Home away from home

 The Coach and I took a little trip this month, something we don't do too often. But it was my birthday weekend, and I only wanted one thing -- a hug from my baby girl.

You see, it has been way too long since I've been able to wrap my arms around my daughter, who had the nerve to pack up her life and move all the way to Florida back in October. She and her new husband picked up and moved to live with his grandparents, who have a nice big house with a nice big yard. Since then, they've both gotten nice, well-paying jobs and are working on building a little nest egg for their future.

I'm happy for them, really. No, really. But my mama's heart was hurting. I needed to see her, to hug her. And she was pretty excited to show us her new home away from home.

So we packed up the car and even took the dog for the eight-hour drive to Crystal River, Florida.

It's a lovely little town in the middle part of Florida where the waters are sort of the color of my pool when I'm fighting the algae. But pretty! And it's where hundreds of manatees gather in the winter to chill -- literally. The water is 72 degrees. Always. 

Needless to say, there's lots to do around there, and well, our kid made sure we did a lot of it.

We arrived Friday night just in time to enjoy a nice steak dinner at a place called Cody's. No first-timer, Lora ordered a BAM -- Big Ass Margarita. But really, it was a rum punch that called itself a Margarita that was served in a big martini glass. We got two straws.

The next day, they decided to take us hiking. Sort of. First we stopped at this HUGE flea market that reminded me of The Grove at Ole Miss. There were tents and people selling just about everything you could imagine -- including puppies and kittens. From there we went to the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park, a multi-acre sanctuary for endangered and, in some cases, injured animals. We walked three miles around the lovely bluegreen spring and saw a couple of manatees, some vultures, flamingoes, panthers, owls, gators and even a black bear.

It was rather warm, though, so after our exercise, we headed over to a waterfront restaurant called Crackers. There I ordered a real margarita -- a Three Sisters Margarita -- that kind of had me three sheets to the wind by the time I finished it on an empty stomach. Luckily, the fried shrimp and hush puppies soaked that right up. There was a musical ensemble playing music not too badly, but they did not know and could not fake "When I'm 64" by the Beatles on my birthday eve. 

Sunday was my actual birthday and Lora the Librarian had to work at the Floral City Strawberry Festival. This was no little country fair. This thing was huge with many craft vendors selling their wares, multiple food and drink stations and live music. We had to make another hike, a little shorter this time, to get to the Library's tent, where Lora was giving cute story walks during which she had to pretend to walk like a bear. (It was soooo cute!)

We sat under the trees and ate kettle corn and snow cones and I, of course, had an official Strawberry Short Cake for my birthday.

Dinner that night was at a place called Swampy's, a "Cajun/New Orleans" style restaurant on the Rainbow River. We couldn't see the river or a rainbow because it was dark, but we did hear, then see a few rather large alligators swimming in the water not far from us. Then, Gavin probably saved the life of a tourist who had kayaked to the restaurant and was trying to get back in it after having a few beers. It was dark. The bank was sloped and he had not seen the alligators swim by. Gavin made sure he at least got back in his boat. As for the food, well, the chef should take a weekend trip to New Orleans.

If you know you know that March the 9th is a bad luck day in our family. Bad things happen. Deaths happen. We all try not to travel far or schedule elective surgeries on this day. But we took a short trip to Wiki Wachee Springs to see the mermaids!

I had always wanted to go, ever since I was given a wanna-be mermaid as a child. For most of her young years, Lora would say she wanted to be a pink mermaid. Her room and my upstairs bathroom became a mermaid shrine with all kinds of all things mermaid. And even now that she has moved, it is still Lora's mermaid shrine.

Wiki Wachee Springs is another state park with a few attractions, many of which were closed on March 9th because of low water levels, the lasting effects of a recent storm, it being a Monday and only March. There were only three young ladies doing the show which, to be honest, is probably the same show some of our grandmothers watched in the 1960s. It's corny. It's kitchy. It ain't what it probably used to be. But that's OK. I may have been sitting next to my now-25-year-old daughter, but really I was with my 4-year-old who dreamed of being a mermaid.

Yes I cried. And also wanted to punch the mom behind us who never stopped trying to gentle-parent her kids.

From there we grabbed sandwiches from Costco and went to a real 72-degree Crystal River spring with a little beach. Lora, Gavin and Marty waded out to the middle of the bluegreen water while I stayed closer to shore. Oh, I got my feet wet! 

Now we all needed naps.

But first we exchanged thank yous to the grandparents for taking in our daughter with her husband, dog and three cats, and gave our last hugs. I tried not to cry. I almost succeeded.

I don't know when we'll see them again, if we will drive back to Crystal River or they will come back home to us someday. Holidays? Maybe. Just because? Maybe. Another birthday perhaps. If we do go back, we might need to be in better shape. Or, we can just say, "Nah. We've been there and done that" and relax a little more.

But I'll definitely need more hugs.