Circus Monkeys

I spent this past weekend entertaining my good friend, C-Lo, and her friend Mamey. They both flew in from Virginia, C-Lo Friday afternoon in Ft. Lauderdale, and Mamey Saturday morning in Sarasota, where our adventure starts. Whenever C-Lo and I get together, we usually fly somewhere to meet or I’ll visit her at her home in the Virginia mountains. So I was really excited about her coming down to my neck of the woods, the first time she’s been here to see me in 8 years. Even though I’ve shown her quite a bit of Florida in the past, she’s never been to Sarasota, so she told Mamey to fly into there and we’ll pick her up. It worked out great as the airport is five minutes away from our first stop, the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art (of the famed Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus).

Even though I had been here before a couple years ago, I couldn’t wait to go back. And it didn’t dissapoint the second time around. After walking around the beautiful gardens that are interspersed through the grounds, we toured the incredible mansion, Ca d’Zan, which translates into the House of John. An immaculate masterpiece dating from the 1930′s, it is heavily influenced by and beautifully decorated with European architecture and artwork. But the highlight was the miniature circus. Created by Howard Tbbals, and taking 50 years to complete, the 3,800 foot marvel is a replica of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus from 1919-1938. As you walk around it and and relive your childhood to the sights and sounds of the Greatest Show on Earth, the lights quickly start to dim and day becomes night, as the lights on the Big Top glow throughout the room. Then the sun rises, and its another glorious day at the circus.

I then took the gals to downtown Sarasota, where we enjoyed the sunshine and water at Bayfront while munching on some gator bites. After a casual stroll around Bayfront Park, we headed to Siesta Key for dinner and the sunset. Siesta Key has some of the whitest sands in Florida, and is my favorite place to watch the setting sun. A great day indeed; another one was in store for Sunday.

Since Mamey had always wanted to go to the Everglades, I was more than happy to oblige. As we made our way to the famous ‘swamp’, we stopped to see my relatives…at Monkey Jungle!  Their slogan says it all – ‘Where Humans Are Caged and Monkeys Run Wild!’ You walk along a caged path where there are monkeys everywhere above you running around and begging for foods. Yes, you can feed the monkeys here. There are several cups dangling on chains, in which you put nuts and raisins in the cups and the monkeys pull the cups up to them and enjoy an afternoon snack. Home to 30 species of primates, Monkey JUngle just celebrated its 75th anniversary, and is one of Miami’s oldest attractions.

After a tearful goodbye to my family (I got something in my eye), we headed into Everglades National Park, where we hiked along the boardwalk at Royal Palm and saw quite a few gators and other wildlife, and had lunch by the lake at Long Pine Key, where we luckily didn’t see any gators. Since the Everglades are so big and really require a full day to take in, we spent just a few hours there and then headed out to the Everglades Alligator Farm. Yeah, they have a few (thousand) gators there, and they also offer airboat rides. The girls had never been on an airboat ride, and judging by their reaction afterwards, they wanted to do another one immediately. They also got to hold a baby gator, but his gator bites are not too pleasant – that’s why his mouth is taped shut.

On the way to the Everglades, we passed by a fruit and vegetable market called Robert Is Here that also had a great selection of fruit shakes. Since we didn’t stop on the way down, we definitely had to stop on the way back, where we thoroughly enjoyed a few delicious shakes (I had a blackberry banana one, while Mamey had a Mamey strawberry – where did you think she got her blog name?).

We were further enticed by the marquee at the Miccosukee Resort & Gaming for a $6.95 lobster and steak dinner. And yes, we got our $6.95 value in both quantity and quality – very small and very bland. But after winning a few bucks at the slots and reminiscing about our day, we all agreed it was a great weekend.

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The Orlando Disc Golf Trip – Take 2

Take 2, you say? I actually attempted this very same trip 5 months ago with 2 buddies as we played play disc golf along the east coast on our way to Orlando. The whole point of that trip was to play the 4 fantastic courses in the big O on Sunday. Unfortunately, Sunday never happened after 2 pints of vodka and a broken hotel window at 3 in the morning cut the trip short. Fast forward to this past weekend – same trip, same courses, different (non-alcoholic) buddies. This time, the cast was myself, Crystal, the Aussie, and his girlfriend, She-Ra. (Click here to learn more about each).

The first course we hit was an hour up the road on the Florida Atlantic University Campus in Jupiter. After a crazy round of golf to kick off the trip, which included climbing an electrical tower to retrieve an errant throw, we headed across the street to enjoy the Farmer’s Market, where we sampled several types of food, including some incredible pies, like nectarine and banana. We were so impressed, we got a Key Lime Pie for the road. We next headed to Fort Pierce to a fun and beautifully-landscaped 9-hole course. After a quick 9 and some mexican lunch, we then went to Malabar, which boasts one of the toughest courses in Florida. The whole course is just a sea of saw palmettos that are more than eager to ‘eat’ you up with every step. Since I was the only one who had played here before, I knew what to expect, and was able to avoid the ragged rough. Can’t say the same for the others. But I know they walked away proud to have not lost a single disc (or leg). The fourth and final course of the day was in Cocoa, which has 21 holes (most courses are either 18 or 9 holes). After a much easier round than Malabar, we sat down by a lake for some Key Lime Pie, a beautiful sunset and a visiting gator just off the shore. Luckily, he’s not a big fan of Key Lime Pie.

After finally figuring out where our hotel was in Orlando, we managed to squeeze in an extra round of golf…putt-putt, that is! at 11 o’clock - and the course closed at 11:30. Needless to say, after 2 courses and 28 holes later, we didn’t finish til early Sunday morning. The putt-putt guy was not too happy with us, especially since he warned us to only play the shorter course! Oops!

After an uneventful night’s sleep (no broken windows, cops or getting kicked out of the hotel). I finally got to play the Orlando courses that I so wanted to play 5 months ago. The first 2 rounds were at Bill Frederick Park at Turkey Lake, which has 2 of the funnest courses in Florida. The scenery itself is incredible, with Turkey Lake the backdrop for many of the holes. We then played the last 2 rounds of the weekend at Barnett Park, which also boasts another 2 great courses. Overall, the trip was tons of fun, the competition great, and no one lost any discs. But we did manage to lose a couple golf balls at the putt-putt course.

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7 States, 10 Days, 85 Years and 3,000 Miles

I just spent the past 10 days traveling up and down the east coast, covering 7 states and driving over 3,000 miles. The highlight of the trip was celebrating my father’s 85th birthday with family and friends in Annapolis, Maryland. Along the way, I also spent a couple days with one of my best friends in Roanoke, Virginia, visited with my sister and her family in Fredericksburg, Virginia, covered eastern Maryland with my step-nephew, and …oh yeah…played a couple rounds of disc golf too! OK, a little more than a couple – I ended up playing 42 rounds on 35 different courses in…you guessed it…7 different states! A whirlwind trip indeed.

It all started after work on Friday, March 28th, in which I drove 8 hours straight til I got to Walterboro, South Carolina. The next morning, I drove to Charlotte, North Carolina, where I spent most of the day playing disc golf…in the rain. I actually managed to stay dry for the most part until I hit the last course of the day, where I had a bit of a run-in with a miniature bamboo forest. Leaving my umbrella to cover my discs and to search for my errant throw, the bamboo trees were bound and determined to get me sopping wet, which they very successfully did, as I managed to accidentally kick the water off each and every tree. Let’s just say I spent the long cold walk back to car wringing out my completely-drenched shirt. I then headed up to Winston-Salem to dry off and get ready to play one of my all-time favorite courses the next morning.

The good news – it didn’t rain on Sunday; the bad news – it was incredibly windy. I think I actually would’ve traded the wind in for the rain, as it is almost impossible to control your disc in 30 mph winds. After the fun (and very windy) round at Horizons Park, I drove into western Virginia, where I played some more golf, including a round at Ferrum College, where I spent my first year of college at in the mid-80’s. I arrived at my friend’s house in the early evening, where we had a delicious dinner in downtown Roanoke and played with her Wii the rest of the night.

Needing a day off from golf, we had a great time catching up and hanging out, including lunch at a super-cool restaurant in Paint Bank, Virginia called the Swinging Bridge Restaurant. Decked out like a general store from the 1940’s, inside is an actual small swinging bridge that hangs over the dining area. Their specialty dishes are the buffalo burgers and buffalo stew, which I most readily sampled. I’d say it tasted like chicken, but it actually tasted like beef. We even drove around town to visit the grazing buffalo. They didn’t seem too thrilled that we just nibbled on one of their own. Back to the road on Tuesday as I headed towards my sister’s place in Fredericksburg, but not before I played 4 more rounds of golf along the way, and enjoyed some delicious ice cream at the famous Carl’s.

On Wednesday, I slowly made my way up north to my dad’s, hitting a few of my favorite courses along the way, including my original home course at Pohick Bay Park in Lorton, Virginia. After wishing my dad a Happy Birthday on Thursday morning, I drove up to northern Maryland and Delaware for another fun-filled day of disc golf and driving. I had dinner with my step-nephew and his wife in Seaford, Delaware, where I also stayed the night. Back to the links on Friday, but this time, I was joined by my nephew, as we played around southern Delaware and eastern Maryland. Ironically, we have the exact same first name and the exact same birthday…I just happen to be a little more than a decade older than him (the “college in the mid-80′s” reference oughta give it away).

My father and I in the early 70's

Saturday was the big day for my dad’s b-day party, where he had about 50 of his closest friends and family show up. I can’t tell you how great it was to have both my biological family and my step-family all together at once, as it is a rare feat indeed.  But then my dad’s a rare breed himself, and I was so glad to help him bring in the big 8-5 (hey look, another mid-80′s reference).

Only a mere 18 hours away from home, Sunday and Monday were travel days back down to south Florida, and you won’t believe what I played. If you guessed backgammon, you are oh so close. Or as Pedro from South of the Border would say – “eh. close but no dice!”

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