~Thursday~ I got up at 9:30, and the first thing I realized was that I had left my bathing suit out by the hot tub. Fortunately, although surprisingly, it was still wadded up on the edge of the hot tub, in spite of guys doing some work in that area this morning.
Taking advantage of the complimentary breakfast that’s offered each day from 8:00 – 10:30, I enjoyed a bagel with cream cheese, a hard-boiled egg, a banana, some yogurt, some orange juice, and a cup of coffee. That’s my story and it’s sticking to me.
Today was Joe’s birthday, and I gave him his birthday present at breakfast, instead of waiting until later in the day, for two reasons:
- I have been “working on it” and “keeping it a secret” for almost four weeks now, and I was excited to see his reaction, and
- There was a lot of it to get started on eating!
Here’s a “fake” look of surprise that I asked for before he actually knew what was under all the wrapping:
And this is when he realized that this box was filled with candy from a tiny, little, sole-proprietorship type shop that makes homemade candy, called Adkins’ Candies, in Conneautville, a little town littler than Erie, Pennsylvania, where he grew up.
And finally, a look of genuine appreciation for the gift.
April 1, 2013
Hi Kathy,
I was wondering if you could help me get a box/package together from Adkins’ Candies for Joe’s birthday. They don’t have a website (that I can find anyway) from which to place an order, but I would actually like to buy him some things that he’s gotten from them in the past—I think your mom probably did the picking out, but I’m hoping you’ll know what he likes from there.
Let me outline [details of options were included below that I didn’t include] what I’d like to do, and then you can tell me how you can help me, if you’d be willing/able. Ideally, I would like to have a package sent to him so that it arrives on his birthday at [the guesthouse we’ll be staying at].
April 2, 2013
Good Morning John,
What a wonderful idea! Yes, yes, yes I will help. I think our only option is for me to call and place an order for you and then ship it to Florida for you. This is a small little family owned candy shop and I know that they would not do the shipping. I also know that they do not have a credit card machine so I would have to pay with cash. I told you it is small! If fact it used to be a family owned business, a mother (who was 90) and 2 daughters, but in the last few months the mother and one daughter has died. So now the one daughter is doing it all. She is only open on certain days with just a select amount of items but I know if I call and place an order, she would make whatever you want. So will do that and let you know how much it comes to… no problem.
Now the trick for me will be mailing it and having it arrive on his birthday. What day are you getting to Florida and how long are you staying? Just let me know. This is going to be a wonderful surprise for him! We will talk again soon.
Take care,
Kathy
April 2, 2013
You are a gem!
If you would mail it first class on Monday, the 22nd, I think that would work. If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, having it wrapped in birthday paper (no bow necessary) under the outside wrap would be BONUS and I’d be forever MORE grateful! (Now I’m getting demanding, eh?) 🙂
The USPS website says 2-3 days for first class, and I’ll talk to the front desk people about not giving it to him if it arrives Wednesday instead of Thursday. We’ll arrive at the guesthouse on Wednesday, 04/24, at around 2:00.
One other thing, in the address that I shared in the first email, would you put “Todd” in parentheses as a middle name on the first line? We’re going to do what’s in the PostSecret (attached, about a group of ladies who take vacation together every year, and while on vacation they each take on a fake name) and Joe’s going to be Todd the whole time we’re there, and I’m going to be Nate. 🙂
I’ll drop a check in the mail to you today! Thanks so much!!! I’m excited! xxoo
April 5, 2013
Dear Nate,
I just wanted to drop you a line and let you know that I got Todd’s gift yesterday. I will wrap it and mail it when it’s time. I think he is going to be so surprised! What a great idea……….. he’s going to LOVE IT!
Have a great day,
Gigi (I just felt the need to come up with a fake name too!) 😉
At a little after noon, Joe grabbed a couple of the resort-provided beach towels, and I grabbed an umbrella and a chair—also provided by the resort—and we headed to the beach, which was just two or so blocks away.
We spent an hour there—Joe in the sun, me under the umbrella, reading some of Merry Christmas, Alex Cross.
After that, we had lunch again at Le Marche, today sitting on their outdoor tables facing the ocean. I tried their Parisien, which was described as: butter, ham and Swiss cheese, on a baguette. It was most delicious.
Later in the evening, we caught a cab back to Wilton Manors, where we had dinner at Tee Jay Thai and Sushi. It took a while to be served, but they brought us a complimentary soup—some broth with tofu in it, essentially—which wasn’t bad, per se, but wasn’t great either. I ate less than half of it.
Joe had some kind of sushi and I had some beef stir-fry. It was good enough, but nothing to write home about, and I probably wouldn’t go back there—unless I was with a hot guy and he wanted to, of course. With that said, I didn’t at all regret eating there.
On the advice of John, who we met last night at Bill’s Filling Station, Georgie’s Alibi was the place to be tonight, and it indeed was. It was butts-to-nuts with menses up in there.
We stayed at Georgie’s the entire time, and caught a “threes” taxi home when it was time to go. They had two main taxi services serving the areas in which we traveled while there—both with an area code of 954, with one of the rest of their numbers being 777-7777 and the other being 333-3333.