Sunday, May 2, 2004

Finally, we were able to sleep in a little bit although we had to get up before the free breakfast ended --- oatmeal and all the hard-boiled eggs I could eat.  =)  My father drove my sister and nieces back to Jacksonville airport right after breakfast since they were running late as usual.  They were a bit upset that they didn't get to go back to my niece's apartment to say goodbye, but it would have been a frantic drive to the airport if they had.

We got to my niece's in time to see my brother and my niece's fiancé (hehe they just got engaged so I can say that now) maneuvering a queen-sized mattress from the 2^nd floor into his borrowed SUV.  While it would have been amusing to watch them, Galahad jumped right into the fray to help out.  As usual, my brother didn't have the details exactly right.  :p  It's a good thing we decided not to ride with him because I would have lost my seat to the mattress.  After all this activity (watching counts, doesn't it? ;)) I was hungry again, so I suggested lunch.  Galahad and I were planning to hit the Korean BBQ place we had seen especially after my niece said they had a large Korean population there.  Who knew?  My first clue should have been the Korean Baptist Church that we passed.  =) 

Surprisingly, everyone was up for it including my brother who is a new Atkins Evangelist.  Before you wonder that we have such different genes, nope we don't.  He's not quite as skinny as I am but only because he works out religiously and therefore has muscle mass.  I have been eating in a similar fashion to Atkins years before that ever came out just to manage my hypoglycemia better.   My brother is just now learning to deal with at in his mid-40's.  Hehe, better late than never.  It's kind of humorous since he's so in shape and never ate junk food to begin with.  I eat dessert sometimes when the mood strikes me, but I know when I can and can't put sugar into my body.  Maybe my brother will figure it out by 80 or so.  :p  Actually, my diet is similar to several diet plans out there now.  It's called eating healthy without being a fanatic.  :p

When we walked into the Korean place, we took it as a good sign that we were the only round-eyes in there.  Most of us got bulgogi, while a few people got chicken.  Twenty minutes later, 3 people got their food.  Twenty minutes after that, we started getting worried.  The next 4 came in very slowly to the point where the first people were done already.   We asked to speak with the manager who conveniently wasn't there.  Next, I saw someone getting smacked around in the back.  Since they sat us by the kitchen, I had a clear view.  I started to have misgivings about complaining to the manager (who had returned by now) especially when our waiter said he would take a couple of lunches off of the bill.  The food was excellent, but I don't know if I would go back.  I suspected that perhaps our food was late because we weren't Korean.

Since lunch took about an hour longer than we had planned, we said our goodbyes in the parking lot.  However, we had ulterior motives.  We made our way to Kanapha Botanical Gardens, which has Florida's largest public collection of bamboo.  I was kind of foolish when I believed Galahad that we would go in, see the bamboo, and leave quickly.  I declined to bring our water with us, too.  About 30 feet into the trail (the bamboo being smack dab in the middle of a mile long trail), I started having reactions to all the plant life blooming.  I got so weary and had the Dorothy in the Poppy field syndrome.  I was regretting not having water so I could take an Excedrin to counter this.  I was pretty sure a migraine wouldn't be far behind.  By the time we got to the bamboo, I could barely stand up straight.  Laugh.  I'm yawning as I type this.  I decided to be brave and swallow an Excedrin dry.  It was either that or drink from one of the dog dishes set out.  I managed to get one down okay but decided not to push my luck on a 2^nd one.  Lucky for me they created the park with old people in mind so they could rest frequently on lovely stone benches in scenic areas.  We skipped the 2^nd trail since we still had to drive back home plus I was barely hanging on.  Galahad was thrilled he got to see the giant bamboo, so he was happy to leave.   Now we have to decide which type we want in our backyard.  =)

All in all, it was a fun weekend.  Pretty much any weekend that I can squeeze in 3 Cool Hand Luke references is a good time.  =)