Florida 2014

During the winter break we took our swim team to Florida for a training trip. If you read “An Exhausting Start to the New Year,” you heard about the worst part of the trip. However, most of the trip was wonderful, so here are the good parts.

We left early in the morning on New Year’s day. It was difficult to wake up so early, and our flight was delayed an hour, but once we arrived things went smoothly. First, we checked into our hotel, the Wyndham at Deerfield Beach, and then went to lunch at Bob’s pizza around the corner. Then, we had a couple of hours to hang out at the beach before our evening workout. I love the snow, but I was not complaining about spending some time here.

All of our workouts were held at the Coral Springs Aquatic Center, a state of the art swimming and diving complex. I wish we had something like this near us! In the evenings we trained in the 50 meter pool and in the mornings we swam in the 25 meter pool. I should say they, because I was coaching from the sideline. I did get one workout in Friday morning.

One evening I saw this little guy moseying about the complex. He was scavenging the trash can when all of a sudden he fell in. I was concerned that whoever went to empty the can would get a nasty surprise from an angry raccoon when they opened it. I was trying to figure out a way to get him out without getting bitten, when he opened the door and popped out. I do not think that was his first time in the can!

Our morning workouts were from 10:00-12:00, and we left at 9:00 to get there early. Every morning, Douglas and I would meet at 7:00 for a walk on the beach. Well, most of the time we would meet at 7:00. There was one day that I might have forgotten to set my alarm.

We would buy pastries and coffee and walk north for a half an hour. There we would sit and eat our breakfast before walking back. It was a glorious way to start the day.

The birds were our only companions on most days. I might have gone a little crazy taking bird pictures. I wish I could fly.

After our morning practices, we would go to lunch and then back to the beach. Typically we were free from 1:00-5:00 p.m.

After our evening workouts from 6:00-8:00 we would eat dinner and then head back to the hotel. The swimmers were checked into their rooms at 11:00. We were blessed with a particularly great group of kids this year and had no trouble with them at all. Other than Deerfield Beach and the Coral Springs Aquatic Center, we did not see much on our trip. We did have dinner in Boca Raton one evening. I forgot my camera, so the only pictures I have are from my cell phone.

We were due to leave on Sunday, January 05 at 10:00 p.m. We went to dinner in Fort Lauderdale and had some time to walk around the downtown area. The Fort Lauderdale Art Show was going on at that time. I will write more about that and what I bought in the next post, but here are some pictures of the city.

As you know if you read the post I linked to above, we were not able to leave Florida that evening. We spent that night at the Hilton at the Marina. It was a stressful night and morning, but once I found out that we would be leaving that afternoon, I was able to relax and take some pictures around the hotel. It was a beautiful place.

All ended well on our trip. I am thankful that I can now look back and remember the good parts of the time in Florida. It never hurts to spend some time in the sun!

Happy Homemaking!