best. solo. birthday. dinner. ever.

By the time I arrived at Cypress Pointe, it was 5 PM.
The horrible traffic in town on I-4, compounded by an intermittent drizzle, was continually at a halt.
On an interstate highway.
It had taken me ninety minutes to go ten miles.
I threw my bag into the smallest bedroom and went
off to Disney Springs to lighten my mood.

Lightened it got!
I had a $25 birthday60+1 gift awaiting me on my Landry's card
and I had known exactly where
I was going with it:
T Rex Cafe, baby!
That's where I had first joined the loyalty club, back in 2013.
They've bought me a birthday dinner every year since then, usually at Bubba Gumps in Daytona Beach, but last year at their own place here.

This time, though, I was right back where I had started this odyssey.
i thank You, God!
I did not have a reservation, but they seated me within fifteen minutes, and in the absolutely perfect spot - in their Ocean Room, right here beside the aquarium!
i thank You, God!
Elvis and I were able to enjoy the plethora of brightly-hued fish throughout the meal!

And, oh! What a meal!
The Salmon and Shrimp special sported secret spices - succulent and savory sweet!
(Get the pun? That joke's for you!)
I ate every last morsel, too, interspersing that dish with bites of the two sorbets, sweet mango and tart raspberry.
I was there almost two hours, dining, talking of fish with the manager, soaking up the luxury of being on my own time!

By the time I made my exit,
the moon had already begun its climb in the evening sky.
If you look closely, you can spot it between the lower ribs, to the right of the dinosaur's head.
I promise, I was looking right at it when I took the photo!
(smile)

The day's heat had given way to a comfortable temperature to take the air, so to speak.
That's not to say I wouldn't have minded taking to the air, as the balloonists were doing.
On such a clear-sky evening, that would have been nice... but the balloon harbor was too far tonight.
I was content to watch, from a distance, while listening to La Calle serenade me from the bandstand.
i thank You, God.