FLORIDA THANKSGIVING EXPEDITION!

 The folks in this photo have their luggage packed to the ceiling, and are headed out on a road trip, from Arkansas to Florida, (like thousands of others in the USA!), to gather with loved ones, for the purpose of celebrating the national American holiday of Thanksgiving.  For purposes of this blog, I will use initials to identify us, to save excessive typing.  Front row left is JMTR, and beside her is JPR.  Back left is me, PST, and to my right is JTR.

 After many hours of comparison shopping on the Internet, JMTR booked this large and expansive rental, in Sea Grove Beach, Florida.

The blue dot on this map shows the rentals' convenient access to the beach, and the greater Sea Grove community area.

The Florida highway known as "30A" is such a well-known transportation corridor in this area, there was even a version of the Monopoly game, appropriately called "30Aopoly", that was available in our rental.  In addition there were numerous other table games available for group activities.  For those who might be navigation-challenged in an unfamiliar location, the sign above the door, instructs visitors to walk to the right, to get to the beach. 

These very photogenic individual desserts were "imported" from the Jacksonville, Florida, area and brought to our location by the family that lives on the opposite coast of where we were.

JMTR also "imported" festive Thanksgiving decorations and candles from Arkansas, to give the table setting a fancy appearance,( even though all of it was single use items, and hence, no need to wash dishes afterward)!

Sometimes big corporations employ an event planner, to arrange a team building activity for groups.  I experienced one of these culinary team building events, at Frederik Meijer Gardens in Michigan, where our group of 20 was divided into teams of five each, to be in charge of a particular aspect of the Italian-themed meal.  The group I was in, was given the task of preparing (from scratch!), stuffed ravioli!  Since I had never made pasta from its flour and water beginnings,  let alone stuff little squares of pasta with filling, it was a steep learning curve for me!  However, in Florida, our event planner was JMTR for the 2024 Thanksgiving feast, and she had carefully thought out the "division of labor", so that each person would have a chore suitable for their skill level.    She got the meal started on Thanksgiving morning, a short time after her husband, JPR, had arisen very early, to get the huge turkey in the oven.  In this photo, KD and ED are just observing, but that was a very temporary thing, as they were quickly given team tasks!

This photo shows that ED was given a job, beside her daughter-in-law, KMRD, as vital members of the culinary team!  Hostess JMTR and host JPR gave me big smiles for this photograph, after a little prompting.  One thing that made me feel right at home in this kitchen, was the fact that the refrigerator was covered with decals advertising 30A attractions.  It reminded me of my refrigerator back in Arkansas, full of souvenir magnets from places I have visited!

Rounding out the culinary team, was KD and LD, who were given the task of carving the turkey.

I think it was grandson JTR, who  got an iphone set up on a tripod, so that we could have a photo memory of everyone seated together at the Thanksgiving meal.  Before we started, JPR had led us in a prayer of Thanksgiving, for the opportunity to be together on this day, giving thanks and praise to God, for the many blessings of the past year.  I am using this image as the visual aid for one of my First Place 4 Health (www.FirstPlace4Health.com) memory verses that says, "Come, let us sing to the Lord.  Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.  Let us come to him with THANKSGIVING .  Let us sing psalms of praise to him."  Psalm 95:1-2

Since we had enjoyed our feast around noon, (and there was no dinnerware to wash!), there was still time for us to enjoy a walk on the beach together.  KMRD made the collage below, for her Instagram post on that day.   Upper left is KMRD and JMTR; upper right it ED and KMRD; lower left is KD daughter, and KD dad, ED, LD, and KMRD; lower right is KMRD, PST, and JMTR

I think the mother/daughter photo below, shows that gorgeous females, is a dominant gene in this family!

After the sun went down on Thanksgiving Day, we traveled to nearby Pier Park, in Panama City Beach, to see the movie, Wicked.  Over a decade earlier, JMTR, KMRD, and I had traveled to Little Rock, Arkansas, to see together, the Broadway production of Wicked.  So it was gratifying to be with them again, to see the movie version!

The guys in our group were not so much interested in the movie the gals were seeing, so they went to see the new release of the movie, Gladiator.  The theater was giving out free "thumb mittens" for the movie, so I got LD and KD to pose for a photo with their thumbs, before the movie.

Just as I am straddling this small tributary stream into the Gulf of Mexico, I am thankful all the loved ones pictured in this blog, "straddled" the miles between Florida's Atlantic Coast and Northwest Arkansas, to celebrate the goodness of God, on Thanksgiving, 2024!  This expedition gave me "MILES OF SMILES"!  Tricia