Blanchardstown. 

 

We took a while perusing the menu.  Alice had never been before and was very impressed with all the choice and the price.  Enid and I still can't get over the cost of alcohol - particularly the premium brands like Grey Goose and Belvedere - although it was a bit too early for drinking today!

 

Enid got the large breakfast - €6.95 including a drink (tea/coffee/soft drink).  It really was Large, and she picked at it and ate half of it (leaving the carbs - the bread & hash browns etc)

 

I really liked Alice's stack of American pancakes (3) and rashers.  This came with a  drink also - Alice got coffee.  Plus she also ordered a (freshly squeezed) orange juice and it all came to €7.50 approx.

 

I got a southern fried chicken wrap with chipotle mayonnaise.  I hadn't realised it came with chips and I didn't eat any of them - I am calorie counting at the moment! Mine came to €6.25.

 

Even better than the food was our topic of conversation.  We are planning a big trip for our (big) birthdays in November 2017 so talk was all about what we were looking for in our trip to Key West in 2017!