FLORIDA 2014

Remember a couple of summers ago when we went to the Midwest and every single day was over 100 degrees until we arrived and then it plummeted to 75 degrees... that one beautiful day followed by a week of 65 and rain? 

 

Well, we did it again!!  We arrived in Florida and enjoyed two pretty spectacularly nice days followed by six days of rather chilly, rainy weather.  My favorite quote of the trip was by Aaron's mom, "I just don't know what is going on! It's NEVER like this two days in a row..." she said on the fourth day of rain. 

 

Maybe it was Fate getting back at us.  Just a few days earlier Aaron and stood over our computer inspecting the Florida weather forecast when we decided it was safe to ditch our Seattle rain jackets and pack swim suits.  Ahhhh, such wishful thinking.

 

The weather was just foreshadowing for the trip that unfolded before us... a comedy of errors that made up our vacation (and good story-telling fodder).  Turns out a lot of things are closed in Florida, close early, or close on the day we want to see them.  This included a couple of restaurants, a sink hole -- that's right the sink hole is closed on Mondays (I thought that would be really cool to see), the manatee springs - where the rangers tossed us out about a 1/2 hour before official close as did the Kennedy Space Center.  Apparently, "closed" means...everyone is long gone and workers clean up and lock the gate at exactly 5:00pm.  This was a new concept for the two of us, but we figured it out by the end of the week.

 

 

 

 

 

We visited for eight days with sunny warm days book-ending each side of the week.  On our first full day Debby took us to the Butterfly House at the University of Florida.  It was just amazing: butterflies of all sizes and shapes fluttering just EVERYWHERE including ones that landed on me and on Debby.  Debby volunteers in the lab helping scientists study these amazing critters.  This was a serious highlight to the trip.  Seriously!  I know, you're thinking to yourself "I don't know...I've seen butterflies", but not like these you haven't!  Trust me, if you get the chance - go see 'em.  Aaron and I have the Monarch Butterfly Migration in Mexico on our bucket list.  Someday, my friends..  Someday.

 

Next we were off to a family day on the Swanee River (of Swanee River folk song fame).  Aaron's aunt and uncle have a rustic cabin that's all alone on the river and surrounded by a swamp.  It's exactly what I imagined "real Florida" to be like.  We spent the day with aunts, uncles and cousins...just relaxing and visiting.  Aren't we just visions in brown?



Aaron and his uncles.  I'm always a little excited to see that the men in Aaron's family age handsomely.

The day after these photos were taken the temps took a dip and the rains started.  We stayed inside with Debby putting together the wooden bear puzzle, making a top secret craft item for my pal Heidi (you'll just have to wait to see the final product) aaaaaand eating. 

We ate out for about eight days in a row (with the exception of dessert) and it was all pretty delicious... including multiple helpings of Debby's famous Ice Cream Pie.  YUM.  Aaron's mom did take us first to a favorite restaurant that was closed for a family emergency.  Then to Satchels pizza...also closed...and the sink hole...closed.  We were lucky enough to try Satchels again on Tuesday because we extended our visit.  It's a really funky Gainesville institution with crazy collections of bottle caps and whatnot's all over every surface of the place.  You've gotta pay in cash because they don't want to pay a fee to Visa and they make their own homemade sodas.  It's was a very lovable and unexpectedly hippy-dippy place...and delicious pizza. Housemade soda flight, anyone?




Example of the homemade sodas at Satchels.

 

Finally Aaron and I took a day-and-half for ourselves. We headed to Cocoa Beach and got us a hotel. As we checked in I asked for an ocean view and the clerk leaned over and whispered, "you don't want that". UM? Okaaaaay, but I was confused. Aaron and I checked into our parking-lot view room which turned out to be right next to some kids on Spring Break. Oh yeah, forgot about that. Maybe never thought about it because I never went on Spring Break. As we walked into our room, I gave out a little wish to the universe that our spring breakers be the A-student types. Aaron said there wasn't a chance because A-students are still on campus. Luckily we got the well-behaved B+ socially balanced kids who were totally reasonable hotel neighbors. Whew.

With that, we headed to see the beach and that's when we learned what the clerk meant. Yes, our beach was under construction. I'm not even kidding. The Army Corp of Engineers were dredging big heaps of sand out of the ocean and rebuilding the beach with giant berms. Except for not being able to walk in the rain on the beach, it was really cool to see. We got in trouble for being in a construction zone, but it was pretty darned exciting. I love a good large construction project and it's kind of like a building a floating bridge: you just don't see it every day.

I just had to snap a pic and send it to my boss.  I'm not sure it's a good thing when vacation reminds you of work enough to text a picture, but on Monday when I got back he was showing people.  Come on...it's really cool, isn't it?




Night Time Beach Construction....never thought we'd see this!



Good to know that alligators swim cautiously.

I snapped this picture at the manatee area in Blue Springs.  The park rangers weren't tooenthusiastic...apparently the manatees have worn on them.  We arrived a few hours before the stated closing time and they took our money and warned us to be out by 5:00.

We walked on the board walk and found one really pathetic small manatee with a beacon tied to it's tail. I feigned a bit of interest, but I was starting to feel for the rangers.  This is l-a-m-e.  We had driven a lot that day so we both decided that at least we could get a good walk in...and as luck would have it we came across a whole family of manatees playing in the water and being super-cute.  It was so awesome.  Mother Nature totally came through.  There were fish and all sorts of birds and it was down-right beautiful.  Just as our legs started to stretch out and we were taking in this beautiful place the rangers made us leave...at 4:30.  Never mind the springs are open for another half-hour...you tourists who are having fun... you know who you are... leave.  So we were off.

Next up: SPACE! We hemmed and hawed about for it a bit, but decided to bite the bullet and go to the Kennedy Space Center. Holy Moly -- do not hem nor haw! Just GO! It was so amazing. We got to take a guided tour of the the air force station and we saw all 47 launch pads.  I bet you thought there was only one lauch pad or maybe two...but you'd be wrong. Forty-Seven! Of course, on about 20 of those the tour guide would have to says something like, "if it weren't raining you could see..."  Doesn't matter though, we got to see plenty of them up close and personal. We talked to engineers from the shuttle program, toured the "block houses" where engineers pushed the button that launched man into space; we saw the Monekynaut hall of fame, Astro-Barbie Dolls and photos of all the --- many --- women who have been in space. It's really inspiring. I heart America! While we were there they were getting ready to launch a cache of supplies to the international space station and kept telling us that we're headed to Mars. I can't wait!

Part of the Apollo Display.

 

Real. Live. Moon Rock.

Splash Down!! the Kitty Hawk.

We HAD to go to spring training. I had never been. You can see that it's sunny in these photos but don't be fooled. The day-time high was 68 degrees and dropped a degree every inning. It would have been great except we both dressed for 80. I managed to both freeze and get sunburned. I'm an overachiever!! 



Casey At Bat and Anner.

 

 

 
For quite a while Aaron and I drove on SR 520...a different road by the same name as the one I've been working on for the past 7 years.  Boss also liked that pic.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm - that's all I have to say

Then we were off to see more cousins.  Mike made us pizza that --- I've gotta say -- was crazy-delicious.  The next day we had an evening flight so spent the day walking around places Aaron remembered from his youth... which is remarkable given his sketchy memory.  Good job, Aaron!



Travel makes me CraaaaZy!

We came home to a spring delight...all the crocuses bloomed + a bunch of daffodils and this trillium!!! It was so much fun to see how much change eight days make in one garden.

 

Emily The Cat was up for some jacks when we returned.  Meow.

 

And finally, to cap things off, dinner with the gang.  One of the things I noticed in the hotel back in Cocoa Beach was a group of three older couples all coming into the reception area to settle their bills.  They had WWII hats and the ladies had the "senior sneaker" kind of look about them.  They were all having fun and I thought to myself, 'I hope when I'm 80 that I'm still game to hang out on the beach-under-construction with my life-long friends'.  How much fun would that be?  Super fun - that's how much.

 

Any takers?