We departed on Friday morning, thus having an extra day off! My boss said "No, no, I'm cool with this..." when I asked him to sign the paperwork for the vacation day, so it ended up being a free day off! Woo hoo!!!
The flights went as planned. We connected in Atlanta and were in Orlando by 1pm. We picked up the rental car and headed straight for the beach.
We were met by torrential downpours. Rainy season. Drat. Who knew?
We grabbed lunch at a diner right near the beach, where we were told "Don't even try to go to the beach. It's gon' rain for in en hourrr', fer an hourrr." The waitstaff were overly friendly. D said "Why do you think they're so friendly? What do they want from us?" I said "I think they're just friendly. Scary, huh?"
We decided to ignore their warnings and headed to the beach.
There were a few people there.
D frolicked in the ocean while I attempted to sleep.
While attempting to sleep, I overheard a girl near me say the following:
"You know, well, they called me into HR." When asked why she continued "Well, you know, you know how when you're at work you touch people on the butt? Yeah, well, you know how it is. So I go in there and I'm like 'Look, the person who you should be talking to is not me, it's that girl. I mean, you know, the one who has a problem with this. She is the one with the issues. You know. She's a mess.'"
I got some decent sleep.
I also took some photos, including this one which was, I swear, an accident.
I sat on the beach for a while, not swimming because it was actually quite cold out. D came out of the water right before it started to pour. We leisurely walked back to the car (is there anything better than being in a rain storm while wearing a bathing suit?) and headed to his folks' house.
They were happy to see D. We freshened up post-beach, chatted with the parents for a bit, and then headed out for a date. I'd said "Dude, I really want to find the cheesiest restaurant possible and eat at it. You know. People in costumes, animatronics, ultimate tourist trap type of place. I want drinks with cute names and a dinner show." We unfortunately missed the pirate dinner show and all other dinner shows because we didn't make a plan, so we drove around randomly looking for something after D's parents said "All of the restaurants around here are cheesy."
What they did not tell us was that all of the restaurants around there were bad. Bad bad bad. We ended up at a Mexican restaurant with the worst food imagineable. It was a quiet date. D seemed a little moody. He is different around his family. I tried to be light and happy, but I am different around his family as well. Feeling invisible will do that to a person.
We headed back to his parents' house, where they were waiting up for us to make sure we got into the garage ok with the code. They talked for a bit, while I remained quiet because of sangria and invisibility. I also really wanted a cold glass of water, but D's parents are adorable in that both of them have teeth that are hypersensitive to cold. They keep their Brita at room temperature, and there is literally no ice in the house. At all. His father even goes so far as to microwave apple juice that's been stored in the refrigerator prior to his drinking it.
The following morning we got a late start - D got up well before me and disappeared. I felt awkward and didn't want to just appear, so stayed in bed. He got coerced into doing yardwork. I was slightly cross because there was all of this urgency to "get to the beach before the rain - get UP - HURRY UP!" when he returned after the initial disappearing, and then I waited around for a couple of hours. This delay, however, gave me time to watch the news.
I hadn't seen any live footage of the hurricane up until that point. I'd read plenty and listened to the radio, but I hadn't seen a moving image since I do not have TV.
I cried a bit and compiled the statistics and became annoyed and distressed and angry and devastated and decided, instead, to read the paper.
D, finished with yardwork, organized a cooler of goodies for us and we hit the road about half an hour later.
And, of course, we hit torrential downpours on our way to the beach.
We went to the beach anyway, and again, nobody on it. Bliss! It was sunny by the time we arrived. I applied sunscreen and lied down in just enough time for it to start raining. It only rained for a few seconds. I feel asleep.
And then I woke up. And fell asleep again. And then it rained. And I fell asleep as it was raining. And then I woke up and D was gone and I thought "What if he never comes back? I am fucked," and then fell asleep while cold rain droplets hit my burning skin.
Bliss, folks, bliss.
D woke me up eventually and said "Come frolick!" I rain into the ocean, which was warmer than the air. Heaven! The waves were intense, and every time one hit the beach, I could feel the sand under my toes being dragged away by the current and I felt like I was floating and would fall and then be sucked under.
I frolicked for about three seconds before I decided that the current was freaking me out and that the waves being taller than me was unsettling, so I ran onto the beach and wrote "Leah Lar Hearts D" with my toes. D added "4-EVER" and then it, of course, started to pour, erasing out artwork.
We quickly gathered up the food and camera and glasses and ran to the car.
We were soaked. We decided to find a movie theater. We found one, but the movie times were not good. D wanted to eat at Steak and Shake, where the service was bad but the salad dressing was delicious.
We headed back to D's parents' house, where D engaged in further yardwork while I watched the news for about three minutes, thought better of it, and instead watched Alive on The History Channel.
D returned and instantly fell asleep on the living room floor. I decided that I too would take a nap, so went to our room and fell asleep within two seconds.
Naps galore, folks. Does life get any better?
D's mother made manicotti for dinner. We ate and drank champagne and I said little other than "This is so good."
After dinner, we played cards with the parents. D's father cheated. I knew he was cheating and tried to explain this, but neither D nor I are assertive enough. His father wasn't doing it on purpose. He didn't know. He hasn't enough experience with cards. He slaughtered all of us, but he cheated! I love his father, though, so I'll let it go.
D wanted to play scrabble, but I wanted to read. My goals for the trip were Beach, Books, and Naps. I needed some Book time, and needed some time away from The D Show.
Plus, I imagine D's mother wanted some time alone with her son.
The following day, I read more in the morning because D, again, disappeared.
We then went to a pizza buffet. All-you-can-eat pizza, breadsticks, salad, and dessert for $3.99!!!!
We headed back to his parents' house. D mowed the lawn while I sat with his parents, reading, while they said nothing as they read the newspaper.
I finished Atonement by Ian McKewen and started Less than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis.
Finishing a good book, like Atonement, is like amazing sex. The buildup is blissful, you want it to go on forever, and when it does end, YEAH! And then the exhaustion sets in.
Terrible books like Less Than Zero just make you feel dirty.
When D returned from mowing the lawn, The D Show was on again and his parents perked up, got chatty, put out food.
We socialized for a bit and were then off to the airport.
We got on an earlier flight than that scheduled, and this one was direct! We had lofty expectations for all of our bonus time in NYC, but of course we ended up just falling asleep.
On Monday I saw Century of the Self Parts 1 and 2, which were both letdowns. This was good, though, because now there is no pressure to see parts 3 and 4.
After the movie, we walked around the city and enjoyed the lack of people. If New York was always as barren as it was on Labor Day, I'd be a much happier person. We walked around the Bowery in search of a floor lamp for D's grownup apartment, did some other shopping, took a nap, read, went out on a date for dinner, and then watched Kontroll back at my apartment. I think I liked it but I feel stupid because I don't think I get it.
And that, folks, was the Long Weekend.
Wish I could say that I still feel rested and unwound. Oh well. Hopefully sleep will be had this weekend.
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