Since retiring, I have taken the opportunity to flee the cold of winter in the North Country.
When I was younger and my knees and the rest of my body more willing, I enjoyed the winter months. When I wasn’t working and trekking to hockey rinks all over the country, I would take a day off every once in a while and go skiing. It was probably the sport I was best at in my youth and I could handle myself on skis into my 60s. An electrical fire in the old “hands’ house” I lived in on the Stiles Road in Canton melted both my 1967 Fisher Alu skis, the best I have ever skied on, and my state-of-the-art ski boots. I think I went one or two more times after that disaster, renting equipment both times, but both the cost of skiing with the lift tickets and rental equipment and the creakiness of my knees heralded an end to my ski career.
While I was still doing some commentary on hockey on the radio and eventually ESPN+ in the first three years after retirement, I decided to take an all-inclusive two-week vacation to somewhere in the Caribbean in February to escape the snow and cold. I watched the Super Bowl, enjoyed the, beach and surf, the swimming pool and fine dining and beverages in St. Martin, Montego Bay and Punta Cana. All three trips were great, but when I got back, I still had six weeks or so of miserable weather to battle through.
I was struck by one of my brighter ideas following the Punta Cana trip. For just about the same money, I could spend three months in Florida, enjoying warmth, sun, golf, etc. The money has crept up, but I still enjoy doing the Sunshine State for my winter escape on a yearly basis. The first three years were spent in Cape Coral on the west coast of Florida right next to Fort Myers. I enjoyed rounds of golf with Al Gotsch, former SLU admissions counsellor and a frequent squash partner at SLU and with Ron Waske and his crew of friends at Cross Creek in Fort Myers. Unfortunately, the price of a three month rental in Cape Coral kept skyrocketing, eventually right out of my price range.
I had visited New Smyrna Beach on the east coast in my first year of retirement. I was off to visit RB Lawrence and play some golf in April. It was quite an aventuresome trip. It started off with me having full-blown kidney stone symptoms in the Atlanta airport. I arrived in Daytona and on day two of the trip we went off to play golf at Hidden Lakes. About 12-14 holes into the round I began to fill dizzy and weak and rode out the last few holes. I crashed on the coach at RB’s and fortunately for me he checked with a mutual physician friend, who advised an immediate trip to the emergency room. I ended up spending four of my eight days in Florida in the Advent Hospital…without even a view out the window of a palm tree…as I was treated for both the kidney stone and an E-coli infection. I did make at least one more trip to New Smyrna for golf with RB and the gang, stopping a couple of times on my way back north from Cape Coral.
Anyhow, New Smyrna became an option for my winter hideaway, particularly since a number of friends from Canton also spend time there during the winter. I first found a house to rent on Saxon Avenue through Verbo. I thought that was all set up, but got a call saying that they had double booked it and I was out. I then found a condo on the beach which turned out to be a perfect answer. The perfect answer got even better in year two (this year) when RB called and said he lost his tenant and would I be interested in renting his condo on Bouchelle Island for my winter sojourn. I was all over it and have been comfortably established in Casa RB since Jan. 2.
I am still frequenting Advent Hospital as they have taken over my leukemia treatments, and all is going very well with that. My only problem is a lack of appetite which has kept me from visiting The Garlic, one of my favorite NSB restaurants, simply because I cannot finish a big meal, and it would be a waste to try at this point. Hopefully either the appetite or my capacity will improve at some point during my treatments and I can make a visit or two to The Garlic. I have been visiting a number of other favorite haunts: Chases on the Beach, JB’s Fish Camp and Off the Hook to name just three, where I can get smaller portions or dine on shrimp and other shellfish.
Last year is was a little damp and cool in January in New Smyrna before very nice weather in February and March. I am hoping this year will turn out to be the same, although at this writing, Florida is experiencing a cold snap. I wish my Canadian friends would keep their polar vortexes at home. Yesterday was lower to mid-40s and folks down here were bundled up like it was back home in Vermont where the temperature is in the single digits. It does seem colder than the temperature down here because of the proximity to the ocean. Just as the humidity can make it seem a lot hotter than the temperature when it is in the upper-80s, it can make it feel a lot colder when it is in the 40s.
I experienced the combination of cold and humidity on a hockey trip to Maine one winter and got the shivers so bad that the team doctor had to give me an injection of something that enabled me to work the game that night. That, fortunately hasn’t happened since, and while folks here were wearing parkas yesterday, I was comfortable in a vest and jacket. The temperatures here are supposed to be in the 50s and 60s through the end of the month and then edging into the upper 60s and 70s at the start of February. I’ll take it.
Hopefully after the current round of infusions is over next week, there will be a couple of rounds of golf on the horizon and when it reaches the mid-70s, a little pool time!