Cat Tales: Miscellany and Mischief

Day 20: Melbourne

30DBC December 20 Prompt: Welcome to Melbourne, everyone! We'll be staying here through Christmas Eve, so feel free to get settled into your hotel rooms at The Blackman. We're going far out from the city today, so drivers, be ready and aware of the route! We're leaving early, around 8, to arrive at the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice creamery around 9:15. You can either buy some bread from Breadtop for breakfast and eat it in the car or wait until we arrive and have chocolate and ice cream to start your day. They have a Vegemite-flavored ice cream- are you brave enough to try it? Next, the Valley Farm Vineyards are another 20-minute drive away, so we'll go there once we're done eating chocolate and ice cream and have a guided tour of their winery, which includes wine-tasting, for those who are interested. If not, you can go along and have the cheese they provide. For those under 21, do not worry! The legal age here is 18. We'll finish the day at Healesville Sanctuary and visit the koalas, kangaroos, and various other animals they keep here, before going back to the hotel.

5 Days until Christmas!
We check into our hotel, and I'm so glad we're staying put for a few days. What I'm most excited about, though, is the fact that we get to have CHOCOLATE FOR BREAKFAST!!!

We get to the Creamery, and it's such a menagerie of flavors, I almost can't decide! I eventually pick a tame black cherry/chocolate chunk flavor, reminiscent of Cherry Garcia, my fave Ben & Jerry's flavor. It's so delicious and takes me back to when I would get ice cream in a cone while walking along the Boardwalk at Myrtle Beach on vacations with my parents. brothernature tries a lick of the vegemite ice cream. I watch with a grimace--he actually seems to like it! He gets in a couple more bites before Andre gets in on the fun.

Okay, so chocolate and wine in the same day. This is the BEST. DAY. EVAH. We head out to the Vineyards and tour the beautiful grounds in a cherry red vintage car (we have to take turns, but I don't mind waiting until the last go-round). The surrounding lush green mountains give me a little sense of home in Appalachia, reminding me of my honeymoon to Gatlinburg (may God bless that tormented town).

And now we get to visit some fur babies before we go to the hotel. This day was designed for comfort, I tell you. They let us pet some of the koalas, but I stay far away from the roos' kicking feet. They're much taller--and intimidating--in person, though their deer-like faces are pretty cute.

In the car on the way back to the hotel, I get a rare text from my hubby. He's got off work from today until the beginning of January and even managed to get his boss at Papa John's to give him off until the end of December. I feel happy for him, but wonder what he's gonna do with all that time off. He texts back: "Didn't you pack anything nice to wear in your suitcase? There's nothing in here but jean skirts and t-shirts. I wanted to go to dinner with you."

I sit with my mouth open. What was he talking about? Just then I get a text from the Wordy Jay . "You're welcome. " My open mouth turns up in a smile. Jay had gotten ahold of my husband after suggesting to me that he should fly in for the holidays. And Hubby had actually been able to do it. I give a little squeal of excitement (startling Princess Megan Rose ) and frantically text back. "You actually FLEW in?????" He just replies with a wink.

Once back at the hotel, I run into my room, only to find a key card in a sleeve with a new room number on it. Hubby had checked out a separate room for us (and apparently taken all my stuff, too). I go to the new room and greet Hubby with a big hug and kiss. He tells me we're going to The Willows restaurant, so I put on my least-wrinkled shirt and skirt and we set off to dinner. We catch up on all his substitute-teaching adventures, and I show him all my pictures. "I'm so glad you'll be here for the rest of the trip. We get to see it together!" He smiles. "We sure will."

Needless to say, today has been a perfect day. I can't wait to see what adventures we'll go on tomorrow!





AlyCatAuthor