What I did on my Winter Vacation which only lasted one day

I just got back from Florida.
Sun, sand, beach, and 19 hour work days. But I did get one day to myself so I decided to cram in a whole vacation. I took pictures.

This is the computer where I stared countless hours at boring insurance statistics. And those cute little shot glasses full of diet Pepsi kept me awake … mostly.




We all worked hard, things went wrong, people got anxious and stress levels were high, and I, I took the road less traveled by … which was this ramp that passed really close to the waterfall. This was the view that flashed past me as I went from work space to Ballroom where the show was being rehearsed. The show by the way went wonderfully.


That’s basically how I spent my week. Except for this luxurious bed, which I saw an average of 3.5 hours a night.


But then Wednesday came; I was free at last, free at last, thank God for sunscreen, I’m free at last.
After drenching myself in sunblock 34, I set out to see three of the four great Floridian habitats: There were no swamps nearby, but I did see the forest, the beach and the tourist trap.

Here’s the tourist trap. The Pier. (As seen at night from the front of my hotel. )

An upside down pyramid at the end of a long pier (it’s not just a clever name.) Herein lies all the classic tourist traps staples: Rent boats and bicycles, pay way too much for a cheeseburger (which I did twice) buy every trinket and style of shirt known to man with the word Florida on it, feed the Pelicans, fish off the side, or take a charter tour looking for Manatees.
I chose one trinket and moved on. There was so much to do in one day and it was already almost 10 a.m.

Next, I explored some of Florida’s great forest lands. I got lost. The weird thing is when I finally emerged I realized I’d been lost inside this one tree. Luckily, I finally found my way to the north side, found the moss, turned around and realized I was out.

By this time the day was getting long, so I decided to head for the beach. It took me a while to find it, but when I did, it was beautiful, if small.
And actually it was right outside my hotel. Evidently, I just didn’t look down when I set out for The Pier, or I could have hit the beach first.

I never did get there though, because of that phobia I have of

pushing buttons.

Oh, well, that left me time to hang out with some of the locals.

This is Harvey. We hung out for a while. He told me stories about some of the whacky tourists he's run into. I tried to be funny, like I do, but he didn’t appreciate my Pelican Briefs jokes. He said he’d heard them before. I tried to explain that I didn’t and that’s why I was laughing so hard. He understood.
Harvey works at the Pelican feeding stand. Said he picked it up as a summer gig a few years back, but likes it so much he just stayed on through the off-season.
He was an interesting pelican, that Harvey, but soon the sun was setting, and Harvey needed to fly home.

And that’s what I did the next day. And boy are my arms tired. (Ha - get it?)

Peace
Larry