Last Trip before Lockdown Mar 20 Day 1 Fifty Shades of Flagler: Pick any colour as long as its Grey
 

Yesterday is HERE

Wednesday 4th March

Despite the interruption of the pesky smoke alarm, I did eventually drift off because the next time I looked at the clock it was 5am

As this was a short trip we thought there was not much point adjusting to US time so we had coffee and watched the news for a while before getting up around 8

I took a few more pics of the apartment in the daylight




This table design fascinated me :D




And a few around the resort on the walk over to the reception block



Where I reported the faulty alarm and arranged to have it repaired.

First morning breakfasts are traditionally Perkins for us but -oh the horror-there isn’t one in Palm Coast:omg: so back to old faithful, Bob.



Wow everyone in here was so friendly and welcoming. And it’s so much quieter than Orlando too. Which was good as we were still a bit tired.

Andy went for the everything breakfast bowl



I had the Original Farmer with sausage patties, hash browns , scrambled eggs and a crepe.



What can I say... ooh that crepe was :tongue:

Great start to the day for $26



Over breakfast we found the address of the company who were holding the title deed to our land - we needed to take a copy with us to the builders today to go with the contract.

This was only 10 minutes or so from Bob’s and we were there shortly after they opened and after producing our passports were swiftly on our way with the paperwork in hand.
So far so good. :thumbs-up

We had arranged to be at the Showhouse at 1.30 so this left us a few hours to drive round and check out some of the show homes and also house colours - as the exterior paint choices were proving to be a tricky choice.

Our main stop was this show house in the style we have chosen : SPOILER ALERT - we picked the exterior colours of this house :D




Later in the day we would come back and go round inside but for now we had a look round the outside and I have lots of pictures of stuff like the door and shutter panel colours, gutters, hurricane shutter fittings, hosepipe bibs and other such exciting things.




I wont bore you with all those but will share one I took through the window



It was around 12 now and we drove over to the main show home where we were meeting the others - the others being the sales agent and our friends the realtors

We had decided to go a bit early so we could have a look at the options before others arrived ;)

Thus keeping any major domestic fallouts well contained in advance and purely to ourselves - like whether white cabinets throughout the house were grounds for separation or not - you know, that sort of stuff :pgig::nonono:

We made a pretty good start on the options before they arrived - working out what we definitely didn’t like :erm: and having a number of things in mind that we did like - all depending on the price. ;)

The options book is 96 pages :omg: and the list of extras runs to hundreds of lines :omg::omg:, tough choices ahead!

A couple of hours later and we had slogged through the main stuff.

Mainly the colour of cabinets





Countertops



Tiles




Carpet



And Flooring - plus where we thought the carpet and flooring would go = yes I know they both go on the floor but i mean where one finishes and the other starts :nonono:



None of the choices were really easy - the flooring was hard as we really liked the ceramic floor tiles but we felt the wood was going to be more forgiving and durable.

Whilst there was lots of choice, some things were very fixed = so the cabinets had to be the same colour in the kitchen and bathrooms. Hence the white debate as we quite liked the idea for the kitchen but not the bathrooms.

Also the tiles - these would be the same in both bathrooms

And the countertop - that would be the same on the kitchen island and the bathroom .

So there was lots to consider and it was helpful to see this when we got to the model home

After a couple of hours getting to the preferred colour combo




All the Greys it is then

We drove over to the other house

I took lots of pics of where power sockets were - as you do :pgig:

The dining areas as you walk in with the standard lights





The laundry room



The master Shower



and Vanity



All hail the double sink :D


The Kitchen (same counter tops)



Standard vanity lights


Oh my, the walk in wardrobe


all the lights


And my least favourite thing:( the second bathroom


But there is more on those choices before we come home, of course

We had a drive round the area again, checking out more homes that were being built, looking at how they were being constructed , who was having fences, what landscaping was going on etc - It was really helpful

It was feeling a long time since breakfast so around 5pm we headed over to Texas Roadhouse.

This has recently opened in Palm Coast and was super busy. Apparently it has queues out the door most nights if you arrive after 6. But we were there nice and early and were seated straightaway.

We were with friends so pics limited to respect their privacy .

I went for a Texas Peach Fuzz.



It was ok. But not as good as their margaritas. It was a bit too sweet for me.

I had the filet with loaded potato and Caesar salad



Andy went for prime rib with corn and fries



It was all very nice. Well cooked and perfect temperatures.

The bill was $100 for the 4 of us. We all had steaks so we felt it was a good price



It was yummy. :tongue:

Bellies full and now the first day lag was catching up with us big time. We headed back to the apartment and after a short spell sat outside we called it a night

Tomorrow we are looking at furnishings and fittings - its a trip to Ikea in Jacksonville:D . I reckon that is a Dibb Florida trip report first :pgig::pgig:

What a lot of choices you had to make! Glad to hear you and Andy are still married 🤣 The house looks lovely - so exciting!

I ended up in IKEA in Hong Kong to get some things for O! Familiar but not 🤣

Gosh I couldn’t imagine making all those choices especially in a short space of time. I love the outside colour. Looking to Ikeas trip report debut 😂.

Food wise your steak looks nice and how I miss an American breakfast.

love the choices so far! is it sad that im really looking forward to the Ikea trip lol

So much to choose from :pgig: glad you got it all sorted :spin:

Joan :wave:

Oh my! So many choices in so little time well done you 👍
All that and a nostalgic Bob Evans breakfast and steak dinner you’re very kind.

Wow you really had a productive decision making day , oh how I’d love a bathroom with two sinks ! And how ever will you fill that walk in closet ;)

Lovely breakfast... love a crepe

Ha ha yes same. Familiar yet not !

We did well really. We had discussed the Colour options ALOT in the weeks before the trip. Hurricane shutters, blinds and the slide out bin made very regular appearances in our conversations in the immediate days before the trip. We left the UK pretty sure we would be including them all... spoiler ... they were all casualties by the end of the trip :pgig:

Yeah the pressure. No dithering time for me at all :erm: We liked the white exteriors , but we think the Grey will weather better especially as we won’t be there all the time to keep an eye on it.


Thank you . The IKEA was like WOW . So many lovely interior room sets. Loved it.

Hello. I know. It was quite mind boggling. :confused2

Thank you. Wasn’t it a great food combo day .. all the old faves :tongue:


The double sink was a must, it’s one of my fave things in American homes . Along with the laundry room ... and walk in wardrobe ... :d: I think the walk in closet is already bagged for Andys trainers :pgig::nonono::omg:

The Bob Evans breakfast sure looks good, I could definitely eat one of them with the crepes on the side as well, yummy. Lots of decisions to be made about flooring and cabinets. I bet that was fun choosing all the interiors. No wonder you were hungry for dinner after all that, and what a dinner, a lovely steak and loaded potato. Hopefully the pesky smoke alarm had been sorted and you enjoyed a full nights sleep.

Ah Bob, *sigh*, how I’ve missed you 😩

Oh Amanda this is just the perfect day! I would be in my absolute element making all of those decisions, even if it meant Jim and I ended in divorce. In fact as you know I went to Howdens today and even that has ended up in a ‘heated discussion’ and this is only a kitchen 😂

Ooh that walk in wardrobe is bigger than my bedroom, so jealous! Think of all the shopping that will need to be done to fill it 😆