The three of us (Mary K, Peggy and Dick) were invited to Gainesville to enjoy Thanksgiving with our family. Yippee, no cooking for us this year.
It became an adventure when we decided to take the Red Coach from Fort Pierce to Gainesville, saving us the hectic holiday drive...we never looked forward to the drive from Orlando on busy I-75 so the bus was a good alternative. It's advertised as a "luxury" bus but seats were quite small with very little leg-room. Wi-fi was off most of the time and we were stuck at their station in Orlando for over an hour while the company tried to find a driver. All-in-all we arrived in Gainesville safely and Red Coach is less expensive than flying.
The bus dropped us off in the middle of the University of Florida campus where daughter Nicki picked us up and drove us a short way to an Airbnb we rented for a few nights. It was reasonably priced (especially compared to the hotels near campus) and adorable. The host, Mimi was terrific and took pride in her one bedroom suite -- there was even a sofa bed in the living room for Mary K.
A late lunch at Loosey's was our next stop -- the food was delicious (loved the fish and chips). We met up with Nicki's friend, Jake and Jake's father, Buzz and of course, grandson Lincoln joined us for lunch and laughs.
The next day was Thanksgiving and we were on our way to Jake's cozy home where Nicki and Jake had prepared an amazing Thanksgiving dinner -- turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, veggies from the air fryer and of course, rolls and bread and 3 kinds of pie from our own professional baker -- Nicki is living her dream, gave up teaching and is now in the bakery business.Before dinner, our host and hostess prepared wonderful appetizers -- an assortment of meats, cheeses, crackers -- all displayed beautifully. We had to remind each other to save room for dinner.
Jake and Nicki’s friend, John, joined us for our Thanksgiving feast!
As Nicki's mother, the most amazing thing about this lovely dinner was how much had been prepared in advance and how at ease she was in the kitchen, and then making sure everything was served at the right time and assuring that all of her guests had a taste of everything. Proud Mama.
We loved the sign displayed in the living room....
And we were thankful for our beautiful dinner and our very own pie man, Lincoln, delivering his Mom's apple, pecan and pumpkin pies.
Peggy and I brought a surprise package of Bin Deal goodies (just couldn’t resist!). Always a big hit!
The day after Thanksgiving found us at Trader Joe's...a treat for Mary K and me (we don't have one in Stuart/Palm City). We loaded up on Christmas goodies and met up with the guys at Depot Park.
where we had some cold liquid refreshment and hot shuffleboard games.
Depot Park is a renovated train station and an important part of Gainesville. Since opening in August 2016. the park has hosted a large variety of programs and events aimed to engage all ages. A snapshot of the park, on any given day would include walkers and cyclists enjoying the paths; an individual reading at a picnic table; a group on a blanket enjoying a picnic; kids having a blast in the play area and shuffleboard, drinks and food in the depot itself. It also had a nice tropical wall as background for our family photo (shown at the beginning of this blog).In the evening we decided to try the legendary Satchel's for pizza but, of course, they were packed with a looooong wait for a table. It didn't stop us from moseying around and enjoying this well-known and quirky establishment.
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The story goes that Satch Raye combined his loves of art, pizza and music when, in 2003 he inherited his grandmother's house in Gainesville. He borrowed $30,000 and that's when the quirky ideas and remodeling began. It's well worth a visit when you're in Gainesville -- be sure to stop by during the day when you can see and appreciate all of it...and enjoy the pizza too.
Since we couldn't get a table at Satchel's we decided on an old stand-by -- Carraba's -- where we enjoyed dinner and each other's company...in a standard, ordinary restaurant - lol.
We woke up bright and early to catch our red coach back home with lots of leftovers packed by Nicki.
Thanks, Gainesville family and friends, for a wonderful
