My sister was born on THE Pearl Harbor Day--the day that the Empire of Japan bombed the US Navy fleet and other military installations at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. December 7, 1941. Thus, Tuesday of last week was her 80th birthday. While 80 years may seem ancient to some, Shari neither looks nor acts that old. I envy her youthful appearance!
On December 4th (Saturday) of last week, Shari's daughters in the Springfield, IL, area threw a birthday party for her there at the Route 66 Motel, complete with separate rooms for us to stay the night. We drove the two hours to Springfield cool day with no problems. The party took place in a conference room. While there were some old and faithful friends there, the attendees were mostly family--children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren along with some Significant Others and spouses. It was refreshing to have everyone together in one place for a happy occasion rather than a funeral for once!
The party room was decorated with birthday bling. There was a cash bar for those who imbibe. There were finger foods: veggie trays with dips, sub sandwiches with all the fixings, home made cookies (including home made coconut macaroons), brownies, and (of course) birthday cake. The party only took up half the room. The other half was wide-open space which, as might be guessed, turned into a romper room when the great-grandchildren got bored. There were cartwheels, splits, a game of duck- duck-goose, and lots of noise and commotion. (Fortunately, this occurred very late in the party so it wasn't obnoxious. Only family left by this time.) As the old Society Gossip pages used to say, a good time was had by all.
The motel is called the Route 66. It's under major remodeling. I think people actually live there. They had displays of vintage Coca Cola machines and other 50s memorabilia. Our rooms were provided gratis because my sister's eldest daughter knows the motel owners. My sis/bro-in-law's room was a double--one half was bed and TV; the other half was a bar and a jacuzzi. Needless to say, the old folks didn't bring bathing suits, and the water just didn't get warm enough to want to go in au naturel. I had my own room--handicapped accessible. There was no seat in the shower. I probably could have asked for one but decided not to shower. It did have a high toilet seat, just like the new one I have at home. The only thing I really missed was that the room did not include a tissue dispenser. I need my tissues!!
We were on the road back to Missouri by 9:00 AM, in the rain. We brought home a ton of leftover sweet things--cakes, brownies, cookies. We moved on from there. We'd had a great time!
No comments:
Post a Comment