The Big 5 - 0 !
I’ve never been a big fan of celebrating or making a big deal about my birthday. So I did not see a need to change my thinking in 2017. I guess 50 is kind of a big deal, but in all honesty, it was just another day to me.
When Betsy asked me what I wanted to do for my 50th birthday my answer was quite simple, “We are already in Florida in January. The sun is shining and it’s warm. I would like to spend some time on a beach with my wife and enjoy a good meal.” Well, my wishes were granted. We didn’t set an alarm in the morning. I got up and went for a bike ride to Dunkin' Donuts with one of our gracious hosts, Jay. Now, if you know me you already know I have an allergy to gluten, so donuts aren’t on my menu. However, I was more than happy with the 5+ mile bike ride to get a large iced coffee. Dark roast with one cream, of course. Back at the house, I had a quick breakfast with Betsy before packing the car and heading to the closest beach, which in this case was Sunset Beach. Sunset Beach is a small (2 acres) County park connected to the main land by a causeway. The small beach was only a couple of miles from Jay & Karen’s house in Tarpon Springs and more importantly, it is a FREE beach! Betsy and I set up our reclining lounge chairs under a shade tree on the water’s edge. It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon with a book, a snack, a cold seltzer water, and of course, great company. As the afternoon came to a close, we packed up our chairs and headed home in time to join Jay & Karen for a P F Chang’s dinner. One of my favorite restaurants because they do a great job of catering to gluten-free customers. Oh yea, and their food is really tasty!
Since good, gluten-free cake is difficult for me to find, on the way home from dinner we stopped for some Birthday Ice Cream at Strachan's Ice Cream. Strachan’s is really good ice cream and just happens to be where we stopped for ice cream on Betsy’s birthday in June. After our treats we all headed home for a quiet evening.
I was fortunate to have all of my birthday requests come true, so I would consider that a successful 50th birthday. Here’s to 50 more!
