A post in which I am 43

I woke up this morning to a birthday card from Mama. We milled around for a bit before loading the car. We had agreed last night to take it easy and not try to leave at the crack of dawn – this is supposed to be relaxing time. She eventually got everything rounded up, and I eventually got it all packed in the car, and then we headed for breakfast at the Cracker Barrel. Mom loves that place, and although much of the allure continues to elude me we had a good breakfast. I drove down, getting happy birthday texts from friends, and a special birthday call from dana.

We decided to get to the hotel before going to lunch, and made it down by about 2pm. After checking in and taking the bags up, we set out in search of a Greek salad. Longings for feta cheese and vinaigrette were destined to be unrewarded, however. We were unable to readily find a Greek restaurant, and settled for Friendly’s instead. It was close, and by that point we were really hungry. I had a very good tuna melt and a (non-Greek) salad.

After lunch we went back to the hotel to unpack and hit the beach for a while. Mom read and rested while I body surfed for a while. The water was very warm and gentle, and I very much enjoyed my swim.

We decided on Italian for dinner. It was my birthday dinner, and we eventually settled on a place called Rossi’s. It was a swank place, and they waited on us hand and foot, but didn't look down their noses at us for being dressed in vacation clothes. I was in shorts. The salads were excellent, with an in-house creamy Italian parmesan dressing that had to be tasted to be believed, accompanied by homemade piping hot garlic bread. I think my entree was better than Mom’s, but mine was excellent; perfectly cooked Grouper in a lemon/butter/caper sauce that was out of this world. The waiter was very nice, and topped off the meal by bringing me a tiramisu (my favorite dessert) with a candle in it – and no shrieking waiters. It was the best tiramisu I have ever eaten. What a meal!

On the way back, we hit a beach store or two, and a drug store to get stuff we had forgotten, or just odds and ends we needed to pick up. Then went back to the room and sat on the balcony to watch the waves for a while.

If you have to turn 43, this was a pretty damn good way to do it I have to say.