NOT at Disney today!

In case any of you are watching the news, we want to reassure you that we are in Tampa, D is doing just fine, and that the 12-year old boy who died after riding the roller coaster at Disney-MGM this morning was NOT ours. Spooky. I guess these rides are still a lot safer than driving to the mall or riding a bike, but sure makes one think twice before casually heading off on a ride that pulls several g's. I feel terrible for the family.

Tampa

Wednesday evening back at the hotel and all kids (ours, at least) are accounted for. M&I and two other chess parents went up to Tarpon Springs for a Greek dinner and a visit to Spongeorama. We decided it might be better if we dealt with pick up at the camp tonight, so we swung by Berkeley Prep and waited for kids to finish their games. Took D and two friends to gelato at the mall before coming back here, where they are now among a couple dozen kids (and a couple grandmasters) playing bughouse and blitz in the skittles room off the lobby.

Fort de Soto

Afterwards, we checked out the beach at Fort de Soto, before heading back to Tampa while the sun set.

A pleasant day turned sour after we arrived back at the hotel. By soon after 9pm, everyone appeared to have arrived back from the camp (which is held at a private school campus 15 minutes away from the hotel), except D. We spent a panicked hour trying to locate him around the hotel before heading back out to the school where he was still waiting out front in the dark. He was understandably upset, as were we. I suspect this may lead to some improvements in the way in which the camp accounts for the kids!

Passe-a-Grille

While D plays chess, M&I explore. Yesterday we checked out Ybor City in Tampa. Today we visited Dali Museum in St. Petersburg and then headed out to the beaches. Walked through the Islande Grand Resort, since we've each been there on our own but never together (and never in sweltering heat). We headed down to Passe-a-Grille and found a great little Caribbean-Asian place for dinner (Banana Leaf Grille).

St. Petersburg

We drove from Cypress Lake back across the state toward Bradenton and then drove into St. Pete via the Sunshine Skyway bridge a little after sunset. We stayed in Indian Rocks and then drove up to Clearwater Beach the next morning. Looked like a Florida Beach should look like - lots of people and lots of big hotels and condos. D might have enjoyed the water more if we hadn't rented Jaws last week! Crabby Bill's for lunch and then a hot muggy game of mini-golf in Indian Shores. We chose not to feed the teenage alligators in the pond. Checked into Tampa hotel Sunday afternoon. D played chess in lobby and M&D grabbed dinner at Subway while I stayed in room suffering from the unintended and unpleasant consequences of my crabcake lunch.

Island of Adventure

A day at Universal trying to avoid the heat and pick the shortest lines. That means we headed for the Incredible Hulk as soon as the gates opened. The ride is green (which I should have seen as a warning)! I sat out the next couple rides before getting back into the swing of things -- fortunately Devon was willing to go on some of the more extreme rides by himself while his elderly parents sat in the shade.

Kissimmee

I thought a good way to see Florida, and in way that might entertain D, would be to take an airboat out into the marsh. We saw lots of birds, most of the tall, skinny genre, and a few alligators. Also lots of cows and lots of marsh flattened by hundreds of airboats. But it was fast and fun and a nice contrast to resort hotels and theme parks and central Florida strip malls.

Orlando

Greetings from Florida! Again! Arrived in Tampa to heat and mugginess and smell of brush fires. Drove up to Orlando for three days, but only spent one day at Universal and no time at Disney parks. M&D played Bingo and worked on their chip shots at the pool. Headed to miniature golf in the evenings when it got cooler.

Everett

A rainy Memorial Day weekend in Everett. P and D are playing chess on the floor again, probably the first time since Louisville. P is cleaning up in the booster session; D is holding his own in the premier. Two more rounds tomorrow.

M and I scurried over to the train station just now to say hi to J and R and L and W as the train from Vancouver came through on its way back to Seattle. Would have taken a picture, but the conductor was anxious to get them back on the train!

Island Grand

These photos were taken two days ago, before the gray weather arrived. I've managed to avoid the swimming pools and the big slide thing. D would have appreciated the big chess set, although it would have required rounding up some victims.

Shell Key

We landed on the backside of Shell Key and had lunch on the beach. Nice to find a barrier that hadn't been paved, landscaped, and covered with hotels. And the kayak guides provided good sandwiches, along with strawberries and little cream puffs for dessert!

Mangroves

A dozen of us chose to spend part of Sunday on the water, paddling over to Shell Key. Great introduction to West Florida bays, mangroves, and barrier island beaches. Plus a little exercise and a lot of sun. Mangroves are pretty primordial - one expects large reptiles (fortunately, alligators stick to fresh water) and foot-long dragonflies. What we saw were birds (ibis) and little black crabs that climb the trees and threaten to drop in your lap (but didn't).

I had never seen a watermelon split with a kayak paddle before, either.

St. Pete Beach

Checked into my room just in time to watch the sun set over the Gulf.

The Everglades

Saturday morning I headed west from Florida City into the Everglades. I didn't go all the way to Flamingo, figuring I'd save that for the family and for wetter conditions. This is the dryest time of year for the Everglades and it has been a particularly dry winter, so there's not much water. But that means that where there is water, the critters are pretty dense. Particularly the alligators, which appeared to be as lazy as they were dense.

Key West

Some cities are defined by their geography more than others. Pirates, the Civil War, and Ernest Hemingway. I did the basic Duval Street, Mallory Square, and Southernmost Point tourist stuff that you can do in a couple hours. I decided not to wait around for the sunset, but tried a local beer and a conch fritter. At the time, I thought I was showing restraint by not getting Key Lime Pie, but in hindsight, I shouldn't have squandered a unique opportunity.

I remember the Southernmost Point from our family's February 1971 trip, along with the official southern end of Route 1 (important for a family from Maine), and I've always viewed it as a Yankee wanting to check out the extremities of the country (like Eastport or Cape Alava). On Friday, it wasn't northerners lining up for family pictures, however, but Cuban Americans joking about the next ferry to Cuba. Being the southernmost point, it is also the closest point to Havana, and held some real significance (beyond my geographic trivia) for many of them.

The Keys

Friday I drove down to Key West and back. A heavy downpour leaving Florida City and another in Key Largo marked the beginning of the wet season - otherwise weather was pleasant and the main sign of bad weather was the left over evidence of last fall's hurricane (Wilma?). Although some long sections of the road were awfully commercial, the highway and it's bridges are a wonderful experience. Swam at Bahia Honda, wandered around Key West, and drove back with setting sun at my back.