TxTeach79's Ringing in '24 LIVE - Celebration NYE!

[cml4958]

5 hours ago, TxTeach79 said:

It’s 35 degrees out, so we’re gonna wait comfortably in the lobby of B’s building.
 

 

Me being inquisitive here (sounds much better than nosy) I thought ya'll lived together?

[MeganGC1983]

14 hours ago, TxTeach79 said:

Side note on something I’m hoping doesn’t really affect me on this trip… years ago, as in the mid 90’s about 27 years back…. I had a bit of an accident in high school. Long story short, I was the host of our homecoming talent show and in our first full dress rehearsal the Jazz band went about a minute long getting off the stage and I ended up falling twenty feet into the orchestra pit in the darkness. About 17 surgical procedures and a lot of broken bones later, I look different but I’m thankfully completely fine- the only real lasting reminder is that I got dental implants for my two front teeth, and the bone and gum damage was so severe in that area that one of them failed about three years later. Soooo, I basically have to wear a “flipper,” or a retainer with a tooth on it. I like to pretend I’m a retired hockey player every now and then, and honestly I’ve become so used to it over the years that it’s not really an issue. 
 

I bring this up because in the last few days, the existing “good” implant has started to nag at me. It looks normal, it’s completely snug, but it just feels in my mouth like it may have shifted or something. And most importantly, it hurts when I bite stuff a certain way. Day to day, it’s not really an issue. It doesn’t hurt just walking about, my flipper still fits perfectly, it all looks the same; but you know how when something is in your mouth like a cut or burn or whatever it becomes just something you constantly feel and are aware of? It’s that right now. Not urgent enough to rush to a periodontist or anything, but I wanted to mention it because it is driving me slightly nuts and may affect some of my food choices along this journey….. hopefully all is well and the vacation mindset kicks in and overrules it all, but I wanted to get it on the record if I order weird or decide to get grumpy about it along the way. 🤷🏻‍♂️

I just had a flashback to a guy I went on a date with from Aledo. He would tell a joke and pop his flapper down as sort of the exclamation point to his joke. That was interesting. 

[canes20]

3 minutes ago, MeganGC1983 said:

I just had a flashback to a guy I went on a date with from Aledo. He would tell a joke and pop his flapper down as sort of the exclamation point to his joke. That was interesting. 

[LouChamp]

3 hours ago, TxTeach79 said:

Approach over the Everglades. The first place I lived in Florida was a town called Weston, a Broward County suburb basically carved right out of the Glades. It was cool knowing a guy with an airboat, I’ll tell ya that much. The golf course gators were unsettling at first, but they didn’t mess with you, they just wanted to lie in the sun and chill…. A lot like Me, tbh

 

Aloha.  Know Weston well. We had a condo in Tamarac before I learned better and moved to Honolulu lol. Not an insult to Florida it’s just that I wanted something really different.

[luvcruzing]

59 minutes ago, MeganGC1983 said:

a guy I went on a date with from Aledo

Makes sense to me.

[Roscoe13]

8 hours ago, TxTeach79 said:

Travel day insomnia…. a tradition unlike any other 

 

OK, OK, I give...there's no way I can read anymore of your live without it being in Jim Nance's voice!!

 

Well done, well done...insert golf clap here...

[Roscoe13]

5 hours ago, HelloItsMeB said:

Ta-da!

Very sharp, excellent resonance and energy...9.5 rating.  A perfect ten if any of them included the whale tail...

[canes20]

1 hour ago, Roscoe13 said:

OK, OK, I give...there's no way I can read anymore of your live without it being in Jim Nance's voice!!

 

Well done, well done...insert golf clap here...

 

[Stallion]

I'm begining to wonder what happened to the Star of the Show-hasn't posted in 3 hours - must be taking a nap-but we haven't even checked in yet. Are we there yet Dad? We need to be entertained!!!

 

 

Edited December 30, 2023 by Stallion

[TrqoisWtrs]

7 hours ago, TxTeach79 said:

The guy next to me going full double chili cheeseburger at 5:40a is a true warrior

Anything goes for breakfast on that first day of travel...my go to at the airport is a double Chardonnay and an Egg McMuffin.😜

[MeganGC1983]

@Stallion do you think @TxTeach79 & @HelloItsMeB were hijacked?! Kidnapped? Cruisnapped?! 

[TxTeach79]

[TxTeach79]

We’ve been gallivanting around Miami and I’ve mostly been driving…. Just ate an amazing late lunch and I’ll catch back up with the party shortly…

[MeganGC1983]

He’s aliveee! 

[canes20]

6 minutes ago, TxTeach79 said:

 

[TxTeach79]

Getting our bags was a snap. FLL was packed, but everything was moving quickly…

 

 

I joined the Hertz Gold club thingy just for this reservation… and if you’re like me and don’t rent cars very much, it’s super worth it because you can skip the big line with everyone in it and just go off to this one at the side that had almost no wait…

 

[TxTeach79]

Grabbed a little Honda SUV and got a move on. At this point it’s only around 11, so we probably aren’t gonna be able to check into our hotel even though we’re stinkin exhausted after last night’s insomnia 

 

 

 

[TxTeach79]

Drove up 95 to the Oakland Park exit, then down Andrews to find the house I rented here back in ‘04-06 or so. The neighborhood looks really nice, but my house has really not been kept up too well. I rode out Wilma and Katrina in this sucker!

 

 

the old deli I used to frequent is closed, but a bagel shop is coming soon…

 

Edited December 30, 2023 by TxTeach79

[TxTeach79]

a windows down roll down Ft. Lauderdale Beach and through Las Olas…

 

 

I swear, my shuffle has GPS suggested tunes on…

 

[TxTeach79]

Made it to the hotel around 12:30 after a little drive. We’re exhausted, but I saw the lounge area full of people with luggage and assumed correctly rooms wouldn’t be ready. They weren’t, but the girl working the desk was super nice, checked us in, and said she’d call if anything opened before check in at 3. All we’d need to do is show ID and grab our key. It’s a nice place, new, right by the airport, kind of a modern industrial vibe. The pricing here is a really a steal for what it is and what other places charge. 
 

 

 

 

[TxTeach79]

At this point, we decided to head back out and just do a sweeping tour of some of the sights. I didn’t get pics since I was driving, but it was good to sit back and soak it in. Went through a Little Havana, Coral Gables (where my dad lived when he immigrated from Cuba in 1960), Coconut Grove and the Mayfair House Hotel (my favorite), etc… 

 

[TxTeach79]

Then, we decided we were pretty darn hungry, so we went to our trusty travel default of Triple D joints, and headed back to Little Havana for lunch at Doce Provisions…

 

 

 

 

 

found street parking just across the way, and then we chose to sit out in their little tropical garden patio out back, which was super pretty and which you would never guess existed behind the tiny storefront. 

[TxTeach79]

We started with the goat cheese croquettes on a guava “nest”…. Out-friggin-standing. 

 

 

 

For our entree, we both went with the ropa vieja. I’ve had my share of Cuban food in my life, and this was up there. 
 

[TxTeach79]

Total cost for both of us with drinks was $64, which felt very reasonable for what we got. Back out of the garden, to our rented chariot, and back to the Radisson Red to grab our room, as it was now past 3!

 

 

 

[TxTeach79]

The same young lady from earlier was there, remembered we, and we got our keys right away…

 

 

just off the check in area is a little market and bar…

 

 

 

time to head to the room!