24 Hours later

Buddha here...It's now 24 hours since I got home from Florida and I'm only thinking of one thing---I THINK WE CAN TAKE THOSE GUYS! Who's with me?

Namaste

Florida, Recapped

What can I say?  Another Ice Hole's road trip successfully accomplished.  For us, failure is not an option.  I believe by this time, all but maybe our goalie (who was getting a little bonus time in the Florida sun) should be back home, safe and sound.  In reading back through this blog, I think the essence of the trip was captured well, but here's some moments that made the experience so much more satisfying:

• 24 total hours in the car, listening to Mac either snoring, farting, or sniggering at some movie he was watching (or a combo of all three).
• Kent's antagonism of the dogs staying at our hotel.
• Thinking that the Friday afternoon game against the Sharks was going to be the tough one.
• Nicole, our feisty waitress at Meyer's Latin Fare (of course, to Chris V, she'll always be "Rachel")
• Mac making a small child cry at the bar when he yelled at him.  The kid had accidentally turned the TV off.
• Pompano Beach...ahh yes, the beach.
• "I'm not burned, it's just a good base!"
• Jesse telling us he likes to cycle the puck, thinking that we were capable of that. And also assuming that we even knew what cycling the puck was.
• Joe's spectacular save percentage of 0.940 (saving 602 out of 627 shots).
• Adonis DNA, Tiger Blood, and "Winning!!!"
• The Chrysler 300 versus the K-Car
• The relevance of the size of a woman's engagement ring (ask Mac - he has developed a theory).

 I hope the readers of the blog had as much fun reading about the excursion as we did living it. And if you feel saddened by the fact that this latest chapter of the Holes' adventures, fear not!  Plans for the next installment we being discussed on the 12 hour drive home.  Stay tuned to see what lies in store...

Mariska hargatay.

What hockey tournament?

Buddha here...I truly appreciate Bryan and the boys driving 12 hours to take the hockey bags. It enabled Doug and I to swing through South Beach and hang out with the hard bodies. NC beaches certainly don't look like this.

We've just landed in Raleigh. The games of this weekend seem like a distant memory. (Thank God). The memories of the meals, the jokes, the smells, and the restraining orders will last forever.

When do we leave for Prague?

Namaste

Saturday night's alright for fighting

Buddha here...Forgive the late posting of this. It was a late night. (At least for those of us eligible to play in the over-40 league)

On Saturday night, those who chose not to drink beer and smoke cigars by the pool decided to check out the Bru's Room sports bar. We hadn't planned for the fact that the UFC light heavyweight championship was on that night. The place was packed!

Luckily, some of our guys intimidated a little league baseball team into giving up their table. (A mostly true story)

The food was good, the beer was great, and the guy in the red shorts beat the living daylights out or the guy in the white shorts. If this had been a hockey game, we would have been wearing the white shorts.
Namaste.

Bumper to bumper

After having such good luck with the traffic on the way down, our luck ran out. We're within sight of the South Carolina line, and an accident has us crawling along. That, in itself, wouldn't be such a bad thing, but certain passengers have chosen this time to vent excess vapor pressure, and without a steady flow of air past the windows, trying to clear the fumes has become more difficult.

On the bright side, Kent and I (riding in the front) have been entertained by Mac for miles now. He's in the back watching movies. He has the headphones on, so we can't hear the dialogue, but from time to time, he burst out laughing. It's rather amusing.

Georgia on my mind

Buddha here...they say you learn a lot about people when you travel with them. Amen brother.

I escorted Georgia around the street fair this morning. We both bought some wall decorations from the same vendor. The nice man offered to put both items in one bag, assuming she and I were together. I was happy to let it go but Georgia was VERY quick to correct the man and tell him that we not married, not related, and in fact she had never seen before in her life.

Now it all becomes clear. She had her eyes on Captain Jack the whole time. I knew I should have gone with Mac to get that tattoo Friday night.

Namaste

Fire engine graveyard

If your local volunteer fire department needs a new-to-you engine, come on down I-95 and pick one up. They also have used military trucks and cranes. Crazy low prices! Everything must go!

Ahoy

Okay, so Kent, Mac, Brett, and I get on up this morning, pack everone's gear in the truck, and get started on our 12 hour drive home so we can get there before Monday. Meanwhile, I get a text from Georgia that she's hanging out with Captain Jack at the arts festival down the street from the hotel before she goes to the airport. Interesting...

The Fat Lady Has Sung

Three games down, and I'm happy to say that we have maintained a perfect record for the tournament. Our last game was probably the closest we came to being halfway competitive. Of course, when I say that, I just mean that we scored a few goals. The bad news is, the other team scored a few more. Six more than us, to be exact.
We played hard, and honestly did the best we could. We just don't belong in the division that we ended up being put in. Final scores of the games not withstanding, we had an awesome weekend. As things wind down, some of the gang has gone in search of a sports bar to hang at, some are enjoying cigars at the hotel pool, and some are loading up on ibuprofen and hitting the hay.
All that's left to do now is try to dry out some of this nasty hockey gear as best we can before sealing it up for the 12 hour trek home tomorrow. That's always the tough part of the trip.

An authentic Greek at the authentic Greek restaurant. (owned by a Canadian)

It's All Greek for Dinner

Sitting outside on a wonderful Florida evening at a Greek restaurant just down from our hotel. We've got a variety of gyros and souvlaki coming our way, and life is good. Oh, and if we can not get pummeled in our 8:50 game tonight, that would be even better.

Recovery

The boys recovering and drying the gear at the pool. The hazmat crew temporarily quarantined the area.

Family Ties

Buddha here. (#17 in your program...#1 in your heart.) Why would we drive 12 hours to get beaten like a rented mule on a hockey rink? It's all about family.

When else could I guilt my brother into flying to miami with me and having lunch at Lulu's in Ft. Lauderdale? I even talked my in-laws into taking a detour on their trip from Jax to Key West to watch us play and drink beer at the bar after the game.

We may not win many games, but we definitely win at the family game.

Namaste.

0 for 2...

It was unbelievable folks! The Cinderella team from North Carolina, who was inadvertently put in the wrong division taking down perhaps the best team in the intermediate division! I mean, we took it to 'em. They didn't know which way to turn. We smoked that team 9-2, and we are now upstairs in the bar celebrating while the other losers are drowning their sorrows at the table next to ours. *

*this post is a work of fiction and is intended for entertainment purposes only. While it is based on actual events, certain aspects have been embellished for dramatic effect.

Pompano Beached

Photo evidence of our trip to the beach this morning. Some little kids tried to push Johnny into the ocean, but we were able to shoo them away. Kent didn't get in the water. Apparently, the ocean isn't safe.

Dinner, Cuban Style

As is becoming the trend with this group, dinner was again memorable tonight. As we sat in the ice rink bar and contemplated our gastronomic options, Joe and I decided that some Latin fare would be good, and had our sights set on a Cuban place that seemed to be just down the street from the hotel. After unsuccessfully trying to call them, we discovered that the place was out of business. Okay, disappointing, but we still had a hankerin' for some Cuban. After getting back to the hotel, Joe came up with another place that, again, was right down from the hotel. It was a relatively new restaurant called Meyer's Latin Flare. After walking in, I thought, "nice atmosphere". After looking at the menu, I thought, "good selections". After getting our food, I thought, "great food". And we ordered a lot of it. Everything I sampled was excellent. Z and I split a ceviche appetizer of mixed seafood. Awesome. Several ordered the paella. Awesome. I ordered the mufungo with pork. Awesome. And let's not forget the desserts: tres leches cake, flan, and churros. And on top of that, the wait staff was great fun and very accommodating to this large, and at times, unruly group. One of our waitresses didnt even mind that Vrettacos repeatedly called her by the wrong name (isn't there a country song by that title?). The chef even came out a few times to check on us. I can absolutely recommend the place if you ever find yourself in Coral Springs.

After dinner, some headed back to the hotel, while others cruised down the street to find a sports bar to hang out in. We soon discovered the bar was closing up (this doesn't seem to be the "party all night area of town). After a few more failed attempts to extend the evening, we gave up and joined the others in lounging next to the pool as Mac, Z, and Joe enjoyed their cigars. So what's on the docket for tomorrow? Well, a trip to the beach in the morning seems to be a popular idea, so we give that a go before our first game. The team we're playing at 2:30 tomorrow won their first game today 6-1, so we will probably have to be sharp tomorrow. Gotta go take some Advil and get some beauty rest. More later...

Nice try

Our first matchup for the tournament was against a team called the Sharks. We thought we might be in trouble when we heard they were from Minnisota. We knew we were in for a tough one watching them take the ice. We played a great first period, keeping them off the scoreboard. Joe was brilliant in the net. The second period was not so kind. They got a few goals on the board, then followed up with a few more in the third. We ended up losing 6-0, but we really played a good game against a team that was definitely a level above. Did I mention that they stuck us in the intermediate division? We are certainly NOT an intermediate level team.

The good news is, we got beer tickets to use after the game, so all is well. We're currently hanging out at the rink bar, finishing our free beer, before we figure out where to head out for dinner.

"You don't want to burn"

Mac offered to help Kent put on some sunblock. Kent resisted, to no avail.

The other lunch

Joe, Mac, Z, and Johnny's lunch at JB's Raw Bar. Flipper sandwiches all around.

Lunch

Eating lunch at "Pizza Time" in Coral Springs. I know it sounds like a cheap chain restaurant, but let me tell you, this was some great authentic Italian food. Between the group, we sampled margharita pizza, caprese subs, and a saltimbucca panini - all excellent. Now back to the hotel for a pregame nap.