Day 2.15: South Florida Day 6

We didn’t sleep too late because we had to go to the local Pep Boys to get our brakes checked because they were making a weird sound. Unfortunately, despite having called ahead and being told to come in at a certain time, we were told that our car wouldn’t even be seen for at least an hour, and we didn’t have that kind of time. Instead, we drove straight to Boynton Beach, sitting for an hour or so at Dunkin’ Donuts while Arielle put the finishing touches on her presentation and Abe caught up on some final Oscar predictions. Grampye was one of twelve residents at Discovery Village Assisted Living to attend her session on life review and the legacies we leave behind, which was extraordinarily well-received by everyone (Abe can attest!).

We left with Grampye to make the hour or so drive up to Stuart, bringing him to a place we knew he would love – Wawa. He got mint white hot chocolate, which we were surprised to see was green and he very much liked. We got quesadillas (Abe enjoyed his more than Arielle did), and of course Abe got a banana cream smoothie while Arielle continued to drive the mountainous 44-oz iced coffee she had purchased the day before.

We arrived at the Marriott Resort Hutchinson Island, where we saw Pop-Pop and Abe’s cousin Laura, visiting from Virginia for the long weekend. It was nice to see Pop-Pop and Grampye catch up after having seen each other for the first time in a few years when Grampye was up in Katonah vising back in August (Day 27 of our first road trip back in August).

After some time sitting and chatting in Pop-Pop’s hotel room, we left to go have dinner at Peter’s Steak House in nearby Jensen Beach. Both Abe and Pop-Pop got the rib eye, though Abe’s was medium rare and Pop-Pop’s was well done. They were both tasty! Grampye’s lamb chops were a bit disappointing, and though Arielle liked the caprese and the Caesar salad she got, she felt like she had sucked on a garlic head because, as the waitress had said, the dressing was more garlicky than fishy. Laura was pleased that the restaurant was able to prepare salmon for her in a way that fit her dietary needs and it was actually delicious. We got some potatoes (good) and mushrooms (not so good) on the side.

We all had a nice time together, and said goodbye to Pop-Pop and Laura, both of whom we’ll likely next see in New York for Passover. We drove back to Boynton Beach and dropped Grampye off before continuing along our very familiar 37-mile stretch of 95 back to Hollywood, where we went straight to sleep.

Approximate number of miles covered: 189