Friday was more of an eventful day than originally intended. For starters, I missed my first flight out of Tulsa. I checked my itinerary twice before I went to bed Thursday night and my flight was scheduled to leave at 7:05 am. I got up at 4 and was out the door at 4:35. It takes an hour and fifteen minutes to get to the airport in Tulsa from Tahlequah. Factor in the walk from the parking lot and I was checking in a couple of minutes before 6 am. The automated machine was taking forever to check me in, so I had to get some help from the person at the counter. Am I the only one who hates those things? Why can I not just check in with the person behind the counter like we did in the good old days? Instead we have to check in with a computer while we listen to the attendants behind the counter talk about anything but me getting my bag checked. Turns out my itinerary was incorrect. It showed me leaving at 7:05, but my flight was supposed to land in Dallas at 7:05. Oops! Well, a few minutes and $50 later I was booked on a 7:20 flight that arrived at DFW at 8:30, which was still an hour before my flight to Orlando. Crisis averted! Then they weighed my bag and charged me the very reasonable price of $50 for having the gall to take some things with me on a vacation. 6:05 in the morning and I have already spent $100. Thank goodness for expense accounts!
The flight was fine and we landed early. I called Lauren when I landed and she was with Donna, another vacationing manager, at the Blue Mesa bar having drinks. It was now 8:35 in the morning and I was heading to the bar. Things were starting to look up! In the words of my sweet 6 year old cousin, "it was a bloody mary morning!"
The next flight was fine. We did not get to sit together, but that was really no big deal. I boarded in the last group with the girls and my seat was at the back of the plane. Their was only one seat at the back of the plane left. I was in the middle on the three seat side of the plane. I recognized the looks on the faces of the people I would be sitting next to as I walked down the aisle. You know which one I am talking about. You have an empty seat next to you on the plane and some pleasantly plump person is walking down the aisle toward you. You paste a sad smile on your face and think to yourself "please don't let them sit next to me!" Well, having thought that myself many times, I totally understand the feeling! As I sat down I looked at the people on each side of me and said "looks like we're gonna get cozy." In hindsight that may have not been the best choice of words since none of us spoke again. We flew as comfortably as you can fly while packed in like sardines in a metal tube going 250 miles per hour.
The four of us vacationing together all landed within an hour of each other. By the time Brian got to baggage claim we had already picked up our rental car. We had our choice of several cars. I really wanted the Jeep Wranger, but the metric ton of luggage we had between the four of us would not allow that. We drove off in a Ford Edge, which is actually pretty roomy.
We got to the time share and checked in. This place is super nice! We then went in search of lunch. We decided Margaritaville was the place to go. We headed down to the Universal City Walk. We sat down at Margaritaville and immediately ordered margaritas. The girls had some fruity margaritas and Brian and I had what the menu called "The Perfect Margarita." They were pretty light in color when they were delivered. The reason they were so light was that they were almost pure tequila. I think they squeezed some lime in to color things a bit, but this was hands down the strongest margarita I have ever had. If we trace back the timeline of that night, "The Perfect Margarita" would be the tipping point. We got back to the house and had a few drinks and relaxed for a while. We then decided to go to the grocery store to get snacks and breakfast food. We left with alcohol and soda, but no food. The Publix grocery store we visited was in a strip mall with several other businesses. Sakura Sushi bar was next door. I was dying to have some sushi while we were here because sushi in Oklahoma is sold at a bait store. So we all went in for dinner. Two beers each and several sushi rolls later, I was telling the waitresses that "this is the best sushi I have ever had! Seriously, the best!" I think it was time to go home.
Several drinks later at home it was time to call it a night! We got up the next morning and went to Shoney's for breakfast. Shoney's! I have not been to one since I was in elementary school! The breakfast buffet was great, but the people watching was even better. Characters were certainly welcome. You know, I sometimes wonder as I watch and privately judge people in the mall or a restaurant what they are privately judging me for? Probably awesomeness. Definitely awesomeness. I did hold myself to one plate at the buffet, so at least no one was judging me for that. And before you say it, my one plate was not piled high! It was an average buffet haul with a side bowl of grits. I had to have some grits!
Back to the house for some March Madness games! At that point my bracket was doing pretty good. After the first round I had 24 out of 32 games correct, so I was feeling pretty good about myself. Then the second round started. Not feeling so hot now! I joined an office pool within Barnes & Noble, so I could potentially win over $600 if I come in first place. At this point, I feel like I might be a bigger contender for last place. At least in last place you get your $10 buy in refunded. So I've got that going for me, which is nice.
Dana scored us some free tickets to the Astros vs. Yankees exhibition game. We headed down there for some baseball, hot dogs and beers. We were disappointed to have "standing room only" tickets, but beggars can't be choosers. We really did have a good time though. The game was good and the weather was even better. Low 70's with a breeze and no humidity. Who could ask for more. We were getting 4-6 inches of snow at home, so I was pretty happy with the current climate!
I will try to keep the blog updated with some new posts throughout the week. You have to pay for internet at the convention center. Again, thank goodness for expense accounts.
Sounds like a fun trip Cole!! Love the drinking in the morning... it's not a vacation if you don't do that!!!
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