A 4-day of Fun

This past 4-day Bobby and I traveled to Florida to visit my friend, Jen, before she and the kids leave to live in Germany with her husband who was recently deployed there for three years.

Jen and I have been friends since Cornerstone University, which dates back to 2000. We had an interesting relationship and became friend easily. Over the years we have kept in contact, I was her maid of honor, she was my matron of honor and here and there we have kept in contact through facebook and phone calls.

I am very excited that she and the kids get to be with Ryan but I wanted to be sure I could see her and Caelyn and meet Eli before they left. So we boarded a 6:30 flight from South Bend and made our way to Fort Myers. You've gotta love a place that has turtle crossings!

As a thank you to Bobby for going with me, I rented a 2010, Red, Ford Mustang convertible since he loves (fast) cars. While we were checking out, the manager came over and offered us a 2009 Corvette (I love Corvettes!) for only $30 more per day- an offer we couldn't pass up (hey!, we don't do this- ever, and we should have fun!). Bobby was in love! And so was I. We had so much fun driving around Florida in this beautiful car. Did you know there's a Corvette culture? Every time you see another Corvette you have to wave or else you're considered snobby.

Saturday we met Jen for a quick lunch since she was working and (as luck would have it) got a call and so we hit the hotel for a quick nap. After, we drove down to the beach and watched the sunset and had a late dinner at Sharky’s. This Key Lime Pie was homemade and the best part was the gummie shark - how cute!

Sunday we hit the beach and in the morning and later went back, and were on the hunt for shark teeth. We bought a strainer at a local store and dug around on the shore. This place is known as the shark teeth capital and we did well for a few hours on the beach. We made a haul- 50!

Monday we met Jen and the kids at the beach and spent some time playing in the sand and looking for shells. Bobby and I bought masks and snorkels the previous day and after he went out looking around I went out and saw an amazing sight: hundreds of sand dollars! I noticed these lumps of sand about 8-10 feet down and went down to check them out. After I brushed the sand off I realized what they were and they were everywhere! Bobby had missed them but he was amazed when I handed him my mask so he could see. It was beautiful.

In the afternoon, we met Jen in and the kids in Sarasota at Mote Marine, a must see if you're ever in the area. It is a research facility/lab/rehabilitation facility with a focus on education and healing so animals can be reintroduced to their habitats. They had huge turtles(!) manatees and dolphins along with hundreds of fish and examples of habitats. After she dropped the kids off we had dinner at this WONDERFUL Italian restaurant Valenti’s. I wish we would have found this our first night because it was great! The food was excellent and the Martini list was one of the best I have seen in a long time- I recommend the Creme Brulee Martini!

Tuesday it was time to leave so Jen and the kids met us at the airport for lunch and our traditional airport picture. Very bittersweet, like always I cried. I forgot that I had a card for her until after we had already gone through security- Bobby said send it to her but I just couldn't do that. I must have been a mess- eyes red and cheeks puffy from crying, nose running, and the very nice TSA guy said he would take it to her since the plane was supposed to board soon and the line for security had gotten really long. I thought it was very nice of him.

So we made it home in one piece. I didn't leave Bobby in the lost and found at any of the airports and he didn't push me out of the moving car. Win- win! It was a good trip and I actually got him to say that if Jen and the kids are still here in 6 months we could go back. Wouldn't that be fun!?! Not likely though.