Day 4 - Tampa
Given our familial aquatic
bent, naturally we toured the Florida Aquarium in downtown Tampa. I had a mild
heart attack on account of the entry fee.
The building and exhibits were great;
given how many aquariums we’ve visited over the years, we can be judgy. Overall,
the experience was mostly fun--mixed with some sibling fights.
Due to traffic, it
was a long drive out to the Blue Jays spring training stadium in Dunedin. It’s
located in a lush neighborhood that at that time was brimming with pasty,
deliriously happy Spring Break Canucks strolling the sidewalks. Marina and I
tried to get into the stadium grounds around the 8th inning of a game to buy Jays
gear at the clubhouse but they wouldn't let us in. Photos instead. This
wouldn’t happen if John Gibbons were still the skipper of the bluebirds!!
Evening drive through
Clearwater, St. Petersburg, and all the way back up to Tampa. Stopped at a DQ
for ice cream after the Sunshine Bridge. The Rising Daughters needed dinner: ice
cream! We are bad parents.
Day 5 - Tampa
Busch Gardens: we
walked an awful lot during the day. The girls and I stood for 45 minutes
waiting for Sheikra, a pretty good roller coaster. But the lack of a quick
queue option put a damper on any kind of Disneyesque technique to avoid
line-ups. At one point, I went off with Lady E. in tow because she was fixated
on attractions that M. could not ride. Sibling Cold War resulted. Beautiful
weather out—80 degrees and lots of sunshine. Maxed out the available hours,
from 1000 until 1900. Overall, we had a good time but not a great time. Mostly family discord was
the main culprit. It happens.
Day 6 - Tampa
Off to a visit an animal
shelter in the north Tampa area outfitted as a private zoo that started as a
working farm. Surprisingly good time, beauty weather again. Just walking around
looking at animals in a farm converted to a NPO, pony rides and homemade coops,
many horses.
Marina spent the bulk of her time taunting the goats and petting the
horses. I think she really wants to take horse riding lessons. Also lots of
petting guinea pigs. Lady e., being older, is not as giddy but also loves dem
animals.
Evening spent by
going to Madeira Beach’s John's Falls section to board the "Calypso
Breeze" passenger booze-cruise enabler for an evening dinner cruise.
Basically, drinks, food, dancing, then back to dock. Best thing about the night
was that I got to dance with Marina, two times. (The second time was her
choice, heh heh.) Elder sister laughed at my antics, but it was a moment in
time. Topped off the evening with a languid night cruise in our Rogue, windows
down, back to the hotel room.
Day 7 – Homeward bound
One last whiff of
sand, salt and the musky perfume of decomposing tropical foliage in the morning
before departure northward. Specifically, a short visit to Cypress Point Park
for some surf. We lingered as long as possible, and were sad to leave.
Motoring along the
I-4 from Tampa to Orlando’s Celebration area we spotted a biplane slowly
bringing religion to the cloudless indigo blue skies above. Seems there is a local
skywriter bearing religious messages almost daily. He wrote “LOVE GOD. U + GOD
= (Happy Face).
It was mesmerizing
to see this slowly materialize above our heads. I later found out this spiritual
skywriting is a regular thing. That pilot is a true believer.
Ate late lunch at
Boston Lobster Feast in Celebration, Fla. Oh…my…Lord…no…more…seafood.
Outbound to mid-Georgia.
We bunked at a Scottish Inn “economy” motel just off the interstate.
Day 8 – Resigned to the road back to the real world
Opened the motel
door to see nine cats patrolling around, soliciting food. M. went nuts over them. She wants to be a
zoologist.
Then an almost
straight shot homeward. Hit the H-Mart in Atlanta to buy Asian food. Arrived
home by 1530. Sunny skies but the trees were still brown in Tennessee. Our
flirtation with summer weather was over. The Rising Family had a dang good
time.
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