I love Lisa’s family! I really do. Her parents are warm and welcoming and fun. And so are her sisters and brother-in-law. They make me feel like a part of the family and feed me well. Lisa’s father reminds me so much of my beloved father-in-law that it’s eerie. From his personality and mannerisms, right down to his touch of a Long Island accent, he is so similar to how I remember Dad. Or the Dad that he was before Alzheimer’s robbed him of so much of who he was. It's comfort, wistfulness and longing, all tangled up together, to have these reminders of Dad.
I drove from my hotel on Sunday afternoon, relying on Serena, my new GPS Servant, to get me to the Lisa Family Compound in one piece. It was a chilly, overcast February day (for Florida. In Chicago, this weather would be typical for May.) We celebrated all the holidays-in-one over a turkey dinner with the works, and finished it off with a homemade ice cream birthday cake.
I am enjoying my stay in this Palm Coast hotel! It’s in a brand new “hurricane” building, which means that this is the place to hide out should a Katrina-like disaster ever hit again. The walls are solid and sound-proof, which keeps everything wonderfully quiet, but makes getting cellular reception ad hoc. A sweet woman serves me breakfast every morning, made-to-order. She moved here from North Dakota after her apartment burned to the ground, destroying all her worldly possessions. She relocated to FL two years ago to be near her parents. But she doesn’t care for the consistently balmy temps and humidity. To me, a Chicagoan, consistently balmy temps and humidity sounds like a piece of Heaven!
On Monday we took the grand tour of the beautiful, historic St. Augustine. We walked along the beach and browsed shops. We engaged in a really enjoyable wine-tasting at a charming little wine shop. Lisa and I agree that The Magnun Opus of the wine-tasting medley was a cabernet-chocolate concoction. Oh, the angels will absolutely be serving this ambrosia in Heaven!
We at shrimp tacos at a Mayan restaurant, then drove to the San Sebastian Winery for a tour and participated in another wine-tasting. This made me realize how sympatico I am with this family! The tour guide was interesting and engaging, though the wines were a touch too sweet for my taste.
Our evening ended with a cocktail party at a beach side condo. The wrap-around-porch overlooked the intercoastal waterway, the ocean and pool. The view was lovely! How I’d love to host parties on that porch! (Please, God, find me a condo with a beach front view and I will host many parties for your Kingdom! I promise!) The owners are friends of Lisa’s parents, and I thoroughly enjoyed visiting with them. The woman wrote a book which is soon to be published, so we talked “writing” a bit.
Good times. Life is good here in Florida.
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