First Stop, Tampa

 Doug, Cameron and I flew into Tampa this afternoon.  Our original plan was to arrive in Florida for Cameron's tour of the University of Florida tomorrow.  We thought about going to the IU vs Michigan today.  In the end we were glad that we changed our minds.  It gave us some time to explore central Florida and to miss sitting through the Michigan victory this evening.

I hadn't been to Florida since I was a teenager and really didn't remember much about it.  Once our plane landed, we decided to head to Congo River mini-golf first.  We had to laugh when we arrived as the sign said that we could also "hold a gator for $9.99".  We decided against that, but did play a fun round of miniature golf.  We weren't able to find all of the hidden objects on the score card, but Cameron didn't mind since he beat us pretty easily in mini-golf.  Besides the win, the other highlight for Cameron was when a boy his age fell into the river trying to retrieve a golf ball.  Although Doug and I had a lot of fun playing miniature golf, our favorite part of going to Congo River mini-golf may have been the drive.  The route took us over on different ten mile bridges over the bay.  It was a beautiful view even though it was an overcast afternoon.   

Our next stop was downtown Tampa.  We parked close to the riverwalk, so that we could check out the town and eat dinner.  Cameron chose the Tampa Bay Pizza Company.  It was very good.  We walked by the fountains by the children's museum afterward.  The lights in the water were beautiful.  After dinner we drove through the University of South Florida.  Dan had mentioned that it was a top college in Florida.  It was on the north side of Tampa and nice, but probably not quite what Cameron was thinking of for his college years.

The last stop of the night was Springhill Suites in Ocala.  We spent the evening watching college football. The surprise of the day was Michigan State's loss to Purdue.  It was a nice relaxing way to end a busy day.