Vacation -- All I Ever Wanted

 So Wifey and I are leaving in a few hours to stay at a hotel for the first time since D2 and Jonathan's wedding -- and that was January of '20! The Plague, of course, has kept us home, but tonight and tomorrow night we'll venture out. I'm turning 60!

Originally I thought about heading to Key West, but that idea never got legs, as they say. And then Edna and Marc said they were coming down -- and getting rooms at the Key Biscayne Ritz Carlton -- why didn't Wifey and I make that my birthday weekend? Well, word got around, and Mike, Barry, and Deb all have birthdays around now, so next thing I knew, it was a plan.

The prices are absurd. Normally in July even luxury Miami hotels are less than half price what they cost "in season," but with Covid shutting down a lot of international travel, domestic prices are soaring.

But, as Wifey figured out, thinking about how much we DIDN'T spend on travel during the last year and a half justifies the cost. And, I do like to celebrate my birthday bigly, as The Donald says, on the turns of the decades.

D1 and Joey are, coincidentally, away in Marathon, with Joey's family, and so their dog Madeleine is here. D2 and Jonathan will thus be running a true house for dogs. This am D2 was up early feeding them all in separate areas -- Vienna and Betsy get a bit chippy when one tries to steal the other's food, and so the morning is a process.

Speaking of Betsy, she has a new neighborhood best friend. Jagger is a delightful puppy -- half Lab and half Golden -- but looks all Lab. Yes -- his family loves the Stones. Jagger and Betsy met, and immediately big dog frolicked together. Jagger is currently being dog sat by the family's daughter's boyfriend -- a tall, handsome fellow named Jeremy who is a recent rocket science grad working at NASA.

This am, Jonathan was walking Betsy, and she ran to Jagger's house and started barking and scratching at the door. Jagger was let out and they had an early am play date. Ah, dogs.

To set the mood for my fellow Key travelers, I sent out two messages. The men got a news article about a Brazilian man who, drunk, went into the ocean to pee and was eaten by a shark. I warned my brothers against that. The ladies got The Go Gos "Vacation," to set the mood, even though for most of us this is a true Staycation. 

I'm packing two small cases. One has my resort wear. Ha. A couple of extra shorts and underwear, plus the medicines and supplements fit for an old guy like me. Cholesterol drug. Check. Prostate drug. Check. Fiber. Check. 

But the OTHER case has the truly essential supplies: an arm of Stoli Elit. A bottle of Macallan 18 year old, which is now probably 25 years old, since its sat unused in my liquor cabinet. A few bottles of Stags Leap. And a bottle of Corley wine, which apparently sells for $150. My friend Pat sent it to me as a holiday gift. I'm not a wine guy, but I figure my friends who are will enjoy it.

So the plan is a lot of not much -- except drinking, eating, and enjoying the gorgeous property. Years ago, Sir Paul spent a month there before starting his US tour, and spent his 65th, I think, at Cantina, the Mexican place where we're having dinner tonight. I figure if it's good enough for Sir Paul, it's more than sufficient for this commoner blue collar Jew from Long Island.

We'll check out Sunday, and Sunday evening I have dinner planned for the Ds, their men, Wifey and me. And that ought to be the end of celebrating my 60th. Like the song, it's all I ever wanted...