[Jim Price]

VACATION RECAP 2/12/07

It had been a fairly mild winter so far, and not too bad for snowfall through most of January. But with the weather forecast indicating single-digit and even subzero temperatures for the coming week, the timing for my annual Florida vacation with accomplice Sparky The Engineer couldn't have been better!

DAY ONE: FRIDAY, 2/2

It had been spitting snow, sleet and freezing rain during our scheduled departure day, Friday. So I was already feeling good to be escaping our little corner of the world after packing my gear into Sparky's Pathfinder, and passing snowplows and salt trucks as we exited the Altoona area to start our trek southward. By the time we got through Bedford County and exited Pennsylvania into Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia, the precipitation had tapered off to just snow showers and flurries. We saw a few isolated pockets of snow showers as we headed southward from our customary first meal stop at the Winchester, Virginia Waffle House, and snow was a memory as we finally reached the North Carolina border. The cold was still with us, though, with overnight lows in the teens at our overnight destination, the Holiday Inn Express along I-95 in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. We pulled in at around 2 AM, and got rested up for the second half of our roadtrip on Saturday.

DAY TWO: SATURDAY, 2/3

We resumed our road trip at roughly 11 AM on Saturday morning. A cold wave had gripped much of the eastern half of the country, and the temperature only inched its way through the 30's and into the low 40's by the time we pit-stopped at South Of The Border just inside the South Carolina border. The temperature never escaped the 40's through South Carolina and Georgia, and as we did a supper stop after sunset at a Cracker Barrel near Jacksonville, the temperature was only 46.

The journey itself had been pretty uneventful. Sparky had brought along a book outlining historical landmarks and other highlights along I-95, which we noted as we progressed southward. A lot of Civil War, and even some Revolutionary War, history took place in areas along or intersecting I-95, and it was interesting to know that some pretty famous stuff that shaped our nation's history happened along or near this corridor.

One humorous highlight we had looked forward to as we approached Jacksonville was listening in to one of that city's FM stations. WJXR-FM is essentially a radio version of QVC or Home Shopping Network, only hokier and funnier. The station obtains discount merchandise, often stuff you can buy at dollar stores, and sells it at a mark-up price over the air, making this merchandise sound like the hottest thing since sliced bread. And listeners then call in to buy this stuff, thinking they have found tremendous savings! The announcers they have describing the merchandise and soliciting the phone calls sound like middle-aged southern housewives with little or no broadcast experience, who slur the station call letters into one jumbled word, "Dub-jake-sar." The funniest thing we heard, though, was when some prank callers phoned into the station and hung up on the announcer (it aggravates me enough when it happens to me at Q94, but I was laughing at hearing somebody else dealing with it!) The lady bitched about the pranksters on the air, stating that they were "making a speculation of themselves on the air," before she faked a phone conversation with a police officer on the air in a futile attempt to scare the pranksters into thinking that law enforcement had been contacted about the phone calls. Fortunately, Sparky didn't wreck the Pathfinder as we laughed our asses off listening to this comedy!

The only other noteworthy thing as we entered the homestretch of our journey to Zephyrhills was noting some tree damage near Ocala; apparently damage suffered some 48 hours before from the wave of killer tornadoes that tore through central Florida. This damage had happened about an hour's drive north from where we were staying, and Ocala was at the outer western edge of where the storms first started to wreak their damage. Many of the fatalities happened at Lady Lake, about ten miles east of Ocala. We would observe some more tornado damage during our return trip later on.

Although still on the chilly side, the temperature had warmed some as we progressed further south into Florida, and was in the low 50's by the time we reached our destination.

We arrived at Sparky's parents' winter abode at around 2 AM. We unpacked and unwinded before retiring for the night. The destination had been reached, and the forecast for our next seven days was warmer temperatures, rest, relaxation and fun!

Sparky D'Wheelman, in front of our hotel accommodations before we resumed our journey on Saturday morning.

South Carolina's most famous tourist trap. South Of The Border.

Sparky and a big spark plug at South Of The Border. Coincidence? Maybe...maybe not.

Yours Truly, getting a charge out of the giant spark plug.

Yours Truly, giving a thumbs up at South Of The Border.

With some enterprising camera positioning, Sparky gives me a sombrero at South Of The Border.

Somewhere at a gas stop in Georgia, Sparky checks the oil. Last year, an oil leak during our trip down to Florida sent Sparky's Pathfinder into the shop for a major repair once we arrived in Florida. Sparky wasn't taking any chances this year!

DAY 3: SUNDAY 2/4

This was rest-up day after our long roadtrip the past two days. We lounged around the house for the early part of this day. But unlike where we had been 48 hours previously, I was able to put on a T-shirt and shorts and sit out on the front porch, getting caught up on PA Musician and Rockpage writing while taking in some sunshine and listening to Angel Blue and the Prophets' Bottom of the Bottle Blues CD on my portable CD player. Ahhh, this was living the life!

We did have one thing to do before the Super Bowl came on that evening. Our vacation entourage was growing by one, as Big Jim was flying in for a couple of days, and we had to drive to Tampa International Airport to pick him up. This was the first time I had ever seen Tampa's airport, and we were both impressed by how conveniently organized the facility was. We parked in a parking garage just mere feet from the elevator, and exited the elevator directly into the airport's main lobby area where all the airline passenger terminals were located. Once Big Jim arrived, it was only a short walk back to the elevator, and back to our car. We headed back to the house, arriving with about 15 minutes to spare before the start of the Super Bowl.

Sparky's parents did up a nice food spread for the game, and we enjoyed meatball sandwiches, baked beans, chips and dips, and other great edibles while watching Indianapolis eventually dispatch Chicago.

We kicked back and relaxed for the duration of the evening. This was a restful day, allowing us to recharge our batteries for the week of fun ahead.

Approaching Tampa en route to the airport...

A view of one of the runways at Tampa International Airport.

On a view screen at Tampa International Airport, you can view this informative video welcoming those arriving in the Tampa area, courtesy of the Vistor's News Network. One question...what's a vistor?

No, I didn't really find this year's Super Bowl too exciting...

DAY 4: MONDAY 2/5

During our week in Florida, this was the only day where the weather was unfavorable; and even then, it wasn't bad. The day was overcast, with high temperatures in the upper 50's and off-and-on light rain. This was certainly still a helluva lot better than the frigid single-digit temperatures and subzero wind chills being experienced back at home all this week! And it did not deter us from our plan for this day, a trip to Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo.

Sparky and I had visited Lowry Park Zoo two years before; this was Big Jim's first visit there. Despite the chilly temperatures, it was still an enjoyable experience. The chill did, however, result in the closure of the Zoo's aviary that day, as well as cancellation of their riverboat tours. But we saw everything else, from manatees to playful otters to sparring rhinos; and we also rode the skyride, a ski-lift-like ride above the zoo and back.

After a day at the zoo, we headed to an anticipated dining destination we had enjoyed the previous two years, Sonny's. Sonny's is a chain of barbecued rib and chicken establishments comparable to Clem's up this way. We feasted on ribs and enjoyed.

We then hit the road again, this time to head eastward to Orlando. There, we took in the Disney Boardwalk, a huge complex featuring attractions, hotels and resorts, kiosks, gift shops and more. This area was located in close proximity to Epcot, so we watched the Epcot nighttime fireworks display from a distance away. We finished by going to Jellyrolls, a nightclub featuring dueling piano players. We enjoyed some brew and witnessed the talented piano players duel and work the audience for tips. After taking this in for a while, we decided to head back to the house to enjoy the remainder of a restful evening.

Well, almost. About midway through the day at the zoo, I began to feel a little bit uneasy. That uneasiness slowly escalated during the afternoon and evening, and in the middle of the night, I found myself making a trip across the hall to deal with some gastrointestinal issues...on both fronts. I was hoping this was a temporary issue; certainly it would suck to be sick during my week of vacation!

Big Jim pets some stingrays at Lowry Park Zoo. These stingrays had their barbs removed, so no danger of any "Crocodile Hunter" like incidents here.

A river otter gives us a show.

An alligator at Lowry Park Zoo.

Some bison at the Lowry Park Zoo.

Big Jim emerges...

Big Jim experiences some difficulty getting tokens from the skylift token machine.

Big Jim tries again.

Big Jim on the skylift.

Yours truly, shooting some video during the skylift ride.

My skylift ride comes to an end.

In sports action this afternoon, these two rhinos sparred for us at Lowry Park Zoo.

Big Jim in his new career endeavor, hot pretzel vendor at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo.

Would you like a side of ice cream with that?

Eagles on display at Lowry Park Zoo.

Natural lawn ornaments on display at Lowry Park Zoo.

Yours truly, hanging out with a fruit bat.

Get your eyes off my neck!

Big Jim with a big giraffe.

Big Jim and Sparky pose with the giraffe. Sparky is standing on an elevated platform. Big Jim is not.

Hey, did you hear the one about the 900-pound gorilla?

Yours truly encounters the Lowry Park Zoo guard rooster.

Once again, Lowry Park Zoo's rooster.

Big Jim and Yours Truly outside Sonny's BBQ.

Sparky and Yours Truly at Sonny's.

One of the swimming areas at one of the resort hotels at Disney Boardwalk. Nice if you can afford it!

DAY 5: TUESDAY 2/6

The day started out with good and bad news for me. The good; my front end was feeling much better after the previous night's issues. The bad news; the other end was not, and Pepto Bismol and Immodium became a part of my diet for the next couple of days.

It was a minor setback, and not enough to prevent me from enjoying this day's vacation itinerary. During last year's Florida trip, Sparky's parents introduced us to a huge flea market that happened a mile or two from their house on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We headed back to this flea market this morning. As much of Florida's vacationing population during this time of year is elderly snowbirds from up north, the flea market business is brisk during the early-riser hours, and tapers off dramatically after noon. So we got there at around 11 AM to partake in what bargains we could find. I ended up buying - for $5 at a Florida flea market – a pair of heavy-duty winter gloves! Big Jim landed the biggest bargains of the day, though, finding a replacement black leather jacket for just $20, and two pieces of luggage for $35 – luggage that cost over $200 at Tampa International Airport!

After departing the flea market and pit-stopping at the house, we headed southward to another destination we had enjoyed on previous Florida vacations; Parkesdale Fruit Market in Plant City. Sparky and I had enjoyed this establishment's strawberry sundaes and shortcakes in years past, and we were eager to let Big Jim discover the treats as well. It was a warm and sunny day, and as such, we had to wait in line for our treats. But it was well worth it!

It was then time to bid farewell to Big Jim, who had to hop a plane back to Pennsylvania to return to his work destination. So we returned to Tampa International Airport in the afternoon to send Jim off, and experienced some of Tampa's rush-hour interstate gridlock en route back to the house. Boy, was I glad the Pepto was working!

After doing supper at an all-you-can-eat restaurant, we retired in front of the tube for the rest of the evening.

Waiting in line for cool strawberry treats at Parksdale Farm Market.

Waiting in line for out treats, Sparky, Big Jim and Yours Truly.

Again, Yours Truly and Big Jim.

Big Jim and Sparky get ready to dig in.

A closer look at the treats.

Big Jim gets ready for a big treat.

After parting ways with Big Jim at the airport, this is what late afternoon rush hour gridlock looks like in Tampa.

DAY 6: WEDNESDAY 2/7

This day, Sparky's parents presented us with an interesting game plan; to visit Big Cat Rescue, located in the outskirts of Tampa.

As the name would suggest, Big Cat Rescue is a sanctuary for big cats. And as our tour would reveal, they have some BIG cats. A house cat greeted us at the gate as we parked the vehicle. They would only get bigger from there. This was a pretty fascinating place, as an intern led us on a tour to see the big cats, ranging from bobcats and cougars to lions, tigers, leopards, exotic wild cats and more. Many of them had unique stories. The tigers were mostly retired circus animals. A black cougar (a.k.a. "black panther") was confiscated from a drug dealer during a raid. Other wild cats were animals bought as exotic pets on the black market, but discarded by their owners.

There were some funny moments during the tour as well, such as the leopard that expresses its happiness by spraying piss at visitors (he fired at our group, but everybody was able to dodge his shot). There was also the big cat "couple," a female white tiger and a male lion. These two animals shared the same pen area, and got along pretty well together. The lion gave us a show by roaring loudly several times from the middle of his pen; the intern said that was usually what he did before laying down for his afternoon nap. During the tour, we were almost constantly followed by a cavalcade of guinea fowl, muscovy ducks and several house cats. The intern told us that the house cats were smart enough to know to stay out of the big cats' pens; the birds, not necessarily so, and that occasionally one of them became a meal. It was a fascinating visit.

For the rest of the evening, we stuck around the house and relaxed; resting up for our destination the next day - Orlando.

One of the bobcats at Big Cat Rescue. Our intern told us that sometimes people will find bobcat kittens and think they are housecats, only learning later that they are wild.

Also found at Big Cat Rescue, this is a caracal. They are found in parts of the Middle East.

An American cougar at Big Cat Rescue.

As we toured the Big Cat Rescue grounds, this flock of guinea fowl were following us around, making lots of noise. According to our intern, it was their feeding time.

At Big Cat Rescue, this was the smartass leopard that tried to piss on our tour group. Fortunately, everybody dodged the spray. Damned dirty cat!

A resting female lion at Big Cat Rescue.

A white tiger rests at Big Cat Rescue.

DAY 7: THURSDAY 2/8

Keeping with tradition, we always devote at least one day of our annual Florida sojourn for heading to one of the Orlando attractions. Today was that day. Our destination: Epcot.

Epcot has pretty much become our favorite Disney attraction. First, it's the most adult-geared of the attractions, and there is almost always something new and interesting to check out every time we go there.

The weather was great (sunny with temps in the mid-70's) as Sparky and I arrived in early afternoon. We checked out the Spaceship Earth attraction and Ellen's Energy Adventure (pretty cool, even if the video/virtual presentation is hosted by Ellen Degeneres ***yawn***), the Soarin' virtual reality hang-glider ride, Universe of Energy and Wonders Of Life pavilions. We did the Coca Cola international tasting center attraction (the samples I drank were all good except for the one for Italy - yecch!), and we toured Innoventions (no misadventures with faulty computers or robotic dogs this time). Eventually, we made our way over to the World Showcase, where we rode the Maelstrom Adventure Cruise, took in performances by the Celtic rock band Off Kilter at the Canada Pavilion, The British Invasion (not the Altoona version) at the United Kingdom Pavilion and Mo'Rockin' at the Morocco Pavilion (we even got to see a belly dancer), and dined on some Japanese takeout food at the Japan Pavilion. Eventually, closing time arrived, and we took in the IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth fireworks spectacular, before ransacking a souvenir shop and departing.

We weren't done with Orlando just yet, though. We headed to Downtown Disney, where we left ourselves run amok at the Virgin Records Superstore, a two story store complex stocking nearly every CD created in the history of mankind and then some. I couldn't resist the temptation after finding CD's by Rory Gallagher, Edgar Winter Group and Angel City in the budget bin section, or some bargains in the DVD section. I busted out the plastic and spent over $100. Oh well, I only get to this place once a year, so why not? After departing the Virgin Superstore, we decided to escape Downtown Disney before our credit card plastics got wounded further.

This action-packed day had drawn to a close. One more full day of Florida sunshine left to enjoy, before we had to start facing the long trip back.

An interesting vehicle we saw along I-4 while heading to Epcot.

Yours truly at Epcot's Innoventions.

I like Coca Cola, but this soft drink Coke sells in Italy tasted like bitter battery acid. The label on the dispenser explained that the stuff was served before meals to "cleanse the palate." As I figure it, this stuff tasted so bad that any food served afterward would HAVE to taste better...Yeech!!!

Performing at Epcot's Canada Pavilion, the Celtic rock group Off Kilter..

Replicating the sounds of the Beatles at Epcot's United Kingdom Pavilion, the British Invasion.

Complete with belly dancer (on left), Mo' Rockin' at Epcot's Moroccan Pavilion.

Yours truly at the end of another interesting and fun day at Epcot.

DAY 8: FRIDAY 2/9

Today, we were going to the fair...The Florida State Fair!

Yes, Florida holds their official state fair in February, when temperatures in that part of the country are less oppressive. And the Florida State Fair lasts for two weeks at the fairgrounds, located just east of Tampa near Interstate 4.

Sparky and I arrived early in the afternoon, and began to explore this fair. We checked out one large building that contained a Florida showcase, with each county in the state having a display of what they were about. We also witnessed the wine-tasting room, where a panel of wine-tasting judges were imbibing...err...TASTING...wines produced from throughout the state. In theory, these judges were supposed to taste the wine only and spit it out; however, I didn't see anyone spitting, and a few of those judges looked rather gleeful. Wine judging...good work if you can find it! There was also a fish aquarium judging contest, with some very interesting aquariums on display; some done in ranch motifs, others with horror movie themes, and more. Maybe I'll try that with my goldfish aquarium sometime, provided I ever clean the algae civilization out of it first...

We then got some initial food to eat. There were food booths EVERYWHERE at this fair; if you were hungry when you left this fair, it was your own damned fault! I was interested in one food item I had read about that was going to be at the fair, called a “hot roast beef sundae.” It actually sounded pretty good, featuring scoops of mashed potatoes topped with roast beef and gravy, sundae style, with some cheddar cheese sprinkled on top and a cherry tomato on the very top. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the vendor who was selling this culinary treat. But I made do with some of the other foodstuffs present; believe me, there were plenty!

We continued to a big warehouse area, which should have been named the “den of thieves.” This warehouse was nothing but a sea of hucksters, snake-oil salesmen and other trinket marketers trying every which way they could to try to persuade you to part with your money. Sales pitches came at you from every direction, for perfumes, herbs, vacuum cleaners, cars, rug cleaners, soaps, massagers and more; you name it, and somebody in here was trying to sell it! The only booth we saw that wasn’t hawking something was the Florida State Police booth. We rested there as a temporary escape from the huckster madness.

We walked our way around the rest of the fairgrounds. We proceeded through the ride and game area, but made a hasty retreat as it got massively crowded (we later learned that all the Tampa area school kids had the day off to attend this fair, and many of them arrived during the afternoon). We eventually rode the sky ride over the fairgrounds, arriving back near the area where we first entered. We took in the Spanish Language Musical Theatre for a few minutes, before grabbing supper. At this point, evening was arriving, and with Stevie Nicks scheduled to perform a concert there in another hour or two, we decided to depart the fairgrounds before the Nicks crowd arrived.

As we made our exit, the Stevie Nicks crowd was arriving, as we witnessed massive gridlock from all sides trying to get into the fairgrounds. We actually had to take an alternate route to make it back to the interstate to get back to the house, as the arteries around the immediate fairgrounds were clogged with arriving Stevie Nicks concert traffic.

Thus ended our last full day of Florida sunshine before the return trip to friggin’ cold Pennsylvania began the next day…

On display at the Florida State Fair, the Red Baron promotional biplane. We actually saw this plane fly over the house en route to the fairgrounds.

An antique Florida forestry truck, on display at the Florida State Fair.

Another antique Dodge forestry truck, on display at the Florida State Fair.

A view behind me during the sky lift ride at the Florida State Fair.

Nearing the end of our sky lift journey at the Florida State Fair.

You probably won't see this at any of our fairs in Pennsylvania...The Spanish Language Musical Theatre at the Florida State Fair.

DAY 9: SATURDAY 2/10

All good things have to come to an end, and thus, our Florida vacation was ending. Today was departure day, where we bid farewell to Florida for another year, and made our way back up north to the reality of cold wintertime Pennsylvania.

We departed Sparky’s parents’ abode at around 11 AM, and headed eastward on Interstate 4 towards Daytona Beach, where we would hook up with Sparky’s friend and former classmate, Daytona Dave. After we passed Orlando and continued east, we came upon the area near Deltona where the previous weekend’s killer tornadoes had crossed I-4 and knocked some big rigs off the road. The rigs were long since cleaned up, but the tree damage was obvious, with treetops broken off and other trees bent awkwardly where the twisters went through.

We soon arrived in Daytona Beach, and did lunch with Daytona Dave at a riverside bar/restaurant (if I recall correctly, called the River Café). The crabcake sandwich there was great!

We then headed northward through Jacksonville, and exited Florida…only to turn around and come back into the state, to stop in at the Florida Welcome Center and get our complimentary cup of orange juice, which we missed on the way in (the center was closed for the day when we arrived a week before). That mission completed, we again exited Florida, and this time did not go back.

We quickly knew we were no longer in Florida, as the temperature plummeted as we headed through Georgia. The temperature was already in the upper 30’s as we entered South Carolina. We did supper at an Outback Steakhouse near Florence, and proceeded northward into North Carolina, to overnight at the same hotel we stayed at on the way down, the Holiday Inn Express in Roanoke Rapids. It was just as cold there now as it was when we stayed there a week ago!

Sparky at the Florida Welcome Center. Too bad we were actually leaving Florida at this point...

Yours truly at the Florida Welcome Center. We were leaving, but had to stop by and get our complimentary orange juice...

DAY 10: SUNDAY 2/11

The last leg of the journey…We continued northward through Virginia, watching the temperature further plummet as we headed through Richmond. Mid 30’s…lower 30’s…and as we traversed West Virginia and Maryland back into Pennsylvania, the upper 20’s. Yecch. Back home. Freezing…

It was a great time while it lasted. We dodged the coldest week of this winter, and enjoyed some temporary relief with some sunshine and shorts and T-shirt weather. It was back to reality, and the long wait until warmer weather would arrive in our part of the world again.

Thanks to Sparky for the ride, and Sparky’s parents for the accommodations! Til next winter…

HELLO VIXEN @ PELLEGRINE’S, ALTOONA 2/11/07

We arrived back home late Sunday afternoon. I had a guest on the "Backyard Rocker" this night, and afterward, and after logging a long evening at the workplace, headed to Pellegrine's to check in with my Sunday night cronies and take in the first Pelly's appearance of Hello, Vixen.

A good-sized crowd was present as I arrived near the end of Hello, Vixen's second set.

Hello, Vixen had a good party going during the third set, as they kept a contingent of fans steadily in front of the stage while they performed numbers from the Foo Fighters, Green Day, Weezer, Nirvana and more, along with a new punk-fueled original song, "Grandpa's Medicine." The group finished out the night on a rowdy note with their take on Bouncing Souls' "Ole Ole."

It was the show we've come to expect from Hello, Vixen; fast-paced, enthusiastic, bounce-off-the-walls energy. All five musicians kept the pace nonstop, and gave the Pelly's dance floor audience little opportunity to want to sit down.

It was a good blowout party to get me back in synch with the reality of being back home. A good time.

Hello, Vixen makes their Pellegrine's debut.

Again, Hello, Vixen brings the party to Pellegrine's.

Brian Simanski of Hello, Vixen.

Once again, Hello, Vixen.

Bill Maguire of Hello, Vixen.

Mark Simanski of Hello, Vixen.

Yet again, Hello, Vixen.

Steve Holtz of Hello, Vixen.

JP’s HAIKU

Florida escape
Warm weather, attractions, fun
While you all froze - HA!
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[Jim Price]

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http://pamusician.net