For Christmas, I decided to leave New York and visit my brother and his family down in Naples, Florida. My flight left on Christmas eve, which I wasn't looking forward to. I was expecting the airport to be extremely busy. Luckily, it wasn't. In fact, it was rather empty. Maybe everyone flew out in the days before. Or, maybe that's just the nature of flying out of Syracuse. Whatever the reason, my flight left on time and landed in Fort Myers at about 4 pm.
My dad spends the winter down there, so I didn't have to worry about finding a place to stay. He rented a condo for the month. This was the view from the back. In the first picture you can see a tee box on the right.
Christmas Eve
After landing, there was enough time to head to the condo and freshen up before heading to my brother's house for a much anticipated dinner. My sister-in-law is an amazing cook and I couldn't wait to see what was on the menu for this pre-holiday feast. I wasn't disappointed.
After some warm greetings(I haven't seen my brother since our mom died three years ago), I was offered a drink. My first choice was a glass of Buffalo Trace bourbon with ice. After that, my brother made me a vodka gimlet. Before I could finish that, dinner was ready to be served. There were two side dishes, a broccoli/cheese casserole and butternut squash. Both were fantastic. For the main course, we had Cornish game hens filled with stuffing. There were twelve of us, and we each had our own bird.
As we devoured this marvelous meal, I finished my gimlet and many bottles of wine were consumed. For dessert, we had some kind of raspberry dish. It might have been a parfait. I can't really remember. 😁 I do vaguely remember having another drink with vodka in it. Because...why not?
Christmas Day
Christmas day was a little more mellow, but no less amazing. I had a couple glasses of red wine with another magnificent meal that consisted of a Caesar salad, cheesy garlic bread, baked ziti, and a simmering pot of homemade sauce with meatballs and sausage. Dessert was a Brooklyn blackout cake.
After dinner, we exchanged gifts, watched some football, and called it another successful night.
Returning Home
All in all, it was a pleasant trip. But, no good trip comes without a hitch or two. In my case, the problems arose when I attempted to return home. A massive snow storm hit the mid west the day after Christmas which created a domino effect that led to hundreds of flights being cancelled all over the country. This seemed to really effect airports in south Florida which are already very busy this time of year.
My first flight home was cancelled and my second flight was delayed for over an hour. When I finally landed in Syracuse, I was exhausted and ready to fall into a familiar bed. It's good to be home.
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and I want to wish you a happy new year! 🥳
Wherever we are, we are surrounded by nature. It's always trying to communicate with us. Take time to notice. #NoticeNature.
All gifs and images are my own unless otherwise stated.