Steve (DOS) and I celebrated a quiet Thanksgiving with just the two of us at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in nearby Lake Mary, Florida. We stayed at the Hampton Inn and Suites located next door to the restaurant, so it was a quick walk to dinner and “home”.
We are going on the new Sun Princess Cruise ship on Saturday, so it was nice to begin our vacation trip a day earlier in the Orlando area, all packed and ready to go the next day. We are also staying at the Hyatt Centric Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale the next night (on Friday) so this will be a nine night trip for us (2 hotel nights plus the 7 night Caribbean cruise.)
We watched the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade in the morning at home before checking into the Hampton Inn. It was raining in New York City, so the parade was quite depressing compared to normal parades of year’s past, and we felt bad for all of those participants and bystanders attending the parade, as it was not the normal and festive parade weather.
I’ll admit, the depressing parade didn’t help with my Thanksgiving mood. I’ve been a little bit sad in the days previous to the Thanksgiving/upcoming Christmas holidays as I always went home to see my parents and siblings and family for both holidays. Plus with my recent health issues (heart and knee arthritis affecting my walking ability), it’s been a bit of a let-down for me. Coupled with my parents having been gone since 2020, it’s been a bit sad as I miss them both so much, especially at this time of the year. Steve (DOS) I’m sure misses his parents as well, but doesn’t show it or mention it as much as I do.
Every year until 2020, especially when I was working thru 2019 before retirement, I would fly back to Roanoke VA for the Thanksgiving and later Christmas holidays, where we would celebrate as a family. Steve (DOS) normally stayed in Sarasota and went to see his parents over Thanksgiving, and came with me to Roanoke for Christmas. It’s different now as my brother and his partner, and sister and her family do their thing, as does DOS and myself; it’s bittersweet and we stay in contact over the holidays and throughout the year, but it’s different now. Family and especially holiday times are everything! A few memory pics of previous family times are shared below. I’m so glad I took so many photos; memories really are priceless and now using an iPhone or other device are free, so I encourage everyone to take lots of photos of family and friends.
I am so thankful and blessed for the memories of this, family, and trips and dinners we had together to this day! Until her last couple of years when she was in assisted living, Mom always placed this Pilgrim plaque in the front yard by the driveway at their home, which is still a great memory of mine.
Especially memorable for me were the Thanksgiving visits to Virginia, with beautiful drives along the Blue Ridge Parkway, the lake at the Peaks of Otter, and the colorful array of leaves adorning the mountainside and valley.
This Thanksgiving, however, DOS and I had a nice dinner for two at 5pm at Ruth’s Chris’s Steakhouse in Lake Mary, FL (in suburban Orlando.) The restaurant was unbelievably busy for the holiday, and we were fortunate to have secured a table for two in the bar area at 5pm, as every other reservation was taken when we booked a couple weeks ago. The service was actually outstanding, however, and Ruth’s Chris must have had every server working on Thanksgiving to serve everyone!
At Ruth’s, you were offered the regular Ala carte menu of steaks and other items, or (and it looked like 90% of the diners) ordered the 3 course Turkey Day special as we did, which was quite a filling meal with a starter, turkey entree with stuffing and choice of mashed potatoes or other veggie, and delicious pumpkin cheese cake. We also ordered an additional ahi tuna appetizer Ala carte as well prior to the dinner special.
We brought a very nice bottle of Ledson Cabernet from Sonoma Valley, CA (vintage 2010) to the restaurant that we had purchased years ago, and had carefully stored in our large 250 bottle euro cave wine cellar fridge at home. Here Steve (DOS) is walking to Ruth Chris with our vino for our Thanksgiving dinner; sorry for his grumpy expression: He was looking into the sunset and it was a bit bright on his eyes! 🤣
While we knew there was a corkage fee of $25, it was well worth it as even our waiter was impressed with the bottle’s label and vintage, and very carefully decanted it for us, along with presenting us with fancy Cabernet Sauvignon glasses in which to serve the vino.
Although the restaurant was busy, everyone seemed to be in a happy mood, and we chatted with multiple diners, both in the parking lot (everyone walking out seemed to have a “doggy bag” as the portions were so huge!), as well as while waiting for our table, and our adjacent diners too.
Steve (DOS) and I truly had a wonderful dining experience, and I led us table side with a short prayer of thanks, which is what Thanksgiving is all about. We are all truly blessed, thanks be to God!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!