OFF TO SEE THE PRINCESS GOWNS

Later this year, my friend Rose & I will be going down to Fort Lauderdale to catch our plane to Ecuador. The last time I was in Fort Lauderdale was during the autumn of 2004. This was shortly after the double hurricanes devastated the Treasure Coast.

Almost constantly, I was on the phone trying to reach a contractor or even a handyman. These calls were all being ignored. My porch screens were blown out, the yard (front & back) was full of shingles from my roof, along with piles of other debris. And I had just received a joke check from my Insurance Company! You bet I was going to complain!

When the phone rang, I jumped to answer it! The caller was a neighbor, an older widow who lived down the street. She along with a small group of friends were planning to see the Princess Diana Exhibit at the Museum of Art down in Fort Lauderdale. I was invited along.

“Put me down for a ticket!” I replied. My home was a depressing disaster area, this diversion was highly welcomed.

Tickets purchased, we were scheduled to visit the week before Thanksgiving. However, only 1 week before, my neighbor phoned with bad news. She had fallen in the tub and injured her back! The trip was off and our $20 tickets were UNREFUNDABLE. Plus she had charge of our tickets!

“My friends all took a vote,” she declared, “and decided that we’re all going or no one is going.” 

Two days earlier, I received another miniscule check from my Insurance Company, the FINAL one and I would be paying the lion’s share for repairs (including the cost of a new roof) out of my own pocket. The thought of throwing away $20 made me ill!

However all was not lost; one of those friends contacted the museum. Our tickets would be honored at a later date. Now we were going 2 weeks before Christmas. A younger lady was going to drive us in her SUV. Unfortunately, the car was too high for my neighbor to climb, so she insisted the lady drive HER car which was far smaller. Besides my neighbor & me, there were 3 other women. We were all trim, yet the back seat felt uncomfortably crowded.

Instead of the scenic route, they opted for the fast one. We were now into the height of tourist & snowbird season. Traffic was a nightmare! We waited a long time in line at a toll booth. The driver complained her vision was limited by the heavy traffic. She wasn’t sure she was even in the right line, but that one appeared blocked off.

“We’re going to Fort Lauderdale,” she told the man in the booth.” He just smiled back, never once informing us that we were going in the wrong direction! We soon discovered we were headed toward Disney World, NOT Fort Lauderdale!

For long miles we were unable to make a turn. After we found ourselves out in the sticks with few cars, the driver wanted to chance an illegal turn.

“Don’t you dare!” my neighbor hollered, “It’s my car and you’ll get me in trouble!”

Eventually we came upon a rest area with a service station, restaurant etc.; the driver used this as an opportunity to turn and get us on the right path. At last we were headed south! We’d already lost an hour on our long drive.

Eventually, we reached Fort Lauderdale. Now we couldn’t locate the Museum of Art! Our driver stopped to ask a man for directions.

“You have a flat tire!” were the first words out of his mouth. He pointed toward the front of the car, before giving us directions. We were close! But first, we needed to get to a garage. The man told us one was nearby.

“We‘re too busy today and can’t take on any more work,” the owner apologized.

We explained our situation and pleaded with all our might. Eventually, a mechanic stepped forward and came to our rescue. We all chipped in to give him a generous tip!

We’d already lost a lot of time and it was getting late in the afternoon, but were hungry, so we stopped for scones & coffee before heading into the museum.

As soon as we stepped inside, we were in awe. Princess Diana’s gorgeous gowns were gloriously on display. Many, I recognized from TV and the news such as the sparkling & bejeweled Elvis dress and the sexy one in fiery red. The padded outfit she wore into the mine field was also there.

The only disappointment was her wedding dress. Without her inside, it was ugly. And the fabric seemed dingy. It looked as if it had been her great grandmother’s old gown that had been retrieved from a dusty trunk after a century. And on TV it appeared so beautiful!

Her personal mementos were also there, along with photos. It was well worth our ordeal to see!

Our group had planned to enjoy a leisurely dinner afterward in Fort Lauderdale. However, my neighbor just remembered she had forgotten to let her cats out. “They’ll mess in my house!” she exclaimed. “And I left the door to my computer open! They’ll get hair on the keyboard.”

All the way back to Vero Beach, she complained about the heavy traffic slowing us down.

As we pulled into her driveway, her cats raced toward the front door. They had been outside all along!!!

At 9:00 PM most of us were already exhausted, I considered just walking home and fixing myself a sandwich. Instead, I went with the other ladies to the local Ruby Tuesday’s for dinner.

Afterward, the gas tank was nearly empty, so we attended to that. My neighbor announced that we all needed to open our wallets and contribute our share. I almost wanted to throw it in her face after all the trouble she caused!