Day Six: "And Their Off!"

A Day At the Horses!

    This was probably one of the most laid back days of our entire trip. We were both a little sun burnt and all we wanted to do was find a nice soft place to curl up and sleep. We woke up to the sun shining through our cabin port hole, docked at Port of Palm Beach as if we'd never left. We had stayed up late last night taking in the last shows so we had not packed up our gear and were in no hurry to hop out of bed to do it. We had a late disembark card with a time stamp of 8:30am, although, we were invited to stay on board for the breakfast buffet as long as we kindly checked off the ship by 10:30 am.
   About 8am I heard them announce that passengers with an 8:30am disembark card could proceed to the gangway with their luggage. There was no luggage service to disembark as each person had to be in possession of their luggage when they went through customs and immigration. We reluctantly got up and packed up our gear and headed to the gangway.
   When we got to customs, with our completed customs declarations forms and passports in hand, they directed us to the US and Canadian passports line. The "other country's" passports line had about six people in it and ours looked to have about six hundred people weaving back and forth across the room between roped guide ways that I guess they thought would make us think the line was shorter than it was. I told the guy behind me, "I wish I had a different country's passport."
He said, "I do and I still had to get in this line."
"Where you from?", I asked.

"Canada." He said proudly.
"Guess you're stuck with us today bud." I smiled.
He smiled back. "Well, we've been stuck with you for a long time." And he started to tell us the story about how somewhere along the Alberta border, up there along the Northern Territories, during the cold war we brought a bunch of our stuff up there. You know missiles and silos and Anti-missile counter warfare equipment. Then after the cold war ended we came up and got all the ammunition and weapons but left all the other stuff.
"One day we just got sick of your stuff," he said, "And we said, 'hey come get your stuff.' "
"So did we come and get it?" I asked.
"Yes." he said, "That's what I did for a living. Helped you get your stuff out of Canada."
"Cool."
"So what do  you do?"
"I work for the US Air Force. . . . just kidding."
   We had a nice visit with the old Canadian and his wife. I am thinking about two hours worth of conversation was exchanged. Some interesting stories from up there in Alberta. And even though his dad was born in Utah, he wasn't really claiming to be an American-Canadian. This was one proud Albertan and don't get him mixed up with no Ontarian cause as far as I could tell that would be a different country.

Every Ticket is a Winner
til Post Time

   From customs, we hauled our luggage to valet parking to pick up our car and then it was straight to the track for post time. Going to the horse races at Gulfstream Park was the idea that instigated this entire trip. I am always excited before I see horses race. They are so amazing to watch run and there is always so much possibility to pick the right horse at least up and til the time they yell, "and their off!"

     I wished I would have thought to bring my binoculars. No short races here at Gulfstream. They were all thoroughbreds except the working horses. So no quarter mile races. I couldn't figure out why everyone was not standing at the finish line watching the horses run across (that's my favorite part). Then I walked into a smoke filled room looking for a refreshment stand and saw hundreds of people inside watching the races on television screens. They looked like they were in a casino making bets on simulcast. What the heck is the point of that? I wanted to shout, "Hey, everybody, there are real horses right outside!"

The Vetting Circle

   At the Woodlands, the now closed racetrack in Kansas City, Kansas, the horses were vetted in a little saddling area just off the track. I liked to watch each horse walk in and inspect them personally before I placed my bet. For me that was as much fun as the actual two dollar bets I made. It took me a while to find that place here at Gulfstream Park but then I realized it was the little courtyard area we'd seen on the way in. They had seats around it and more televisions screens for your viewing pleasure. You could just sit right there, watch them come in, and then go up and place your bets and never even go out to the track. But I got too anxious waiting for those grumpy old men to take my bet so I spent my time going between the vetting station and the track utilizing the betting windows on the track without lines and somewhat friendlier bet takers.

Simulcast

   Let's just say, it was a mute point to bet or not to bet. I decided not to keep throwing my money away on horses (at least not on the track). I am thinking the whole problem with my betting system is that the track was sloppy. It had to be something cause I sure was having trouble picking them. When we had about all the fun we could take, I took Connor over to the Haagen Daz  store for an ice cream cone. Yummy!
    Then it was back to our resort for our last night in Florida. Dinner, some air hockey, some shopping, a movie, and falling asleep on top of the covers ended our evening. I don't even remember falling asleep. And then I woke up in Florida... the room didn't move at all!

TRAVEL TIPS: WHAT ELSE WE LEARNED ON OUR VACATION
1. Go to the breakfast buffet before you disembark your ship. It's free and you are going to get hungry waiting in line for customs.
2. Bring a bigger suitcase and pack your carry on bag (preferably a backpack-- light). You are going be carry that pack around A LOT!
3. Relax and enjoy the people around you (find people that will cheerfully engage and don't let the grumpy ones bring you down).
4. Get names and contact information from the interesting people you meet. Send them a link to your on line vacation blog so they can see what you wrote about them! Maybe they wrote about you in theirs!
5. Get names (first and last if you can) of anyone who went the extra mile for you or hey, was just plain enjoying their jobs (like the customs agent that stamped our passports for Connor or the TSA agent that searched Connor's backpack and reassured him he hadn't broken the law or our cabin attendant who treated us like we were millionaires) and send their boss a thank you note.
6. Stick to the $2 per race betting rule at the track. Not losing a lot of money, makes betting on horses and watching them run a lot more fun! That is a $20, plus the cost of junk food and a t-shirt, fun day. Don't go thinkin' cause you picked a winner that now you can pick a Trifecta. Ain't gonna happen especially on a sloppy track.
7. Invest in a small pair of binoculars and put them in your backpack. You never know when they will come in handy to see if your jockey really did yank back on the reins in the last turn or to spot that crab on the Gumbo Limbo tree.
8. Stop and eat the ice cream even if it's raining. Did you know that eating an ice cream cone on a park bench actually attracts people that wish to engage in conversation with you? I guess people just find ice cream cones safe and know that you don't have any hands left to reach in your pocket and pull out a weapon, either that or they just want to find out where you got the ice cream cone from.
9. Take more pictures and spend less on souvenirs. Most souvenirs are made in China so unless you find something cool made by a local that you really like-- just take another picture.
10. Send a thank you note or better yet make a postcard from one of your pictures to let those that watched your place while you were gone know how much you appreciated them. If you have any money left, you can include a small gift card.