Here is a summary of Thursday, which was a typical day. I woke up with the nice feeling of not having to be anywhere. The first thing I did was make a big pot of coffee. We are not breakfast eater outers so we made our eggs and checked cellphones / laptop. At home we get two newspapers so we are used to our morning information feed.
Mid morning we headed over to the beach. We walked there; it’s about a mile according to my phone. It’s a pleasant walk back past the marina, across the drawbridge over the intracoastal, then across the street. About 90% of the beach goers are older than us and there are very few children because it’s not a school vacation week. We both are avid readers and I brought a crossword puzzle as well.
We went back to our condo for lunch and to escape the sun during the hottest part of the day. We are not lunch eater outers. Do you see a pattern here? Why get dressed, get in the car and drive somewhere just to sit and wait to be served? Most days we have PB&J sandwiches and fruit or leftovers from dinner.
We spent the afternoon at the pool and hot tub. People here are friendly and it is easy to strike up conversations in the hot tub. We have met people who are vacationing for a few weeks and some who are renting for months. In this condo there are also people who work; so while the lifestyle at this condo is “resort” it isn’t a retirement community. The long term residents have their friends, have family visit, and have activities planned (I heard “canasta” mentioned twice).
In the elevator heading to the pool we saw an announcement that Thursday was Bingo night. The flyer said register by three days ago but the sign was not there three days ago. I haven’t played bingo in years and I really wanted to play. We inquired at the front desk and found out we could sign up and pay at the door. Payment was by check or money order only - what? No cash or credit card? I didn’t bring my checkbook so we would have to get a $10 money order ($5 per person).
My husband and I are dinner out eaters, although even on vacation we alternate restaurant nights with eating in. I know people who love to eat out and can do that 3 meals a day 7 days a week, but that’s not me. That is over my budget for money and calories!
On Thursday night we were in the mood for burgers. I had noticed there was a Smashburger in the supermarket plaza and I wanted to try it. Plus we could get the money order while we were there. Smashburger was good and money order was purchased.
Bingo time! We went to the card room early to sign up and give them the money order. The card room was transformed into Bingo Party Central! Balloons, popcorn, beverages (water and soda) but people came prepared with their own drinks. Some had glasses of wine but there were bottles too. That’s when I realized Bingo night is party night. They brought out trays of meats and cheese and fruit. And there were Jell-O shots! At least sixty people ages 50 to 70 were playing bingo and doing Jell-O shots and having a blast.
It actually reminded me of college; is retirement like college but without the schoolwork?
Thank you for reading!
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| Walkway to beach |
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| Beautiful day at the beach |
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