The Breakers. Day 1. They Said It Would Be Easy.
It’ll be easy, they said. It’s only two and a half hours, they said. There’s nothing to worry about, they said.
They were wrong.
And to be clear, “they” refers only to my husband.
We left the house around 10am, made it to the airport quick, found no line at check-in, no line at bag drop, no line at security (with pre-check) and no line at the bagel place. It was smooth sailing. The flight was scheduled to depart at 12pm, and by 12pm we were on the plane with the doors closed.
Then it began. First the pilot came on to say that due to weather we were being re-routed and it was going to take some time to reprogram the flight path and load extra fuel. Then they came on to say we were being rerouted again, and while we had enough fuel, it would be a little while longer before they reprogrammed the flight path (again).
By the time we took off it was 1:30pm, a full 90 minutes late. By then, Madeleine was pretty much done.
Let’s just say the flight was long. Hallie did great, watching Peppa Pig the entire time. She did keep asking for food every ten seconds, and Tzvi just kept feeding her. Madeleine fell asleep during take off, which gave us ho. e, but then she woke up about ten minutes later. She didn’t really cry, which was good, but she was pretty restless and wouldn’t sit in her seat. She also wouldn’t go to Tzvi, because apparently she’s entered a total mommy phase. It was pretty rough. Had we taken off on time i think the flight would’ve been okay, but the delay really killed us.
It took a while to get off the plane. We were seated in the second to last row, because that was all that was left when we booked this trip six days ago. I think this was the most last minute trip we’ve ever booked. Very unlike us. Anyway, by the time we got to baggage claim all of the bags had come out and ours were just sitting there. Oh, and it was pouring rain outside.
The Uber was about fifteen minutes and then we arrived at the Breakers. The approach is really beautiful, and then you enter the hotel. Luxury cars lined up as you pull in, the bellman swiftly take your luggage (that ends up in the room before you even get there), and you head to check in, not to mention that this place is basically a palace - the halls are massive and the ceilings are all so ornate and beautiful. We got our room, the girls got coloring books, and we headed upstairs, but not before an Israeli family asked some questions nearby. Our room is beautiful and spacious.
Once we were in the room it was basically a race to the finish, the finish being our dinner reservation. We had to get everyone showered and dressed in about 1.5 hours. We bathed Madeleine, then Tzvi showered, then Hallie bathed, and then Tzvi took Madeleine for a walk in the stroller to try and get her to finally nap. She did, and Hallie watched more Peppa Pig while I rushed to get ready.
Dinner tonight was at Flaggler Steakhouse on the second floor of the golf course club house. While the experience of being with my family was rated one star, the actual dinner was five stars. Hallie and I showed up to find Tzvi sitting alone sipping a cocktail while Madeleine was asleep in the stroller. Nice that he gets to enjoy himself. I ordered a delicious drink with gin and lavender (which thankfully did not taste like soap). To start I had a Kale Salad and Tzvi had an iceberg salad with blue cheese dressing. There was also fantastic warm bread. For the main I had blackened Tuna that came with mashed potatoes and asparagus. It was amazing, the tuna actually had that “steak” feel. It was this really thick piece, but they cooked it for me because I don’t like raw fish. Tzvi had chilean sea bass with a corn and chile sauce, which he loved. The girls had pizza and corn and fries. Madeleine woke up about 20 minutes after we sat down and was a mess. She calmed down eventually and kept walking around the restaurant, dragging bags from the stroller and my purse, unpacking and packing blankets. Meanwhile, Hallie watched more Peppa Pig. For dessert, the girls got brownie ice cream sundaes with M and Ms and chocolate sauce. Tzvi and I shared a massive chocolate cake and a key lime pie. Both were so good. The whole meal was so good. It was such a nice place and had a real “American steakhouse” feel. Tzvi kept telling me that no matter how crazy the girls were, this was still better than being home. I’m going to need to adjust to that notion.
After dinner we took the shuttle back to the hotel (its a few blocks, but still hotel property) and headed upstairs, but not before asking an Israeli couple in the lobby (they’re everywhere!) to take our photo.
We got the girls in bed - Madeleine went straight into the crib but Hallie hid under the covers - you guessed it - watching more Peppa Pig. The whole process took too long, but eventually Hallie went to sleep and now we’re sitting on the bathroom floor.
I love traveling with kids.