You Can't Drink Beer In Your Truck, Sir.

 My parents came and went. It was wonderful to see them. It was wonderful to hold Josiah. It was wonderful to get rid of the rental truck and get our own vehicle back. It felt like home. 

At this point in our journey we were in Yulee Florida. It's just north of Jacksonville and we were waiting for paperwork to clear so that we could cross state lines and head home with our newest addition. That wait could be anywhere from 2 days to 14 days. Business days. 

We had adopted right before Thanksgiving, which meant in addition to those weekdays, we had weekends and a holiday. We were going to be here for a while.

In Yulee there is the Florida Citrus Center. You see signs for it before you get there, similar to South of the Border but not as grand. In fact, the whole thing is not as grand as South of the Border. It's a roadside stand. They sell oranges. By the interstate. 

And that's it. 

There is nothing else in Yulee. 

The grocery store was a 15 minute drive through construction. Parks were 20-30 minutes away through construction. 

There's a community called Wild Light and they really work hard to distinguish themselves from Yulee, but honestly, it's just a subdivision in Yulee. They talk about it like it's a city and Yulee is it's redneck suburb. But Wild Light, I got news for you - the land you are building on is in YULEE.

Our precious Aunt Allyson had kindly put us up again in a hotel while we wait out the 2-14 days. We were hoping it was 2. 

Poor Josiah was losing it with boredom. Honestly. He would just run back and forth through the room to entertain himself. He would spin in circles and fall down making himself drunk. He wrestled a stuffed Spiderman. And like any bored kid, he started to get in trouble. 

Aaron was writing a paper during "not-so-quiet time" when Josiah got not so quiet. So I packed up my two boys and went to the lobby. Because of COVID they had taken up all the seats so we ate a snack on the floor. This seemed to make everyone happy for a moment. It was sunny and bright. Josiah was enjoying NOT being in the room. Eli was hanging out making baby noises. It was really truly nice. 

Then I heard a statement I'll never forget:

"I'm sorry but you can't just sit in your truck in front of the hotel and drink that beer sir."

Denise from the front desk had clearly caught someone with an open container in his truck in front of the hotel. I listened more closely.

"But I'm staying here. I'm parked. I'm getting ready to come inside."

"I know but you can't walk in here with an open container sir."

"But it's my beer."

"I know that, sir, but you are just going to have to take it around back and finish it there and walk in the back door, like everyone else."

Like everyone else. Let's ponder that statement for a moment. How many people have attempted to come in the front door with an open container of beer and have been told to drive around to the back of the building for discretion? Clearly more than one. 

Also, one has to wonder, is it really safer to tell someone with an open container to DRIVE if they are already parked? 

What is worse - walking in the front door of a hotel with an open beer or driving your car through a hotel parking lot while drinking so that you can get in the back door?

The litany of questions simply made my head spin. But you don't argue with Denise. 

We finished our snack and went out the front door to look at the stray cats the staff had been feeding on the sidewalk. Josiah wanted to pet them but I was pretty sure they had worms, so I told him that stray cats that don't have homes shouldn't be touched. That was followed with "why?" which was followed with an explanation of rabies and worms that was probably too long and difficult to understand because he quit asking why. I considered that the parenting win of the day.

We went back to our room. Aaron had finished his paper. Eli spit up all over me and cried. Josiah started climbing the walls and yelling something about Spiderman. Aaron and I just looked at each other and dove in doing what you have to do as a parent. Keep moving forward.  

This was business day 3 of maybe 14 and there was no call. We even held on to hope that they would call us well after the government offices closed for the holiday. But they didn't call. 

We were going to have to pack up and find another location or we weren't going to make it through Thanksgiving.