I wanted to get this blog written immediately after a fabulous Sunday when everything was fresh in my mind, but my birthday ceased to end until three days later. Or that was when my memory returned!
After a good 5-mile run on Sunday through the island of Key West, I celebrated my 54th birthday with a couple of adventurous hours with my granddaughter Paz. Anytime the two of us are together, it’s the “Pop-Pop and Paz Adventure.” We hitched a roundtrip ride on the ferry to Sunset Key, cruised through Mallory Square, and went in search of pelicans. It’s amazing how the world brightens when you view it through the eyes of a 2-year-old.
We lunched back at home on my wife’s dynamite chicken salad/pita wrap – made with pineapples and grapes. Mmmm! Both Paz and I didn’t want to wait for her mother/my daughter to return with her 10-month-old brother Charlie. We were hungry from our exploratory mission. It didn’t faze me at the time of why my wife was suggesting we wait for Kelly so we could all enjoy a birthday lunch together. Screw that! Paz and Pop-Pop were starving. Who knew when Charlie would awaken from his nap.
As I’m standing in the middle of our backyard lanai facing away from the house and talking with my wife, I get a tap on my left shoulder. I turn to look straight in the eyes of my son Michael and my close friend/business partner, Mark Benevento. For a couple of seconds I just stared. I couldn’t grasp why or what the two of them were doing standing in front of me at that precise moment in time. Surprise!
Diane and choreographed their surprise visit for my birthday. She knows how I love to have family around on special occasions – and Mark was icing on the cake. Originally, I was to meet them the following day in West Palm for three days of golfing at Admirals Cove at the invitation of Mark. (I’m a new golfer, by the way, and I’m determined to get good.) So Diane asked them to come a day earlier and several hundred miles further south to Key West.
Funny story: Mark’s plane out of Fort Lauderdale is overbooked and he gets bumped to a later flight. He tells the gate attendant that he must get on this flight or he will miss a special event. She makes the obligatory offer to the other passengers waiting to board the flight for a free ticket and a later flight. No takers. Mark suggests that she offer $100 cash for the traveler who takes up the offer. She refuses. Mark – the most persistent person I have ever met - says he’ll pay the cash bonus. She still refuses. With further prodding, he convinces her to make another announcement. A man approaches the counter and inquires that if he takes the later flight can he have a free car rental. She refuses. Mark pipes in, “I’ll give you cash.” The guy asks for $300! Mark negotiates down to $200. And places two hundred dollars in the guy’s hand and happily walks onto the plane.
Now is that a friend or what!
The problem with my friend is that I ate and drank hard the previous night for my pre-birthday dinner at Louis’s Backyard. So now seeing Mark and Michael in my backyard, I knew this birthday boy was not going on the wagon as I had told myself during the early morning run.
After everyone enjoyed lunch we hustled over to the Rum Barrel to witness one of the most amazing spectacles. A Philadelphia Phillies celebratory parade - in Key West! My son-in-law, Jeff, had arranged 200 crazy Philly fans with a police-escorted parade down Duval Street. It was wild! Philadelphia would have been proud to see their transplants strutting through old town, stopping traffic, and causing chaos. And when the parade passed the Lazy Gecko (a Boston bar) all the participants stopped and chanted, “Boston sucks!”
The parade ended at Mr. Z’s ( a Philly-owned joint) for toasts of some mysterious punch and Mike’s tasty cheessteaks and pizza.
That was only half my day. We returned to the Rum Barrel for the Slamball Championships on CBS and the Eagles win over Seattle on Fox. More toasts. Then birthday cocktails on the lanai, followed by more toasts and dinner at the Strip House.
I don’t remember anything after that!
A great surprise to my birthday lunch!
Phillies fans getting pumped for the parade in front of the Rum Barrel.
Me getting fired up with the band; the Key West version of the Mummers!
Sorgie and his crew leading the parade.
This entry was posted
on Saturday, November 8th, 2008 at 11:56 am by Pat Croce
Leave a Reply
November 8th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Happy Birthday, Pat!!
November 9th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Happy Birthday Pat!
November 10th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Happy Birthday Pat! Keep your eyes open for Mort Wapner and Bob Newman (my boss) when you’re at Admirals Cove. Love, Janice
November 10th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Thank you all!!!
November 12th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Pat, I’m surprised Mark didn’t get a seat in the cockpit of the plane. Happy belated birthday
November 13th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Yo, Pat! It’s been your birthday for a few weeks now! How’d you get more than one??!
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