The Christmas Trek to Alabama

Well, I guess I should start by telling you guys that this is Natalie and my first Christmas together. I took her home to meet my Dad and stepmother for Christmas. They live in Gulf Shores, Alabama. It was a lot of fun. I have many friends there and we had a get together at the house on Sunday night. We had about 12 people over for dinner, which by the way was exquisite, thanks to Dad and Wanda.

Over all, I have to say it was a great trip. It was a little harrowing in the beginning, but everything turned out great. It all started when Natalie and I got to the Miami Airport 2 hours early. We park and walk what seemed like 10 mile trek around th e airport to the correct terminal and check in. After the arduous journey, we were hungry and decided to go into this little bar for a hot dog and a beer. We each had two hot dogs and one beer each and I paid the 20-dollar tab! Seems these hot dogs were made from some sort of sacred pigs or something.

After this, we have about an hour to go before the flight, so I sugges t that we go to our gate and wait, which we do. Well people come and after a little while, I notice that it is 30 minutes until the flight is supposed to take off, and there is still no plane. I decide to ask the people working the gate (I'm not sure what the politically correct term is for them) if we are going to be a little late. I'm a little concerned because we only have a 30-minute layover in Orlando. I'm also nervous because I haven't seen the jet we are flying on and Natalie doesn't like small planes. (I didn't bother telling her that the plane from Orlando was a 2 engine prop job. I figured she would have to go once we got that far.) When I asked the nice lady at the counter about how we were doing for time, she pointed out that the plane was delay e d by 20 minutes. She must have noticed the panicked look on my face because she immediately asked if I had a connection. She right away knew who I was and said, "We've been trying to page you. We were going to get you on a little earlier flight, but it's too late for that now."

Panic sets in as the two WONDERFUL people search for someway to get us to our destination of Pensacola. They tried about 20 different scenarios, all to no avail. Finally, they contact Orlando and ask them to hold the plane for a couple of minutes. The guy from the ground crew comes up and says that they will give the plane a very quick turn around and makes sure someone knows to put our luggage on the plane last so that it will be the first off. Then they move us to the front row. (There was no first class on this plane). Well we still haven't heard from the Orlando people when we climb on the plane at 7:10 (for a 6:35 flight), so Natalie and I figure that we will be spending our first Christmas in Orlando. Our fears are somewhat bolstered as the plane lands in Orlando at 8:10, the scheduled departure time for our connection.

Much to our surprise the Agent was waiting as we got off the plane, pointed us to the next gate over and said, "They are waiting on you". We ran up the stairs into the plane, and saw several people staring at us. They must have thought we were the King and Queen of Sheba to have the airline holding the plane for us, and we didn't care what anyone thought. It wasn't until we sat down that Natalie looked out the w indow and said, "ALAN, IT'S GOT PROPELLERS!!!!!! Can I get off?" I quickly explained that this was against federal law and she would immediately be arrested and thrown into prison for the rest of her life (or something along those lines). So with only minor scares, we landed in Pensacola on time.

We owe Delta a huge debt of gratitude and especially those two nice ladies who helped us so much. Once there, we went home and talked with a couple of great friends, Brandon and Shannon, and my family until after midnight. Then we went to bed, closing our eyes, and anticipating awaking on christmas morning.

We awake Christmas morning to a cold and rainy day. Oh well, something had to go wrong after our wonderful luck of Christmas Eve. We are lucky enough to have my nephew over to the house for Christmas, so we get to share in the joy that all children have at this time of year. Seeing that much enthusiasm just seems to remind me of my childhood, and how wonderful this time of year really is. We all exchanged gifts and have a wonderful time, enjoying being together and enjoying good company.

A short time later, we all enjoy the first real breakfast we've had in a while. Country ham, sausage, grits, homemade biscuits, and molasses all find their way to my plate. After a late breakfast, we decide Christmas dinner should be late this year. My father has a new turkey fryer and I'm dying to see how it comes out. He's also cooking a ham on the grill. Christmas dinner promised to be exciting and lived up to it's promise. All i n all, Christmas has turned out great, and we lie down Friday night for a much needed sleep. Natalie is beginning to wonder if anything ever happens in this town, since we've just spent her first day here inside, without leaving. I assured her that she would begin to see some difference on the following day.

Saturday was great also, but since not much in the way of guaranteed excitement came until Sat. night, I'll skip right too it. It's my friend Brandon's birthday and we decide to go over to a neighboring town and eat . They have karaoke beginning at 9:00 and we enjoy making asses of ourselves occasionally. We leave the house and head over to Brandon and Shannon's. Brandon has recently conned his way into a digital camera, so we take a couple of pictures (the top two). We invite his sister and her husband, but they are unable to come to dinner with us. They promise they will meet us at Gambino's after dinner though, so we head off in search that talent scout that hangs out in Karaoke bars.

After a delicious dinner, (at l east I think it was delicious. Isn't everything after two bottles of wine?) We start singing and having a good time. I guess now is the time to thank Shannon for being our designated driver. Well, we closed that place down as somewhere around midnight, an d we were far from done, so we headed back to Brandon and Shannon's house to sit around and goof off. After careful consideration, we decide to play "Pass the Pigs". It's a pretty cool little game. You can play an interactively by following the link. You can see one of the pigs if you look carefully under Natalie's hand in the picture that says she's playing "Pass the Pigs."After Brandon takes a picture or two, and I forget to take one of him and his wife, we leave. Hopefully, I'll get some of the pictures developed, and get them up here eventually. I need to get a digital camera so I don't have to borrow a scanner.

Sunday night , we had the party. I had invited some people over for dinner. Dad had prepared a concoction of his creation. Pork Tenderloin stuffed with crawfish, with a spicy crawfish sauce. This dish would make Emiril green with envy. If there's anything better on th is earth, I'm not sure what it is. We all sat around and drank and ate and drank and ate and drank and ate. Everyone seemed to like Natalie, and I know she enjoyed them.

Well, Monday was an uneventful day, so I won't go into it much. We packed, dad took us to the airport, we flew back to Miami, and we drove home. Make sure you either sign my guestbook, or send me an E-Mail to let me know whether you enjoyed this little account of our trip. I hope you've enjoyed it. Hopefully, I'll get some more pictures of us in here before long.

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