Back to the fun stuff, my mom visited! She flew down on Monday the 11th...luckily through Chicago and not Charlotte or Atlanta, which is ironic for January! She only had one plane change in San Juan with a 30 minute delay...but still a full day of travel. Monday we had dinner down at Sandcastles where my friends Bruno and Torrence work. At the end of the week, mom said the mahi she had that night was her favorite meal of the week. My friend Michael joined us for drinks and exchanged some tax assistance with some beautiful bougainvillea flowers!
Tuesday was back to work for me, but exploring for mom. We did Turtles for lunch, then mom headed downtown Frederiksted. Then it was the typical Tuesday night - bingo on the beach, dinner at Rowdy Joe's. Apologies to Lisa and Jeff, I think we've confirmed I'm officially the bingo bad luck charm! Dinner was delicious as always. Mom had never eaten edamame before (though she was going to go home and tell dad we ate soybeans), but I may have ruined it for her since this edamame is fried ...and oh so good!
Wednesday morning mom walked down to Turtles and brought us back breakfast. My friend John can make a mean cinnamon roll and almond danish! We opted for a late lunch at Blue Moon since we had kayak plans that night instead of jazz. Mom again had the mahi since it is so fresh here, but she did agree that I had the best crab cake she's ever had! Yes, if you're sensing a theme here, we did eat well ...and lots!
That evening we signed up for the moonlight kayak tour - again, mom's first kayak experience - by the light of the stars and bioluminescence bay - even better! Of course it was my first experience in the back of the kayak, which seemed like a lot more work! Actually, the water was rougher than any other time I had been out there. Thanks to the "Christmas winds" ... it was the first arm workout I'd had in a long time! Another cool experience, though after going three times, it is amazing the difference in lighting, visibility, and weather each time.
Thursday morning mom helped me with some desserts for Polly's (in addition to trying out some lemon poppy seed muffins that week - thanks mom, I've also made the lemon poppy seed coffeecake!) - and despite my new "rule" of saying no, they talked me into a few desserts since they had a tv crew from a travel channel coming in! Hopefully they gave me props =) We actually had lunch at Polly's that day, then went to Rhythms that night for dinner and trivia. This time mom tried fresh local wahoo for the first time - another dining success! And another successful trivia week coming in near the top ... I guess my contribution to the group is always bringing someone who knows some of the answers, since I sure don't!
Friday I was able to take the day off of work - WOO HOO! Mom and I headed over to Christiansted for lunch, shopping, and walking along the boardwalk, then we drove to Point Udall, then to the Divi Resort and Casino ... for massages and gambling! Talk about a great day! Especially after winning $50 playing blackjack! Mom was disappointed ... I guess she is spoiled by all of those nice casinos back home, especially since she's been the big winner lately. But I had just enough to buy our dinner at Blue Water Terrace that evening - a restaurant out East I had never been to before, and dinner was delicious! And I can't believe I skipped right over the massages ... probably one of the best I've ever had and best set-up where you could feel the ocean breeze and hear the waves crashing!
Saturday we got up and did the hike at Carambola, then stuck around for lunch and a little hanging on the beach until it started raining. Ran a few errands on the way back, then decided to have a nice low key night in - bake and watch football. Go figure, just as we sat down with dessert in the oven and were watching the second quarter of the Packers game, the power went out! I was at first afraid I knocked out the power of the building with all of my baking, but the ENTIRE west side of the island was dark! Sounds like it happens all of the time, but it was the first I had experienced a 3 hour power outage. My brother (Packers fan) and friend Andy (Falcons fan) had to keep us updated on the game - hate we missed it!
Sunday drove out to Sandy Point and sat at the beach for a while (can't believe mom forgot to have me put sunscreen on her back ... ouch! But at least she said she'd rather go back with some color than nothing .... just hate it was a burn instead of a tan), then did some beach bar hopping, from Coconuts (ironic watching the football game in snowy Chicago while tending to sunburns) to Normas (Aunt Rita, I keep forgetting the "I Dig the Pig" hat you sent me ... will be perfect for pictures with the drinking pigs!) to the Lost Dog. Love my Sunday night pizza from the Dog!
My only miss was walking downtown during cruise ship day (surprisingly only one ship the entire week mom was here). Selfishly, I was hoping to avoid Polly's in case they asked me to bake again that day since mom and I had plans to be east all day. Does avoidance count as saying "no"? =)
Mom headed home on Monday morning ... unfortunately, as I was guilt-fully laying in a hammock reading a book (thanks Bank holiday!), got a call from dad that her flight from Miami to Chicago had been canceled and rescheduled ... for Tuesday evening! So luckily dad was able to make some phone calls and get her on flights from Miami to Tampa to Chicago to Peoria ... and after lots of delays and a long day in the air and airports, mom finally made it into Peoria (and somehow her luggage beat her) and they were home at 1:30am ... sorry for the 20 hour trip home, but hope the rest of the week made it worth it!
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