How fitting that it is in the same county that Tricia and I have spent a combined total of 78-years living and working in.
We are back where it all started. It's where Tricia and I met, married and then started our fulltime RV lifestyle from. It's also where we left all our friends behind. Some of them have also relocated and over the last few days we've had the opportunity to visit with a few of them that are now scattered out over the Central Florida region.
Over the next 7-days that we are here we intend to "touch base" and "share a meal" with as many friends as we can possibly squeeze in. Wish us luck!
Then just before the parade is over we'll hop into ROVER and drive the short distance over to my 45-year long friend John's house to watch a little football. John's home state is Michigan, so we'll all be rooting for the Lions today, and with the Lions being a 9½-point favorite over the Bears it should be a fun game to watch.
If all goes as planned, the Thanksgiving meal John is preparing for us should be ready to eat during halftime. We'll be bringing desert in the form of two Walmart pies, one Apple and one Pumpkin of course, with a pint of Vanilla ice cream and Rediwhip to top them off.
Our good friend Alyse's family has celebrated Thanksgiving on Friday for the last few years, ever since her son-in-law has had to work on Thanksgiving Day. He holds the position of "Executive Chef" at a fine dining restaurant & steakhouse in Fort Lauderdale that is open for Thanksgiving Dinner.
All that means is that today's meal at his home has been "professionally prepared" and is sure to be delicious. We were fortunate to be the only 2 invited guests that weren't part of the entended family, or at least, "possible future" family.
No more home cooked Thanksgiving meals for us, instead we met at a First Watch Restaurant (Tricia's favorite) in north Broward County.
We had just enough time to head back to THE POD where I tried to take a nap in preparation of our next planned dinner with friends.
This time it was with Jess and Paul. We ended up at another one of Tricia's favorites, a Mexican restaurant named La Bamba's, which is located just around the corner from where Tricia's condo was located. Needless to say, we've eaten there many times before.
Tricia has been friends with Jess since they started working together nearly 25-years ago and Paul, her husband, has been our friend and prefered insurance agent for anything related to ROVER and THE POD. Even before hitting the road, Paul took care of our insurance needs on both of our vehicles.
After dinner we moved over to a nearby Starbucks where we could finish catching up. At 8:00PM they had to kick us out as they were closing and locking the doors for the night.
Jorge and I have been friends for over 20-years. We first met in a group called the Outdoor Adventure Klub (OAK) and after a few years thought we'd like to do things a little differently and started our own group called the WANNA DO OUTDOORS Meetup Group.
Apparently others liked what we were doing and eventually started camping, kayaking and bike riding with us. For 5-years we ran the Meetup Group together and when an employment change made it near impossible for Jorge to be available on the weekends, when most of our activities took place, we closed down the group after the Memorial Day Weekend camping trip in 2013.
Then Melissa, who we had brunch with yesterday, picked up the reins and started her own Meetup group called The Outsiders. Many of the same people who enjoyed our group made the switch over to hers. She ran her group nearly twice as long as we did and just recently handed over the reins to the next group leader.
We are having lunch today at Jorge's favorite place, the upscale Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant in Pembroke Pines. I told him as long as I don't need a jacket or tie we could go, because I don't own either and never really did. I've been assured the food will be top notch!
That doesn't mean we won't be still be visiting with friends. John, who we ate Thanksgiving Dinner with, knows of a great little Vietnamese restaurant not far from my old townhouse. It's his favorite place to go for his lunch break.
After lunch we drove by my old neighborhood and I was sad to see that my townhome community for 33-years was looking a little bit shabby, not unlike the rest of the neighborhood.
After that we drove over to the cemetery that was just around the corner where I had a short visit to my parents gravesite. Everything there looked just as I remembered it, only now more mausoleum buildings have been added.
Next up was the site of the bowling alley where I had my first paying job and where I practically grew up during my early years as an adult. It's where I met John and so many other friends, many of which are now longer with us or living in the area. On the site of where the bowling alley used to be there in nothing but a large deep furrow in the ground. I suppose it serves as a retention pond for all the rain water that used to gather in the shopping center parking lot.
Only one more place I want to see and that's my parents home. It was my home from 2nd grade until I moved out to get married in the summer of 1979. Today it's looking better than ever, whoever owns it now has really spent some money making it one of the better looking homes on the block. I was happy to see that it is being well taken care of!
Tonight for dinner we are meeting up with two women that Tricia used to work with. Sunny and Lisette, along with their husbands Bob and Tom, will be meeting us at Flanigan's in Weston for dinner. Since their husbands are also going to be there I get to come along and enjoy another dinner out on the town and not fending for myself back in THE POD.
This time we are finally going to one of my favorite places to eat. That would be 4Rivers Smokehouse, it the best BBQ you'll eat in the state of Florida. They have 27 restaurant locations, nearly all of them in Florida, and the one we went to in Coral Springs today is the only one South of Tampa Bay. Nearly half of their locations are in the Greater Orlando area where it all began back in 2009.
After lunch we drove over to Alyse's home and chatted for another few hours before heading back to THE POD.
Yesterday morning while Tricia was preparing to take her early morning walk she saw a woman enter the laundry building located a short distance behind our campsite. A few minutes later as she was starting her walk she happened to glance inside the building and saw a familiar face.
There are four other Airstreams among the 86-campsites here in the park and one of them belong to friends of ours that we've met since starting our travels (they are both members of this blog).
Linda and David began their fulltime Airstream travels about 2-years after we did. They lived in a condo located less than ¼-mile from Tricia's and were part of the same Homeowners Association. What a small world!
We've met Linda and David several times before and always at an Airstream Rally, whether it's in Forida or Wyoming (2023).
They are here in Broward County doing the same thing we're doing, visiting with family, friends and doctors.
Last night when we returned to THE POD we then walked down to their campsite and sat outside chatting for about an hour before it got late and started getting chilly (55°F). We both are packing up to leave in the morning and will be heading in the same direction up I-75.
Later this month we'll be seeing them again at the Canopener Rally in North Florida. It will be our fourth time attending this event and we have plans to attend several more in the coming years.
After a week here in Broward County I've enjoyed visiting with all the good friends we left behind when we started to travel, but I'm not enjoying all the heavy traffic and crowded restaurants.
After driving just over 300-miles this week, all without ever leaving the county, one thing I don't remember are all the aggressive drivers we encountered on the roads. Gone are the days of putting on your turn signal to show your intention to change lanes and having the person back off a little to create a space for you to move into.
As happy as I am we planned this visit back home, I'm just as glad that our time here is over and we'll be returning to our less hectic life on the road. For the next two years we'll be spending our time out West, so our next visit to South Florida won't be until early in 2027.
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