A Long Awaited Taste of Dunedin

A home-cooked Super Bowl, with golf on the side

My grandparents on my Dad's side--Mimi and Papa, as we call them--have been splitting time between Grafton, NY and Dunedin, FL for a long time. And for all this time, no one in my family has been to visit--until this past weekend. I knew that in my road trip south, seeing Mimi and Papa was inevitable, but thanks to the kindness of Kirk at the farm, I was able to sneak out for two days and see them even earlier than I expected. 

As we all know, the Super Bowl was played this past Sunday. Though I can't remember a Super Bowl that I've missed since the beginning of the Patriots' dynasty a dozen years ago, this trip across the state wasn't just about seeing the game. Two weeks working at a farm isn't all that drastic when you think about it, but after a long first week with plenty of ups and downs, it was an incredible feeling to be free again. I was going to Dunedin to relax, enjoy a few meals, and press the reset button before another week of farming. And seeing Mimi and Papa for the first time since August wasn't a bad deal either.

A beach panorama, just for fun

Even though I was only with Mimi and Papa for a night, it was nice to be in a real home again, not just a bunkhouse on the backroads of New Smyrna Beach. They live in a great location. Their home is close to pretty much everything important: the ocean, stores on every street, plenty of golf courses, Spring Training stadiums, and the cities of Tampa and St. Petersburg. Their longtime friends, Don and Lynn Disbrow, lived close as well, and that's where we ventured for Sunday's evening activities. 

The NFL dodged a bullet with this Super Bowl. I was fully content enjoying sandwiches and chicken wings and the conversation, but until the 49ers mounted a big-time second half comeback, the game had all the makings of a big letdown. To make matters worse, I decided to call home at halftime to wish my brother and my aunt Jess happy birthdays, and just after hanging up, the lights went out and we had to wait a whole extra half hour for play to resume. Had I known, I could've called home then!

Papa and I got an early start on Monday morning, but not before Mimi made sure I left with plenty of food. I received enough of their specialty breakfast bars to sustain me for the rest of my farming, plus plenty of snacks for the road. We drove to Westchase Golf Club for a morning with Papa's Monday golf group. At 8:30 sharp the sixty-odd men spread out across the course and begin play. We happened to start on the seventeenth, playing with Papa's friend Bill and another golfer named Chuck Butt. The was nice in a typical Florida fashion--lots of water, houses lining nearly every hole, and plenty of sets of tees to accommodate for the old guys. Some times it's nice to play a round where you can hit four-iron off nearly every tee. I didn't play the best golf of my life, but I didn't let any of the old guys beat me, and my approach on the par three eleventh won me ten dollars in the closest-to-the-pin competition. 

After the long round was over, we dined on the five dollar buffet in the clubhouse, and shortly after I was on the road back east. Saying goodbye was easy; if anything, the visit gave me more motivation to work hard for my second and final week at the farm. It's been a rewarding experience already, and one more week of labor will feel like nothing once I'm free to travel again. I don't want to look at my time in Florida as "two weeks on the farm" and then "two weeks of fun," because I have enjoyed myself here in New Smyrna. That being said, I know that there's so much waiting once the "vacation" begins. 

And one last piece of good news: I heard today that my sister has the good fortune of spending her February school break in Florida with my cousins the Storeys. So, not only do I get to see both of my grandparents, but I also get to spend time with my aunt and uncle, my cousins, and Miranda! And to Sam, who will be taking down Berkshire County competition on the hardwood while we're on the beach in Florida, I'll take you to Germany in a few years. For now, enjoy being a teenager (13 as of yesterday)!