As we were boarding our plane we noticed a gentleman that was escorted off the plane because he had been celebrating a little to much and even though he promised to go to sleep they would not let him fly. Not sure how someone can be that intoxicated at 6:00 in the morning and he was not a young man either. Our flights were uneventful, thank goodness. While in Dallas we had lunch at TGI Fridays which seems to be one of those restaurants we only eat at when we are on vacation. As our hostess was walking us to our table she told this other family to have a nice Christmas and they lady smirked back that that was unlikely It made me want to try to be that much more friendly with everyone as here they were having to work on Christmas Eve and be away from their families so why should we be grumbling when it is our choice to be traveling this time of year. Amanda's comment about our flights were that they seemed much better this year. Not sure if that is because it was much shorter than flying to Europe and back or if it is because we had seats with more leg room and that our connections were just right so that we were able to eat a nice lunch in between and were neither rushed nor had a long wait for the next flight.
We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale right on time. We got our luggage and then caught the bus to the car rental center to then catch another bus to Ace Rental Car. Again things ran smoothly but it did help that Roger remembered to ask for a recent insurance card to take in case we needed it and it just so happened that this time they asked for it and if we didn't have it we would have paid quite a bit more for insurance. There was another lady at the desk who was calling back home to get someone to fax a copy of her insurance policy.
We then headed to our hotel the Best Western Plus Ft. Lauderdale Airport/Cruise Port. The room did have a little musty odor and our air conditioner wasn't the coolest but it was comfortable. It did have a refrigerator, microwave and coffee pot. I was a little worried because we were on the first floor and right across from the ice-machine but it was very quiet.We found that Amanda's suitcase lock had been messed with and we could not open it. The front desk did not have anything we could cut the lock off with but they did say that Big Lots and Dollar Tree were just across the street but as we were walking up they were closing so we jumped in the car and punched in Walmart and headed to the closest one which as we headed there didn't seem so close. I think everyone and their neighbor were at this Walmart. There was a line of people trying to get in at the one and only door that was open to also let people out....it was CRAZY! We barrel our way in when we heard they were getting ready to close. As we headed back to the auto/outdoor/tool dept. we noticed how the shelves in a lot of the areas looked completely bare. We found the wire cutter and a couple of new luggage locks and a register in the outdoor dept. that was only taking debit cards or credit cards and checked out and headed out. They had every register open which was about 20 and they had lines at all of them and as we headed out of the door there were people just standing out there not believing that the store would not let them in anymore. Of course it wasn't as easy getting out of the parking lot either. Did Christmas just sneak up on everybody or what. It looked more like Black Friday than Christmas Eve.
Of course now we were headed to Jaxson's Ice-cream parlor, which according to Amanda has become a Christmas tradition. We started with the 1 lb. Artillery Dog. This is the best tasting hot dog that I think any of us have had. Jaxon's has it made for them. I guess having this two years in a row also makes it a tradition. The three of us split it so that we have room for ice-cream.
After our tummies were overstuffed it was back to the hotel and with The Christmas story on the TV everyone quickly fell asleep.
Feeling blessed!
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