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Church, Beef, & Eternity

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week’s post covered my holiday weekend time-period from Thanksgiving Eve – through Thanksgiving Day, and Black Friday, and Small Business Saturday.

We’re up to Museum Store Sunday now; although, this post has nothing to do with any museum stores. (Well since I mentioned it – back home – my Sebring Historical Society observed Museum Store Sunday by having our museum open for 6 hours to try to get rid of [sell] as much of our gift shop merchandise as possible to make room for new inventory.)

OK – let’s get back on track here. And let’s go to church – as a family. That’s what we did for the first time ever at their new non-denominational church in nearby Sachse Texas. (I wrote more about that experience on #SundayScripture a couple of weeks ago.)

After church me and my brother went to a busy Best Buy, and then we went to see our 2ND movie in 3 days. It seems as if every trip – either me visiting in Texas or my brother visiting in Florida – we end up seeing a movie that neither one of us was talking about in the hours or days leading up to it. Our “under the radar” movie for this trip was “Eternity”. I knew about it, but I never mentioned it because I didn’t think that he’d want to see it. And my brother knew about it, and he didn’t think that I’d want to see it. We decided about 90 minutes before the next showing at a nearby movie theatre to see it. We both enjoyed the premise of the movie. It’s one of my favorite movies of the year (out of 20+ so far), and my brother wants to see it again with his wife once it’s streamable. It was a fun movie with (surprisingly) lots of sight gags.

Fun Fact: “Eternity” and “Rental Family” (seen 2 days earlier) were the # 6 and # 7 movies of the 5-day Thanksgiving Weekend. Both played in far fewer theatres than the Top 5 movies above it.

Where’s The Beef ?: I almost forgot about it. Before the movie we ate lunch at a popular place called Portillo’s. It’s a Chicago-based fast-casual restaurant with almost 100 locations nationwide (and rapidly expanding). They specialize in Chicago beef. And I had some for lunch. I had the Beef & Cheddar Croissant. It’s a variation of the classic Italian beef sandwich that uses a croissant instead of French bread. It features thin-sliced, slow-roasted, rich, and seasoned Italian beef and melted cheddar cheese. It was pretty good. Very juicy !

And finally – I ended my favorite month of the year – November – with a great Sunday Night Football game on NBC – the Denver Broncos (a team I like) at my original hometown Washington Commanders. It was surprisingly an exciting and close back-and-forth game that extended well into overtime. My Commanders had a chance to win it by a point if they had converted on a 2-point conversion following a touchdown, but the conversion was blocked, the game ended – Broncos 27 Commanders 26 – and November ended.

Next #TravelThursday is in 2 weeks on New Year’s Day, and I’ll cover the experiences and events of the first few days of the new month of December in the Dallas Texas area. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Texas Bound

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week’s post ended with me waiting at my gate at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (#SRQ) and listening to the music that they play (rather loudly) from The Blend (SiriusXM) all throughout the terminal.

My Thanksgiving Eve flight to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (#DFW) boarded a little bit late, and it took off into the air a few minutes late as well. It also arrived at #DFW a few minutes late. It flew a nearly straight-line flight across the northeastern Gulf and over Louisiana and Texas. The Airbus 321EOW was not quire full – with a few middle seats unoccupied (including the one next to mine). There was also plenty of room in the overhead bins. I had an aisle seat 5 rows from the back of the aircraft. The flight was mostly peaceful and quiet with a few mild bumps along the way at cruising altitude (as high as 38,000 feet).

Fun Fact: An Airbus 321EOW is one that can fly up to 400 miles from shore, as it meets specific FAA requirements to do so (such as sufficient life rafts). “EOW” = “Extended Over Water”.

I met my brother at the Baggage Carousel. We picked-up my baggage, and we left for Wylie Texas (about 40 miles away) – with a stop at Kroger close to his home.

On Thanksgiving Day we stayed in all day long, and we watched football from mid-morning – through the afternoon – and into the evening. Oh – and we ate a lot of food too – from early-morning – through the afternoon – and into the evening.

A Thanksgiving Morning tradition actually ended this year. We did not open all of the presents underneath the Christmas tree as we’ve done every year in the past since my nieces have been alive (going back to 2010). There were no presents underneath the Christmas tree. But there would be soon, and we’d open them in a couple of days.

Another Thanksgiving tradition also ended. I didn’t spend much of the day packing and preparing for my return flight or drive back to Florida, as I had just arrived. No packing necessary until the following Friday.

And yet another tradition ended on #BlackFriday. I did not fly back (or begin my drive back) home to Florida. Me and my brother began our week-long quest to eat at different restaurants, shop at many stores, see several movies, and visit various coffeehouses.

On #BlackFriday we saw the movie “Rental Family” (starring Brendan Fraser). And then we ate lunch at “Flying Fish” – a regional fast-casual seafood restaurant chain. And then we went to a busy Barnes & Noble. And then we went to Target including a pitstop at the Starbucks inside Target. So that covers the restaurant, store(s), movie, and coffeehouse for the day after Thanksgiving.

On #SmallBusinessSaturday we supported a small business early in the morning – a family-run breakfast and lunch place in Sachse Texas – Woodbridge Cafe. They opened in January 2018. It was our first visit. It won’t be our last. I enjoyed cinnamon swirl French Toast, two eggs over hard, two sausage patties, and coffee.

Next #TravelThursday – I attend a non-denominational church service with my brother, sister-in-law, and two nieces for the first time ever. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Texas Confirmation

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This is a continuation of my post from last week when I wrote about Chick-fil-A, lunch with my brother and youngest niece at her school’s cafeteria, the Australian psychological thriller movie “The Surfer” starring Nicolas Cage, and the long-awaited return to Babe’s Chicken Dinner House.

It’s my final day in North Texas – Saturday May 03RD 2025 – and it’s my brother’s 50TH birthday !

We awoke to a sparkling clear and sunny morning – the first time I had seen the deep blue sky over North Texas like that since last November. It was also chilly (in the 50s). I wish we had nice weather the entire time I was there, but the dark and gloomy and rainy skies of the previous 3 days didn’t interrupt us too much.

On this beautiful Saturday morning we drove over to the neighboring city of Rockwall Texas to Our Lady Of The Lake Catholic Church. We awoke and arrived early, as my eldest niece was getting confirmed as a Catholic along with a hundred or so other kids her age. I actually had no idea what a “confirmation” was, so I had to look it up on Google and Wikipedia beforehand. (I was only a Catholic until about the age of 10 or so.)

It was actually a complete Catholic mass from start to finish – a longer one than normal, as it included all of the confirmations during the middle of the mass as the kids formed a line leading to the altar and the Priests. By the way – the Priest that led most of the mass was a very young guy (I’m guessing – late-30s), and his homily was surprisingly interesting – about being a witness to your faith on social media. I couldn’t believe my ears. He was very relevant with his message – targeting the kids who were getting confirmed.

The mass included Communion – which I observed but did not participate in. Catholics generally don’t want non-Catholics participating in their Communion; although, since I was baptized in the Catholic Church (as a 4-day-old baby) and I received my First Communion in the Catholic Church (as a 2ND grader) – I technically could have received Communion. But I’m no longer a Catholic. Ironically – I led Communion at my own church the following morning back home in Sebring. We allow Communion for all believers and followers of our Lord + Savior Jesus Christ.

After Catholic mass – my brother drove me to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (#DFW), and I flew back home that afternoon via a packed American Airlines 737 to Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (#SRQ). We arrived so early that our gate wasn’t ready yet for our arrival, so we had to sit on the active taxiway for a little while before approaching.

I got home at around 7:15 PM EDT, and it was great to see my dream home in my dream neighborhood in my dream part of Florida again.

But wait – there’s more ! My brother visited me here just 10 days later. I’ll write about it next #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Texas Chicken

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This is a continuation of my post from last week when I wrote about Barnes & Noble, Scotty P’s, Whataburger, and the circus-themed choral concert performed by a few hundred 5TH, 6TH, 7TH, and 8TH graders from two different schools – inside the auditorium of one of the local high schools.

That was the first time I entered a high school in 40 years – since I graduated with the Class Of 1985 in Northern Virginia. But wait – there’s more school fun !

Me and my brother went to Chick-fil-A (via the drive-thru), and I got the deluxe chicken sandwich with waffle fries. We then took our meals and went back to school – back to the 6TH grade. My youngest niece’s school has a program where students can eat with their parents / adult relatives on Fridays at special tables set aside in the cafeteria. So – we checked-in at the front office (excellent security), and we proceeded to the cafeteria and waited for my niece (my brother’s daughter) to arrive. (We bought her lunch too.)

It was my first appearance inside an elementary school since 1979 – at the end of the 6TH grade for me. I attended Magnolia Elementary School in Lanham Maryland from 1972 to 1973 (Kindergarten), and from 1975 to 1979 (3RD through 6TH grades). ♫ “We’re the blue and gold. The pride of P.G. Magnolia Mustangs # 1 …” ♫ (We had to sing that school theme song a lot back then, so I still remember it nearly 50 years later. I doubt they’re still using it.)

After lunch with my niece – me and my brother headed over to the local AMC Theatre to see “The Surfer” starring Nicolas Cage. It was a good movie about local Australian surfers protecting their territory from outsiders who don’t live there. (It was a psychological thriller.)

Later that afternoon we (as a complete family of 7) ventured over to Babe’s Chicken Dinner House. We went there once perhaps 16 or 17 years ago, and I loved it. I think we went back another time since then, but it’s been a long time. I’ve wanted to go back there for the past several years. It’s probably one of my favorite non-steak / non-fast food restaurants in the #DFW area. We finally made it there after all of these years – despite the objections of my sister-in-law and oldest niece who wanted to go to Chili’s instead. Chili’s is OK, but I can go there anytime I want right here in Sebring. (I go there a few times a year.)

At Babe’s each person at the table orders what drink they want, and what type of chicken they want (fried, hickory smoked, tenders, etc.). A few minutes later the chicken arrives family-style (4 pieces per person) – along with buttermilk biscuits, house salad, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, and corn. Everyone digs in. There’s plenty of food to go around, and whatever chicken doesn’t get eaten – they will bag it up for you so that you can take it home. Each meal costs less than $20 per person. It’s a good deal, and it’s good food. Hopefully we’ll make it back there again in less than a decade.

So that was my Friday May 02ND 2025 in North Texas. It was a fun day of chicken, grade school, Australian surfing, and more chicken. Next #TravelThursday – it’s Part 4 of my fun with family, as we attend a full Catholic church service and watch my oldest niece get confirmed. And then I fly back home to Florida. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp