The First Thanksgiving . . .

Thanksgiving dinner in Thailand

If you are located in the U.S. you are probably getting ready for Thanksgiving at the time of this
writing.   Here in Thailand, it is already tomorrow and our Thanksgiving dinner is long gone.  As mentioned previously, we planned to have our Thanksgiving at Bill Bentley, a British pub near our timeshare.  We did and it was great.

It was a turkey and ham dinner with the standard trimmings along with peas and some root vegetables I didn't recognize.  I'm not sure it is possible to take a meal in a British pub without peas included.  There was also Yorkshire pudding.  It's not exactly an American tradition but it worked in place of bread and rolls.  Missed at dessert was pumpkin pie, but it was suitably replaced by the choice of homemade hot apple pie or a warm chocolate brownie.

Many people will spend Thanksgiving evening watching the Ravens/Steelers football game.  We will be watching the game Friday morning during breakfast at the Bill Bentley Pub. 

A cold beverage goes well
while cooling off in the pool.

Earlier on Thanksgiving day we visited Patong Beach and before dinner enjoyed some happy hour drinks in and around our hotel pool. The weather has been fine and the temperature reached the usual 85F.  However, general conditions have deteriorated from mostly sunny to mostly cloudy.

Tomorrow is our last day in Phuket and we plan to spend it mainly lounging poolside.

Left:  Patong Beach.  Right:  A photo of Tony at Patong Beach 

 

Tony proudly shows how he can multitask by both standing upright in the sea and drinking beer.  
Bonnie and Kathie look on.

Small World

There was a really good band playing during our Thanksgiving dinner and at a break between songs a band member asked where we were from.  When we said Washington, DC, a group sitting nearby applauded in acknowledgment.  One of them came over to our table and introduced himself.  His name was Rick and he said that he the others in his group were also from the Washington, DC area.  Small world.

Rick said he had lived on Capitol Hill for some 30 years and his friends lived in Alexandria.  Not only that, but Rick used to work with my insurance agent in DC.  So, after flying 10,000 miles and crossing 12 zones, we decided to have dinner in a bar in Phuket, Thailand that just happened to be visited by people who live not far from us.



We Are Spending Thanksgiving in Thailand

After four flights and about 24 hours of flying time, we traveled from Washington, DC to Phuket, Thailand, where we will be spending the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.   It is currently about 85F and after midnight here in Phuket.  We are 12 hours ahead of the East Coast of the U.S. so it is tomorrow here.  


Approximate map location at which I flew my 2 millionth
lifetime mile on United Airlines.
Photo of live flight map taken onboard when it happened.

During our layover in San Francisco at the conclusion of the first leg of our journey, we refreshed ourselves in the United Airlines passenger lounge.  I was surprised when I was paged and asked to report to the customer service desk.  At first I thought I would be scolded for taking too many cheeses and carrot packets from the snack bar.  I reported to the customer service desk, and, just before I was about to blurt out my remorse for the excessive snack hoarding, two senior customer service representatives congratulated me on my achievement of flying 2 million lifetime miles on United Airlines, which I would be doing about halfway through my upcoming flight to Tokyo.  Tokyo was the next stop on our way to Phuket.  They also presented me with a suitable-for-framing certificate to commemorate this milestone.

Bonnie, Kathie, Tony, and I celebrate the end of the endless
flights to Thailand with a happy hour drink at our pool bar.

One of the first things we did after arriving in Phuket was to have a welcome happy hour beverage with friends Bonnie and Tony.

We heard there is a turkey shortage in the U.S. so we think our decision to travel out of the U.S. for Thanksgiving is a good one.  We just made our Thanksgiving meal reservation at a British pub near our hotel.  The pub is offering a complete Thanksgiving dinner with turkey and all the trimmings.  (When we were in Bangkok a few days ago we saw a newspaper ad for a sale on turkeys.  I guess there are enough Americans or other turkey eaters here to warrant that.)  We will let you know how well a British pub can serve up our National Domesticated Bird.

Oh, I almost forgot.  When we checked into our hotel, we received what must be the weirdest note ever sent from hotel management to guests.  See what you think.  Here is an excerpt:  "Dear Valued Guest, We trust you are enjoying your stay . . . Due to the sighting of a 'potentially dangerous' marine creature in the immediate vicinity, we are advising guests not to enter the sea at this time. . . "  The note went on to say that they would inform us "of any change in the current situation."  No word on any change in the situation yet.

 

So this guy says to me, "See that sleeping tiger
over there?  Go pull his tail."

Speaking of unusual things, yesterday we entered an enclosure with a number of large tigers.  Later on we will discuss both the potential stupidity and political correctness of doing this.

We have a big day tomorrow so I'm going to call it a night.  There's lots more to report so check back periodically.  Better yet, subscribe at the upper right of this page (or at the top depending on the device you are using) to get email notices when we publish new posts.