Happy Time: A Friend Visits

Since moving to Florida, our two daughters and grandchildren visit for a week during their spring break in May every year.  For the first time in four years, they couldn’t come.  My youngest daughter had just been released from the hospital.  And, her doctor didn’t want her to travel for a while.   Though disappointed, I was happy my eldest daughter decided to stay in Wisconsin to support and spend the spring break with her sister and the grands.

The daughters didn’t come, as planned.  Yet, I had a great spring break, filled with an abundance of happiness and joy.

Thanks to The Librarian who has been a great friend for more than fifteen years.  Needing a break from Wisconsin’s cold weather, she accepted my invitation to visit.  And, I needed someone other than Hubby to spend quality time with.  Now, I love the time spent with Hubby.  However, I enjoy doing some things that he dislikes and prefers not to do.  Although, I did give him the option to join us on any of our planned outings over the next three days.  He chose not to commit.

The First Day – Happy Time on the Lanai

The Librarian and I spent the evening on the lanai relaxing, catching up, and enjoying the stillness of a quiet space.

The Second Day – Happy Time at Harry P. Leu Gardens

Though it was raining, we decided to follow the planned agenda — a visit to the Harry P. Leu Gardens. First, I had to pick up the rental car.   I showed up promptly at 9:00 a.m., the rental car company’s opening time, with my driver’s license and credit card.  I couldn’t rent the car.  Because, I didn’t bring a lease, utility bill, or cable bill to show proof of residency.  Yet, The Librarian, who lives in Wisconsin could rent the car using only her credit card and driver’s license.  She lives two thousand miles away, I live twenty minutes away.  It didn’t make sense then.  It doesn’t make sense now.  But, she rented the car, that I could neither rent nor drive, and we were off to start our day.

Before heading out to Harry P. Leu Gardens, we stopped to pick up a few groceries.  Of course, we added several bottles of wine for the evening serenity times on the lanai.  Shopping went quickly.  Found all the groceries, but we couldn’t find the rental car.  We searched aisle after aisle of the parking lot, with no luck.  Finally, a man approached us saying he had noticed when we arrived.  He took us to the car and we took a photo of the license plate so we wouldn’t lose it again.  This was a laughable moment.

Unloaded the groceries at the house and set the GPS to take us where we needed to go.  I have lived in this city for more than four years.  However, if I venture outside of my very limited driving range, I needed a GPS.  The Librarian had never used one; and, I only knew how to use the one in our car.  So, the setup wasn’t that easy for us.  But, we did it.

At last, we were off to Harry P.  Leu Gardens in pouring rain. After driving for more than a half hour, we noticed we were getting farther away from the city.  Having visited the Leu Gardens’ website, we knew it was close to the downtown area.  So, we pulled over at a gas station and reset the GPS.  There was a lot of laughter after discovering, we were going in the wrong direction.

About forty-five minutes later, we arrived at Happy P. Leu Gardens and it was still raining heavily.  We had been smart enough to bring two umbrellas from home.  When we opened them, they were both broken and virtually useless. But, that didn’t stop us.

At s soon as we entered the Hospitality Building, a very nice receptionist told us the Gardens were closed due to rain.  And, to our surprise, there wasn’t an indoor garden as we had expected.

We did spend time browsing around in the Gift Shop; and, I bought two flags for the front yard. I have to decide which to hang first.

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We, also, toured the Art Gallery and took photos of the art on display.

The tour, for us, ended on the rear screened-in porch, which overlooks a beautiful lake surrounded by trees.  We relaxed in rocking chairs and enjoyed the scenic view.

 

We didn’t get to tour the Harry P. Leu Gardens, but it was wonderful to spend quality, face-to-face time with a kind and loving friend.  I am Grateful to The Librarian for this happy and fun-filled day — mishaps and all.

In the next post, I will write about and share photos on our Third Day – Happy Time at Cocoa Beach.