March - Mamma Me-a

My mom made her first trip to Florida to visit me - yay! I've now finally gotten all the family to make the trip at one point or another. It was a special trip because it also combined her spring break from school and her birthday, which was all the excuse I needed to take her to the California Pizza Kitchen, and her first time to Chipotle - yum!. We tooled around town and got to enjoy the non-summer weather--now that it's August and mid-90's every day, I'm really missing thoughts of a balmy fall/winter/spring!

We visited the Holy Land Experience, which my dad and I had cruised by when he helped me move down here and I had always hoped to take both of my parents, but my mom and I were able to enjoy it with just the two of us too. It's a Christian theme park, with admittedly...chipper...music (I couldn't think of any other adjectives that weren't just mean), but it was really neat to be in a faux-Israel atmosphere. I'm assuming no animals were harmed in the process of replication. There are little plays/mini-musicals that they put on throughout the day depicting various parts of Jesus' life such as the wedding at Cana, the healing of the centurion's servant, and the crucifixion, which brought me to tears. The staff focuses on non-confrontationally but very emphatically sharing the gospel or pointing to Christ in each of the different parts of the park, including a really large miniature of the city of Jerusalem, and my favorite - a small theatre re-enactment of the tabernacle and a priest's duties. All the lighting tricks they used to bring it to life reminded me of my uber-fledgling theater days at Pilly and Celeste and Dani's stage craft!

I thought I had some pictures of the outside through the gates when my dad and I drove by back in 2003, but all I can find is this one I took on my cell phone on my visit with my mom (yes, I forgot my actual camera every time we went out!).

We also stopped by St. Augustine, which lays claim to being the "oldest continuously occupied settlement of European origin in the United States." I like it for its fort, Castillo de San Marcos.

and its really cool old buildings, some of which used to be world-class resorts at the end of the 19th century. The one below is now part of Flagler College.

We also had a day at the beach, which I think was my mom's favorite, but I didn't get any pictures of us there. There's just something so peaceful about sitting on the beach staring out at the ocean and feeling the sun soak into your bones and the breeze stirring off the water...hmm, I think another trip is in order for me!

Last, and maybe or not least, we thought we'd take a trip to the local zoo. It was no Minnesota Zoo, but it did bring me back to days of field trips to the Como Zoo. Except I don't remember any alligators at Como.

I don't think my mom realized how extensive my snake phobia is until I hid behind her when we walked through the reptile room!

And there were other denizens that were particularly stoic, no matter how much we tried to provoke them...

I made a few new friends too, and my mom considered leaving me there, but that would make it tricky for her to negotiate a trip back to the airport, so we left intact the way we came.

February - Down Hemmingway's Way

Took an awesome trip with Katie to Key West (we drove down from Orlando - that's a LONG trip through some awfully scrubby country). We stayed at a cute little B&B on the Old Town side of the island, with an appropriately aquatic theme...

I even got a tattoo! The henna, "lasts-for-two-weeks-unless-of-course-you-go-in-a-pool-with-chlorine-and-then-it's-more-like-10-hours" kind. That last part was in small print in order for them to fit it all in the brand name. They had some very interesting civic services (sadly, not available in all Florida locales)

I love a good lighthouse, and Key West didn't disappoint

Which afforded me the opportunity to face my fear of falling down stairs

What, did you think I was kidding?

But at least the stairs give an amazing view of the town, including an aspect you don't usually notice from the street - everything has tin roofs, which was initially started to help cut down on fires spreading. The pictures might have popped a little more if only the sun had been out while we were there!
We also had some adventures in Clearwater and a stopover in the slightly frightening retirement community of DeLand--the Starbucks baristas seemed desperately eager to serve us, since we were the only patrons who weren't card carrying AARP members.

And last but not least, we were THIS CLOSE to making our own movie--a mix between Speed and Con Air, but we didn't think the Sherriff would take kindly to being punked.

Yay for good friends to go adventuring with!!

Long Time No See

So I've been away for a bit. From my blog, that is. The funny thing is, I've had lots to share, but I always felt like I needed to start with an explanation of why I've been away, and that's a lot harder to define. So instead, I just kept putting it off. No more, I say! So, if I ever circle back to that huge cavern of unexplainability, I'll be sure to let you know.

In the meantime, let me see if I can catch you up on some events, although I'm sure I'll forget just as many as I remember...