Vacatione

tip of the hat to Kevin James, Doug Heffernan on "King of Queens"

Well, hello again, I know it's been a while. What can I say? I've been busy doing the internet marketing thing, living life, etc. I wanted to mention that I had not been to Florida since I was a sophomore in college, and since my old man retired down there over 10 years ago, I thought the time was ripe to pay him a visit. So, since I was able to schedule my vacation the same week as my daughter's spring break (the wife didn't want to go, for reasons I won't discuss here), we decided to make the 2.75hr flight from Midway to Orlando. Booking the flight online was no prob., but finding parking (again, the wife wouldn't drive us) was another story. I found a place whose parking lot was a mile or two from the airport, but damn! Like $75 to park for 5 days.
Well, needless to say, things did not get off to an auspicious start: first, I inadvertently left a small knife (which I use for work) in my backpack, and the security screeners at Midway were none to happy with me. They let us pass, confiscating the knife, of course. My daughter was livid, which I can't blame her for. The flight (airline withheld) was uneventful, save for some turbulence near Orlando. When we touched down in Orlando, I was soon on the phone with the old man, who was waiting in a nearby spot (they use "kiss & ride" or something). We got our bags, and met them outside baggage claim, when, what to my wondering eyes, my wallet was missing. My daughter nearly had a coniption; she went sprinting back to the terminal, as I ran into the "lost luggage" room to report the incident. Well, long story short, they had found my wallet (containing my cash, credit cards, basically my whole life) on the airplane. It had somehow fallen out of my back pocket as I was getting up. Unbelievable. My daughter had to go all the way back to the gate, where she retrieved it & brought it to me. Again, not a happy camper.
From there, things improved; we had decent weather (Tuesday it stormed all day), although cool for Florida in April, and we got to swim, sun, shop, and even hit a few balls at the driving range. My dad & stepmom live in a retirement community in central Florida called The Villages, which is basically a small city unto itself, with shopping,gas stations, you name it. Golf, of course is the big deal down there, and there are dozens of courses, ranging from the small par 3's to the Championship Arnold Palmer & Nancy Lopez courses. Alas, we didn't actually get out, but still enjoyed motoring around on the golfcarts. They're everywhere down there. In the evenings, we would go down to the village "squares" where people would congregate to hear live music (the line-dancers were hysterical), mingle about, shop, etc. Very neat. And all Spanish-themed, so pretty cool.
Thursday we drove 1.5 hrs to New Smyrna Beach, on the Atlantic - that was nice; you can drive your car right down on to the beach, set up your umbrella, chairs, and all. It was quite windy that day, but that didn't phase us much. I went running into the surf at full speed, letting the cold salt water swallow me up, but always aware not to venture out too far, lest the rip currents take me away. But I can truthfully say that I swam (and peed) in the Atlantic Ocean;) A very nice day. We strolled around the streets, picked up a couple souvenirs, then had dinner at a little fish place near the inland waterway, before heading back. Lots of tourists and spring-breakers there.
Before you knew it, Saturday had rolled around, and it was time to come home - not a welcome
feeling, but whatcha gonna do? I had secured my wallet in my FRONT pocket throughout the entire trip, after the fiasco on our arrival. Looking back, I was very lucky. Anyway, back to the windy city, which was living up to it's monniker that day. We got home at 6:30 - 7pm and collapse, with a ton of laundry awaiting us the next day. But, all in all, it was an enjoyable experience; I had fun, and I know the kid did.

More soon,

Steve