Day 16
This day was Thanksgiving and we did not have a great deal planned for the day. This was just as well as it had transpired during the night that the sore throat was indeed the beginning of a cold. I felt pretty OK at that stage. We had some coffee in the room and Graham spotted a woodpecker just in front of our balcony. We watched this for a while and then decided to go for a swim.
The pool area at Vero Beach is very nice. The pool is a stylized Mickey head and does look quite compact, but when you are swimming in it, it is surprisingly big. The pool has a waterslide and there is a tot tub, a mini golf course and a children’s playground in the area. We unfortunately never got around to having a round of mini golf. We started with having a nice swim. At some stage, I left Graham to it and decided to try the water slide. This is really nice. It is quite fast, but not too thrilling. I did this a few times and then we retired to the hot tub for a while. Once we were waterlogged enough, we enjoyed the early morning sunshine on a lounger for a bit so that we would dry off. Then Graham wanted to head down to the beach. I had one look at the waves and decided they were a bit big for my liking. As I am not keen on having sand on my feet, I stayed on the ramp that leads down to the beach. There was a handy bench in that area. Shortly after we got there, Magdalene arrived and I briefly spoke to her before she headed down on the beach as well. Graham could not resist the sea and went for a paddle. The waves were high enough that they went over his head a few times. Magdalene and Graham came back at around the same time and we ended up chatting for a bit longer before going our separate ways.
When we got back to the room, we took turns getting showered. We warmed up the left overs in the microwave for our breakfast and got a load of laundry going. Then we relaxed. I needed to do a second load of laundry, but while I was loading the dryer, somebody snapped up the washing machine. Fortunately there were a couple of washing machines that did not have too much longer to run. So I got my iPad from the room and read while waiting for another washing machine. It turned out that the washing machines were used by Magdalene so we saw each other again. I loaded my second load into one of the machines and then headed back to the room. We had a lovely relaxing morning only briefly interrupted by having to check dryers and switching the machines over.
Once the laundry was done, we headed out for some Thanksgiving dinner. The planning for this had been interesting to say the least. Disney’s Vero Beach Resort was undergoing a fairly extensive refurbishment programme. The rooms were done, but they were completely redoing the restaurant. In previous years, they had always offered a Thanksgiving buffet and we were seriously considering this. The new restaurant was supposed to be open by early November. However, it became apparent that this was not going to happen. So I started to look elsewhere. Magdalene had shared a couple of suggestions, but they were fairly heavily seafood based, which is not my thing. So I started to do some research. It turned out that there is a Cracker Barrel in the town of Vero Beach and they were offering a Thanksgiving dinner. I shared this with Graham and he was quite keen on this, too. Of course, when we arrived at the hotel, we found out that they were hosting a Thanksgiving buffet after all in a function room. Still, we decided to stick to the original plan. When we got to Cracker Barrel, there were quite a few people waiting to be seated. We were told that the waiting time would be approximately 25 minutes and we were OK with this. We settled down in some rocking chairs on the patio. I think it was less than 10 minutes later when we were called. Dinner was nice. Graham had ice tea and the traditional Thanksgiving dinner with turkey, ham, cornbread stuffing, green beans, carrots, cornbread and a biscuit. I had Fanta Orange and the traditional Thanksgiving dinner with turkey, ham, cornbread stuffing, green beans, dumplings and biscuit. We both enjoyed our meal. The dinner was supposed to come with a slice of pumpkin pie, but neither of us is a fan of this and there was no alternative. We were both pretty full so we did not mind. We went to pay. On the way out, I noticed that they had my favourite orange cream soda in the shop. So I decided to get a couple of bottles.
Once I had paid for my precious, we headed back to the car. There was something that we needed to do as a matter of urgency. At that stage, I had started to go downhill very quickly. So we needed to find a CVS or Walgreens so that I could get some medication. We found a CVS that was open not far from Cracker Barrel and we stopped. I got a combo pack of DayQuil and NyQuil LiquiCaps as well as some zinc tablets. What I did not think to get was a bottle of water to take the tablets with. The zinc tablets were designed to dissolve in the mouth so I was able to take one of those at least.
One thing that Graham wanted to check out while we were at Vero Beach was the local power station. Because of the warm water the power station produces, manatees tend to congregate there. Indeed, when we got there, manatee parking was advertised. We parked the car and walked the short distance towards the power station. The area around the overlook was quite scenic and we saw a lot of birds and some funny fish that kept jumping out of the water. What we did not see were any manatees. We found out the next day that the power station is no longer operating and will be knocked down shortly. So there was no more incentive for manatees to hang out in this area. Still, I am glad that we took the time to check this out.
We then headed to Riverside Park. There I found a water fountain and could take some tablets. Then we went exploring. We happened upon a real gem, the Veterans Memorial Island Sanctuary. This is part of Riverside Park, but is a little haven of peace. It is reached via a bridge from Riverside Park and there are some benches near there. We sat down for a bit and just enjoyed the peace and quiet. There was a couple on a bench opposite feeding the local squirrel population with pistachios and it was quite amusing to watch the squirrels.
After a while, we decided to go exploring. The island is not particular big and even with frequent stops, it took us less than an hour to make our way all the way around. Around the edges of the island were various memorials for people who had lost their lives in all the different that the USA was involved in. The only exception was the Pearl Harbor memorial, which was actually dedicated to the survivors. We saw all kinds of interesting wildlife including some kind of jumping rat.
Once we had completed our lap of the island, we headed back to the car and drove back to the resort. We headed back to the room for a bit. Around 17:00, we headed out again. I had seen in the weekly programme that they would have characters in the lobby that afternoon. So I wanted to go and meet them. Donald and Goofy were out in their Christmas outfits by the Christmas tree. I went to see them. We just caught them at the end of their set and we stayed behind in the lobby to see if different characters would come out for the next set, but Donald and Goofy came back out again.
I was feeling pretty rough at that point. It was too early to take some more DayQuil, but I had some more zinc tablets and then curled up under the quilt and read for a bit. I think I must have fallen asleep at some stage and I felt much better when I woke up. Graham asked if I wanted to head for the Green Cabin Room for a bit and I was up for this. We went downstairs and initially sat down at a table, but after a while we moved over to the bar. We briefly saw Magdalene, who said she would text me the link for the directions for our tour the next day. Graham had some more of the beer that he liked so much the previous day and I had a Coconut Elixir, which consisted of coconut water and pineapple and cranberry juices. There was a game of Majority Rules going on and we were kind of drawn into this. It was a lot of fun. Around 22:00, we headed back to our room and got ready for bed. I took some Nyquil and slept like a baby.
