Back in the Midwest

Doug and I stayed at Meg and Nick's last night so that I could catch my morning flight today.  The four of us tired a new restaurant in downtown Orlando that we all loved.  I had not been in that area before and was impressed with how beautiful it was.  There was a large pond that surrounded the downtown area with dozens of swans swimming up to the feeders placed strategically in the water to attract them.  After dinner we walked along a path circling the lake looking at all of the birds in the park, impressed with the multitude of restaurants that we could try on a later date.

This morning, Doug dropped me off three hours early for my flight.  With the government shutdown the news was full of long lines at the TSA counters, and we wanted to make sure that I got through it in plenty of time to make my 8:30 a.m. flight. Thankfully, it was nothing like the media reports we had seen.  Someone was there to greet me when I got out of the car with my large suitcase and I was the first person in line for security.  The boarding process was so much easier than before Southwest changed to assigned seating and my flight actually arrived early.  I met the best employee ever at National and soon I was in a red Jeep Compass driving out of Midway's parking garage.

The trip to Syracuse was a lot easier than I expected.  Traffic in Chicago was lighter than expected too.  Tolls were more expensive, but thankfully, I brought cash and didn't have to wait too long to pay them.  I listened to the Big Picture podcast on the drive and stopped at McDonald's for lunch.  I arrived at my parents' home well before dark thankful to have made it safely and ready for a break from traveling.  

The Book of Isaiah

Today in Bible study, we concluded a twenty-two week course on the book of Isaiah.  It was the first time that I had ever been involved in a program that thoroughly studied one book of the Bible.  It was interesting, depressing, uplifting and enlightening.  To say that I learned a lot was an understatement.  To say that I enjoyed each lesson would be untruthful.  I was glad to say, however, that I stuck with it and completed each lesson that was given to me. 

Isaiah was a major prophet in the Old Testament.  The first thirty-nine chapters warned of God's judgement for idolatry among other sins.   Our Bible leader said that this section was called "The Book of Woe."  I could definitely understand why.  The rest of Isaiah was devoted to the prophecies that those who believed in God would be protected and the coming of the Messiah.  I preferred this half of the book of Isaiah a lot more.  It related directly to the New Testament and was full of hope and good news.  

Although the twenty-two lessons were time consuming.  I was really happy that I stay with it.  I learned a lot and felt very good about my relationship with God once we finished it today.  

Catching an Earlier Flight

Last night while we were at Crazy Cucumber eating dinner, Cameron and I started talking about changing his flight to an earlier time today.  He had had a great week with us and was glad to have celebrated Meg's birthday with her, but his flight this afternoon didn't land until after 6 and that wouldn't give him time to unpack, go grocery shopping and unwind.  Since Meg and Nick were leaving for Magic Kingdom early tomorrow, it made sense to Doug and I to find an earlier flight for him.  We started searching right away and found there was one in the morning that worked perfectly.  It didn't have any standard seats left, but there was one for a slight upcharge in the third row by the window and we booked that right away.

This morning, Doug, Cameron and I were on the road by 8:15 a.m. anticipating spring break traffic on I-75.  Thankfully, there was none and our drive was a smooth one.  We enjoyed our last few hours with Cameron talking about our spring break fun, his plans for the rest of the semester and his thoughts on his internship this summer.  Cameron arrived in plenty of time to get through TSA, find his gate and relax for a few minutes before boarding.  I was happy to see that his flight was on time during our quiet drive back to Ocala.

Meg and Nick had already left for Orlando when we arrived back home.  It was a quiet afternoon, but after a busy week, it was just what we needed.  We went grocery shopping, picked up the house, did a few things around the yard, and spent quite a bit of time relaxing.  Cameron texted to let us know that he had made it back safely to Indiana.  Meg also called to tell us about her birthday in Magic Kingdom.  They especially loved the new Pirates of the Caribbean themed restaurant "Beak N Barrell."  I was glad that everyone had enjoyed their day and that Meg had had a wonderful birthday celebration.

St. Augustine

In honor of Meg's 25th birthday and Cameron's last weekend of Spring Break, I suggested that the five of us visit St. Augustine for the day.  Nick, Cameron and Meg had never been there before, so everyone was excited about the day trip.  The weather was beautiful today which made for a great time to explore the nation's oldest city.  Finding parking was a challenge as always, but thankfully we were able to get a spot on the top floor of their visitor garage.  

Our first stop of the day was the Pirate Museum.  Doug and I had never been, and it had received very good reviews on Trip Advisor.  Plus, Nick was interested in pirates or at least talking like one, so it seemed like the perfect fit.  The museum was definitely very educational.  There was a rich history of pirating in the St. Augustine area during the 16th to the 19th century.  Blackbeard was a prominent villain in the area as were several other notable pirates.  There were also multiple shipwrecks recovered off the shores of St. Augustine and the museum held several of the key items found during their discoveries.  Overall, the five of us learned a lot about pirates this morning and we were all pleased with the visit.

From the museum we next walked down St. George's street checking out the local shops and looking for a place to eat lunch.  Meg picked a pub that had great sandwiches and a funny waiter which made the meal even more enjoyable.  We walked around The Cathedral Basilica de St. Augustine checking out the gardens.  Everything looked beautiful.  Meg and I then did some shopping while the guys went to a tasting at the distillery.  They loved all of the whiskies that they tried, and Meg and I each found a treasure to take home from our shopping trip making for a wonderful way to end our day in St. Augustine.

"Megaritaville"

Meg had been talking about having "Megaritaville" to celebrate her 25th birthday since she moved down here last May.  I was glad that tonight we were able to make that happen.  Meg did a lot of the prep work to get ready for the night by sending invitations, coming up with a specialty drink mix and picking out decorations for the night.  She also brought her own dessert, my favorite, chocolate cake.  Doug had taken a rare day off and was a lot of help with the food as well.  Nick and Cameron made it home in time from disc golf to change into their Hawaiian shirts for the night matching the one that Nick's dad, Kyle, wore in Indiana this evening in honor of the party.  Even Uncle Phil joined in the festivities by wearing the "Birthday Boy" pin that Meg got for him to honor his 53rd birthday tomorrow.  We all had a great time listening to the new vinyls we gave Meg for her birthday, including "Sunflowers" by the Beach Boys and Marvin Gayes' "What's Going On?", on the back patio while talking about birthday memories and realizing that I should never give suggestions on how much tequila it takes to make a good margarita.

Overall, tonight was a lot of fun, and I was very glad that it went so well.  It has been a joy having Meg live so close to us here in Florida and tonight was a wonderful reminder of that.  Florida has been great for her, and I am happy to see how much she has enjoyed her new life in Orlando. She has a job that she loves, friends to hang out with, a church that she appreciates and all within an hour drive of Disney World.  After such an awesome year for Meg, I can't wait to see what happens in the next one.   

A Relaxing Day in Ocala

I was very thankful for a relaxing day at home.  Cameron had a meeting with Owens Corning and then we went to lunch at Mooyah's on the downtown square.  Their turkey burgers are fantastic.  Afterward, we went to Play It Again Sports so Cameron could pick up a new driver for his disc golf set in Florida.  His other one landed on a roof while he was playing in Orlando on Monday.  Our next stop was Broke N' Records.  Cameron found three new vinyls including a Jimmy Hendrix one.  I was super excited to run across "The Concert for Bangladesh."  It was a live recording of the concert that George Harrison hosted to help the starving children of the impoverished country and was the precursor to later ones such as "Live Aid" in the 1980s.  While Cameron and I were out shopping, we also decided to stop at Peacock Cottage.  I found a beautiful new house plant to replace the succulent that died several weeks ago.  

Tonight, Doug made brats at home, and we enjoyed the start to March Madness.  There were more close games and upsets than I could remember.  It was a great way to spend the afternoon and evening.  

Animal Kingdom

Cameron and I decided to sleep in this morning, enjoy breakfast at Animal Lodge and take a walking tour of the resort.  We found a flamingo pond behind the pool that was filled with the pink birds.  Once we checked that out, we headed straight to the Palm/Magnolia golf course. There was no rain today and very few people on the range, so Cameron was able to hit a large bucket of golf balls. He really enjoyed it. From there we headed to Animal Kingdom.  Since we were getting to the park later in the day, I decided to purchase a Lightening Lane pass for Cameron and I.  In the end, I was very glad that we did as it was packed.

Cameron and I started with cheeseburger pods in Pandora.  While we were there, we also did some shopping.  I hadn't really seen Avatar until the last couple of years, but after watching the first two movies, I had really come to appreciate this area of the park.  After lunch, we walked over to Kilimanjaro Safari.  Between that ride and our walk through Gorilla Trails, I felt that we saw every animal in Africa today.  My favorite was the hippo as he was actually out of the water and eating hay.  I had never seen one do that before today.  

After exploring Africa, Cameron and I walked to Expedition Everest next.  The line was long and we didn't have a lightening lane for this one.  Thankfully, Cameron was able to get a spot in the single rider's line and finished the roller coaster well before our reservation at Zootopia.  The new 3-D movie that replaced "It's Tough to Be a Bug" in the Tree of Life was cute, but we didn't know the characters very well, so it was a little lost on the both of us.  The children in the audience loved it, however.

We ended our day in Animal Kingdom shopping and riding my favorite ride in the park, Na'vi River Ride.  It was gorgeous as always, albeit a little more tense than usual.  The woman beside Cameron had her flash on during the first part of the ride and the adults in front of us were extremely made about it.  Fortunately, she turned it off after a few minutes and everyone calmed down.  Cameron and I stopped at the ice cream cart before leaving for home where he picked up an ice cream sandwich and I, of course, got the best dessert in Disney World - a chocolate covered banana.  It was a great way to end three wonderful days in Orlando.