I’m going to try keeping this brief because I have a new game to return to.
Today was racetrack day in Florida.
The idea that we would be watching horse races was interesting for me to prepare for. It’s been a long time since I’ve personally gone to any kind of races, and in the time since there have been controversies at the track I’m most familiar with in Del Mar due to a series of horse deaths.
Obviously Florida is a whole world away, but I was curious to see whether any hint of animal rights backlash would reach across the country.
I didn’t see anything of the like.
What I did see is one of the coolest god damn landmarks ever built:
Look at this. A Pegasus stomping on a dragon? How could you not be excited to go to Gulfstream Park?
I wanted to get a photo of the statue myself… But naturally heavy weather picked up the moment I separated from my grandparents to get a nice angle on foot.
Here’s the best I got:
That said, I did get some nice photos of the area in-and-around the track. The whole place is like a Las Vegas gambler’s dream.
So how about the races themselves?
I had a good time looking through the schedule when we first arrived. There were an obscene amount of horses named after Marvel Comics characters (though no Thanos), and one named after that spelling mistake the President made some years back.
I had to bet on Cofveve for the memes. Especially with my Dad’s justification that “losers are winners in this country.”
But in the end, memes and a slight sunburn were the best I got.
Cofveve disappointed by being in the very back for the entire race.
Yet… The story doesn’t end there.
While I was wasting my money, Grandpa put a bet on a box of three horses and Grandma copied his bet.
They managed to win ~$1,300.
The nuttiest thing is that it was apparently a complete accident? Grandpa intended to bet on one horse but wrote the wrong number down.
And then crazily enough, two races later they managed to win another $75 or so!
Lesson learned: Always copy off of Grandpa’s notes.
Because I bet on three races and managed to walk out with nothing but a hot dog…
And this neat horse-racing gif.
Then, you know, I got soaking wet trying to take a picture of that statue.
In the end, it was all worthwhile. We had a great time, my grandparents won a lot of money…
And they bought me Fire Emblem: Three Houses with some of that money.
I’ll admit, I may have been dropping hints throughout this vacation about wanting the new Fire Emblem game. Usually I never know what gift to request when they ask, so it was a rare opportunity.
But I didn’t expect to actually get anything until Grandpa was in a celebratory mood.
Now I no longer have to avoid spoilers at all costs, and so far I’ve adored the little bit of time I’ve been able to sink into Three Houses.
In fact, I’ll likely be posting some takes like this about the game on Twitter:
So follow me if you’re into that sort of thing.
More Fire Emblem takes will have to wait, however. Because we went out to dinner at one of the grandparents’ favorite Chinese restaurants:
Let me tell you. They had some stellar short ribs.
I’m still licking sauce off my fingers as I write this.
Unfortunately, this is the penultimate Florida vacation blog post. As of tomorrow night I’ll be back on a plane to LAX, landing at 12:30 a.m.
It’s a shame because I’ve genuinely been having a great time. But all good things must come to an end.
So come on by tomorrow to see whatever we wind up doing as a big send-off!
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