Through Will's Eyes: Florida Trip!

Pickle ball, sun, and playoffs!

Hey all! Hope you are having a great Monday. Back in Minnesota for awhile (I think) after another fun week of travel! Let’s get into it!

Thursday, April 20th

Another trip has begun! Nothing better than waking up and knowing you are only a few hours away from the sunshine.

The day started at 3:45am with my alarm very much surprising me. We headed to the airport at around 4:30 and got there at around 5 to catch our 6:20am flight.

Me, Lawson, Kappy (and Mort), Cuddy, and his girlfriend Kennedy were heading down to Estero, Florida for a little vacation and sunshine. Dave’s parents have a place down there and were nice enough to let us stay there for the weekend.

We boarded the flight and got a little shut eye on the way down. Landing in your destination before noon is always really nice because you feel like you did not waste a day traveling. We arrived smoothly and headed from Fort Myers airport to Estero right away. Upon arrival we changed quick and headed right to the pool! The next two days were a nice planned relaxation and working station. I think I could get used to working from Florida.

That night we headed over to a place called Tacos and Tequila! They have some very unique flavors of tacos such as a breakfast taco, buffalo wing taco, you name it! Great place to get some good food and drinks that is for sure.

After dinner we headed back to the condo to sit our butts on the patio balcony and have a few drinks to end the night. The playoffs were on as well so we of course watched that!

Friday, April 21st

Friday morning Lawson and I woke up pretty early and decided to do some running. I am not going to lie, I was pretty exhausted from the day before and it made for running to be a bit difficult. It was self inflicted pain from the drinks so I had no right to whine about it!

We ran around the community we were staying in and ended up getting 10 miles done. Luckily we went in the morning otherwise it would have been quite hot outside. It actually feels so good to run during travel days, you feel way more accomplished!

After running, we were not done with exercising as it was time for pickle ball. Dave and I were taking on Cuddy and Lawsy in a best of 5 series. DO OR DIE (I am not competitive at all don’t worry…)

After about an hour and a half of playing, Dave and I took it home in the 5th game! We celebrated hard (in our heads though because we were wiped) after the hard fought battle. I could have probably played for three more hours if it was up to me as pickle ball is one of the best games out there.

Then I had to do some work as it was still a work day and spent late morning and the afternoon getting some stuff done, sitting on meetings, and enjoying the grind.

When the work day was over we headed to the clubhouse at the golf club nearby and had a great buffet dinner. We even saw an alligator hanging out on the fairway that Cuddy said he was going to wrestle (big talker).

After dinner it was time to relax and watch the Wild game! They kicked some butt and the night ended peacefully.

Saturday, April 22nd

We wouldn’t go on a trip without going to a hockey game of course!

It was game day in Tampa so we woke up at 6am and headed to Tampa at about 7am. The two hour drive went fast and we made it there around 9:30am after a stop for gas and breakfast. The Lightning have been one of our favorite teams to work with so it was nice being back there for playoffs. We took in morning skate, shopped at the merch store, and then went to lunch with the Lightning staff we were there with.

After lunch we had a few hours of free time so we headed over to Hat Trick’s which is one of our favorite sports bars. We watched most of the Jets/Knights game, hung out, and at this time Bates joined the trip! He is a huge Leafs fan so he made the trip down to have some fun and enjoy the day with everyone.

Then it was time for pregame! We headed over to Amalie Arena at around 4:00pm to fire up the crowd that was already gathering for the 7:00pm game. We even got to join in on a march with some super fans that went through the city near the arena chanting, yelling, and bringing the noise! Super cool experience to be a part of.

After all the pregame it was time to head into the arena for the game and enjoy some playoff hockey. We made sure to bring our energy and it was a great time. Even better, it was such a good game that even went to overtime!

The Leafs did end up winning in overtime which was unfortunate to see but after riding the Zamboni, being on the dance cam, throwing t-shirts, watching fights, brawls, lots of goals, and cheering loud, we chalked it up as a pretty dang good night. One of the best hockey games I had been at for sure and Tampa is for sure a hockey town in my books!

Sunday, April 23rd

All good things must come to an end. We got up around 8am and went to the pool one last time before heading to the airport to return to Minny. Another smooth travel day in the books and it was time to gear up for the Wild game again! I don’t want to talk about that one though..

Thank you to everyone we were able to meet in Tampa as the support down there is always exceptional. It was a very fun trip and I know that I feel very refreshed and excited for the week ahead. Time to get to work and have another great week!

Thank you for reading the newsletter as I greatly appreciate you all taking the time to read the updates. I hope you have an amazing week full of success, happiness, and fun!

Until next week!

Cheers,

-WB