Christmas in FL: 12.23.2011 - 12.27.2011

Friday, 12.23.2011
D and I are fortunate that our employer gives us two days off for Christmas. As Christmas came on a weekend, that meant four consecutive days off, a stretch which made a trip to Florida possible. Although the sun was shining when we left home, it rained all throughout our drive in Georgia. Once we crossed into Florida it cleared up and we had bright sun - in fact it was in the low eighties. Nice!

Mom had some wassail on the stove when we arrived, which I just love. That is the smell of Christmas to me.


We had dinner at Longhorn and then drove around several neighborhoods looking at Christmas lights. We saw countless Santas and a good number of nativities. The most unique thing I saw was a palm tree with a snow machine attached!


How does the song go? If you want to be happy in a million ways, for the holidays you can't beat home sweet home... And that's so true. It was so nice to be in MLB.

Saturday, 12.24.2011
Early in the morning, before the dew was even off the ground, we all walked up to Publix to get a few last minute ingredients for our holiday meals. Yes, we could have taken the car, but time to finish my yearly walking goal was running out and Mom and D didn't mind the exercise either. It was a nice way to start the day.

The last time D and I were in FL, we commemorated our 15 years of matrimony by purchasing a plank for the Turkey Creek Sanctuary boardwalk. Unfortunately it takes some time for them to have the board engraved and installed, so we weren't able to see our plank before we had to leave. I was really excited about returning to Turkey Creek and hunting it down.

Love this signage.

We had requested that they install our plank near the "treehouse" overlook, which is my personal favorite and the lady who took our money said they would try to accommodate us. And they did! D found our plank just in front of the path to the treehouse.


After Turkey Creek, Mom and D agreed to lunch at M*A*S*H Hoagies, a sentimental favorite of mine. I grew up on their tuna & cheese and it's still my favorite sub.

D's family has a Christmas Eve tradition of soup for dinner. Even though we weren't with them, we thought it would be nice to share it with Mom. I made a Tuscan chicken soup using a recipe from my birthday buddy, DF.

Mom decided she wanted to "do Christmas" after dinner, and she didn't get any complaints from us! After all, D and I had exchanged gifts before we left home.

Loved Mom's palm tree/Christmas tree. It was perfect for my FL Christmas!


And an attempt at an artsy self-portrait. This is what D and Mom saw for most of our trip - I took so many pictures!
When Mom sent us her Christmas wishlist, we noticed a cooking theme. So we got her a (purple!) cutting board and a (purple!) chef's knife with its own sheath. I also lucked out in finding an autographed copy of the Dean Bros. cookbook. That was so exciting!


More on my personal gifts later... of course, my biggest gift was being with Mom for the holiday!

Sunday 12.25.2011
We decided that as Christmas only falls on Sunday every few years that we would attend Sunday service instead of a Christmas Eve service. The Church At Viera has moved locations since I had last attended. It was nice to see Pastor Mark and his family again. They lead us in worship in a beautiful low-key, heartfelt style.




After the service, we donned our aprons and began preparations for the feast! D was able to make some calls to his family in Sweden and back in SC and then it was time for him to carve the ham.



We had an interesting assortment of sides: purple potatoes, peas, pickled peaches, cranberry relish & jellied cranberry sauce and rolls. Mom also picked fresh mint from her patio garden for our tea - fancy! For dessert she spoiled me with my favorite pie - cherry, a la mode. There are no pictures of the pie because I gobbled it down too fast...


To make up for sitting in Baby's favorite chair, Mom took her outside to scratch on a palm tree. It was something to see!


And then we decided that we needed some fresh air too. There's just something about walking on the beach on Christmas day. It was beautiful weather.


Mom found this huge shell and gifted it to me. I took it to work as a paperweight so that during the tough days I would have a reminder of our time together to brighten me up.


As it was too warm for snow, we made a sandman. I like the jaunty seagull feather in his cap, but D's sunglasses really make it work.


Later we watched way too many Iron Chef reruns on Food Network, but that show is so much fun! It was a nice, relaxing day.

Monday 12.26.2011
Mom was eager to embrace a tradition D and I started ourselves - the waffle-breakfast! I love traditions, it just concerns me that so many of them revolve around food.


I made made real whipped cream and put it in the fridge while the rest of the waffles baked. Something struck me funny as I placed it next to the Cool Whip tub...

Mom remembered I eat waffles with bananas and had some at the ready. It was so good. And that's why there are no pictures of the plated waffles - I was too busy gobbling them down while they were warm.

After breakfast we headed off to the movie theater. I knew War Horse had gotten a lot of buzz, but I never expected the place to be packed at 10AM!



My favorite part of the movie was when Mom thought I was emotional and patted my arm. I was emotional - the person behind me was kicking my seat! But I love that she was there to 'comfort' me.

I happened to notice that the cinema complex had a Ben & Jerry's store. I just had to have me some Chocolate Therapy, it's a store-only flavor. And now I know why they don't truck it out to grocery stores all over the USA - there would be riots in the street, it's that good!


Now I had consumed waffles for breakfast and ice cream for lunch. Talk about holiday pounds! It was time to walk! Fortunately one of Mom's friends provided free passes to the Brevard Zoo - a really kind and thoughtful gesture. We had not been to the zoo since 1993 or 1994. It has grown and improved so much.

Rhinos!

These Cheetahs stalked and ran down a squirrel who had gone for cover into the bush and then 'shared' it together in front of an audience. Wild America at its finest!

We found Santa's reindeer, resting after their big Christmas run! Actually these are Impalas.


But the zoo does have deer...

And kangaroos. Although none of them were hopping around.


My favorite exhibit, bar none, was the giraffe paddock. I loved seeing the different patterns on their fur. i can't believe we could get so close to them!


D scrounged up four quarters and bought me a giraffe cracker.


Down the hatch!


I didn't take pictures of the alligators or crocodiles or the monkeys. But their exhibit areas were exciting because the ziplines passed overhead. One of these days I'll have to try that! I was impressed by the zoo's collection of birds. So colorful!


We didn't have any nectar for this conure, but he got close to us anyway.


This little guy loved D's shoelaces!


Always love me some flamingos!

The hawks and eagles were so noble.



I was just starstruck by this owl. He was simply gorgeous. I couldn't get a good picture of him in his house but that was okay because his keeper noticed my attraction and got him out just for me. I know they're nocturnal and I felt a little bad about interrupting his sleep, but he was so pretty. I had to hold my own hands to keep from reaching out to touch his feathers.



In the gift shop we found a sign with my moniker on it. I hadn't planned on having anything but pictures but we all agreed the sign had to come home with me. It's perfect!


Just as we were leaving it began to rain. Fantastic timing. I was beginning to nurse a headache so I laid down for a while on the couch and watched more Food Network. I was feeling much better by the time the topic of grilled ham and cheese sandwiches came up. Nothing is as comforting as holiday leftovers.

Tuesday 12.27.2011
Mom made sure we were fortified for our return trip by fixing us breakfast - ham biscuits! It was wet as we left MLB but I enjoyed the driving. Enough so that I did not relinquish the wheel to D when we got to JAX. I was pleased by how not-stressful it was for once. They've made a lot of strides with the construction. Now you can pretty much stay in the center lane all the way through.

We did stop eventually to stretch and rest and switch off. We noticed a place called Houlihans, and as I had dragged D to M*A*S*H Hoagies, it was only fitting that we went in. We split the 72 Burger, which had a fried, cheese-stuffed portobello on it - a twist on the 'ol mushroom & swiss burger. It was tasty but our service was terrible. We blame the holidays.