Greg's Florida Vacation

Prior to Greg beginning his vacation Bill & Jane made a day trip with John & Carol Schiltz to Venice Beach, Florida which is about two hours south of Zephyrhills right on the Gulf of Mexico. The beach there was absolutely gorgeous.

A planned tour on "Just Ducky" (a combination land and water tour of Venice in a retro-fitted WWII landing craft) was foiled when we pulled into the parking lot only to see "the Duck" pulling out of the back driveway and starting the tour early - with a full boat! Oh well, Jane and Carol shopped as John and Bill sipped the fine brews of local establishments. It was fun day capped off with supper at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Wesley Chapel.

Greg arrived in Florida after flying from Buffalo, NY on Wednesday, March 12 and stayed with Bill & Jane at Forest Lakes for one week. The first day he was kind of tired and spent time sunbathing by the pool,

then he, Bill & Jane went to the Moose Club for chicken wing nite. That evening they played round-robin shuffleboard and Greg was soundly defeated. Welcome to Florida!

Thursday the trio went to Busch Gardens in Tampa for the day. Greg and Bill were determined to ride every coaster in the park - and they did! The two top rides were Sheikra, which goes up 200 feet then drops straight down at 90 degrees on the first hill. The other is Montu - rated among the top six coasters in the country. You are upside down for a good portion of the ride as you rocket thru seven major inversions.

Both coasters are floorless and were quite a thrill! Bill, Jane and Greg got to see Herman's Hermits in live concert while there. The show was awesome with lead singer Peter Noone

singing "There's A Kind Of Hush", "I'm Into Something Good", "Leaning On A Lamp Post", "Saturday's Child", "No Milk Today", "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat", "East-West" and many other of their hits. People were cheering and waving British flags and it was like being back in the sixties - at least for Jane and Bill. They also got to see "Irish Thunder"

perform on stage in the Budweiser Beerhall. They are a singing and dancing troupe performing Irish classics before a packed house. Oldies but goodies were sung at another venue titled "Wop a Dappa Doobob" similiar to Sha-Na-Na.

Of course wild animals abounded on the Serengeti including Asian elephants, rhinos, meerkats, zebras, giraffes and alligators. Free beer from the hospitality house and a final look at the Clydesdale horses capped a very busy day.
Friday our trio hooked up with John & Carol Schiltz to experience Wild Bill's Airboat Ride in Inverness, Fla. It's a real airboat zooming up and down the Withlacoochee River in search of wildlife and upclose viewing of alligators in their natural environment. The adventurers actually got glimpes of three gators but Jane, Bill & Greg got soaked as they made the mistake of sitting in front of the boat driven by a frustrated NASCAR wanna' be. Oh well, you dry out quick in Florida.

They had an interesting lunch at an Inverness diner called "The Cockadoodle Cafe" featuring mostly, of course, chicken. That night they dined at Winners Sports Bar in Wesley Chapel and watched the Sabres lose to Toronto.

Saturday started with a trip to Tampa and a tour of the Florida Aquarium. You have never seen so many sharks, stingrays, blowfish, turtles and eels in your life - and they even have penguins who perform a walk (or waddle?) right in front of the crowd. A large cruiseship was parked right next to the aquarium in Tampa Harbor waiting for its' next cruise.

The trio jumped aboard a trolley following the tour and scooted off to Ybor City - a section of Tampa like Armory Square only bigger and wilder. They had lunch at the Tampa Bay Brewing Company including some awesome home-made brews such as elephants foot ale. Rain cut the visit to Ybor City short and our trio returned to Forest Lakes to watch March Madness.

Easter Sunday started with a packed Mass at St. Joseph's Church in Zephyrhills. Following that Greg and Bill traveled to Lakeland to watch the Detroit Tigers play the Cleveland Indians. It was a great game that ended in a 3-3 tie after ten innings. Next year the Indians are moving to Arizona for spring training - must be too much sun in Florida. That evening Jane cooked an awesome Easter steak dinner with Dick & Judy Hagle as their guests. The night was topped off with a game of Phase 10 which Jane won - again.

Monday started with a trip to Webster and the largest flea market in Central Florida. Greg was amazed at the variety of merchandise available and the prices which are so low for most everything. Jane found a jewelry wholesaler who unfortunately fed her growing appetite for pretty trinkets. Our trio left there each carrying several bags of "must haves". That afternoon Jane & Greg went to Bealls, a Florida discount chain featuring summer clothing. Jane had a 20% off card as well as Monday being "senior 15% off" day, so Greg ended up with most of his summer wardrobe at a tremendous bargain.

Tuesday started with more lounge time at Forest Lakes poolside. The water stays between 80 and 84 degrees even with cooler nights - thanks to the miracle of propane. Greg invented a new shuffleboard game featuring 12 pucks so that three shufflers can play at once. Strange alliances were formed to battle whoever was in the lead - if the inventor of shuffleboard knew what was going on he'd roll over in his grave. That evening Bill, Jane, Greg, John & Carol all went to their favorite Mexican restaurant in Wesley Chapel for another awesome meal. Following that the men went to Winners Sports Bar to watch Syracuse blow a 22 point lead to Umass and get kicked out of the NIT - and also to watch the Sabres blow a 3-1 lead to Ottawa and lose 6-3. That's the end of both teams season - we are not returning to this bar again.

Wednesday Greg packed up all his stuff and flew back to sunny Buffalo and the real world. The temperature was only about 50 degrees cooler upon arrival. It was an awesome and fun week which required considerable recuperation time for Bill & Jane.

LAZYDAYS

On Thursday Bill & Jane teamed up with John & Carol Schiltz to visit Lazydays RV Extravaganza near Tampa. This place is nothing short of amazing. First there is a large campground for people trying out their new RV's, or waiting for service, or just passing through. The campground is expansive and was filled with every RV out there. Next there is the service department - featuring 200 available bays - which was booked up completely when we visited. Then there is the sales department, which is broken down by makes into their own separate sections. There are 1600 class A coaches to pick from - it would take two weeks just to look inside them all. A large Camping World store is also on site and guess what - they have a free lunch for anyone who wants to stop in and help themselves at the massive cafeteria located in the main building. The grounds are all immaculate and punctuated with large southern oaks, beautiful flowers and shrubbery that would make Pam Hachey proud. Anyone who likes camping should visit Lazydays at least once in their lifetime.

After departing Lazydays our two traveling couples went to Ybor City for snacks and drinks and a ride on the trolley - John got some free ride tickets from a homeless woman who preferred walking.

That's all for now. Bill & Jane will be leaving Florida soon headed for Red Bay, Alabama, the home of Tiffin Motorhomes. They hope to have some service work done on the Phaeton, take a tour of the factory, and rest up from a busy winter at Forest Lakes.

March Madness

Two weeks since Bill & Jane's last post, and they have been busy. The weather has been gorgeous, with sunny days averaging in the 70's, and cooler, comfortable nights.

CAN-AM DAY

Saturday, March 1 was Can-Am days here at Forest Lakes. It is a celebration of patriotism and the close ties between the US and Canada. Everyone wore patriotic clothing for the day. There were shuffle and horseshoe contests, games, food and music provided by "Dinky".

The national anthems of both nations were sung, followed by dancing and merriment.

STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL

Sunday, March 2 Bill & Jane traveled to Plant City with Ray and Ernie to visit the Strawberry Festival. Plant City was found to have a perfect climate for the cultivation of strawberries and it has developed into the leading production spot for the red fruit in the country. 15 % of all strawberries in the US are grown in Plant City, so they launched a 10 day festival to celebrate harvest time. Jane and Bill expected something on the order of a Fireman's Field Day, but instead found the Strawberry Festival nearly as large as the Florida State Fair. There were vendors selling all types of merchandise, midway rides, expos, contests and row after row of delicious foods, and of course strawberries served in dozens of ways. The entertainment provided is actually better than the NYS Fair. That night Alan Jackson

performed before a sold-out crowd of about 12,000 country fans. He sang "Gone Country", "Don't Rock The Jukebox", "Amarillo", "A Woman's Love", "Chattahoochee", "Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning" and "A Love Like That" to name just a few of the hits he performed. It was an awesome concert, and made you feel good about being an American. The Strawberry Festival should be on everyone's "bucket list" when visiting central Florida in March.

THE BUCKET LIST

Bill and Jane went to the movies in Zephyrhills to see the movie, "The Bucket List". It is a movie that everyone should see and start themselves a bucket list. The movie theatres have large rocking type chairs with at least 2-3 feet of leg room. Very comfortable.

THE MOOSE LODGE

John & Carol Schiltz of Strykersville, NY arrived at Forest Lakes Estates during the Can-Am Festival. They have camped here on and off for the last ten years. They invited Bill & Jane to the Zephyrhills Moose Lodge for dinner on Italian Night. The Moose Lodge is quite large, with a smoking and non-smoking section and two full bars. The food there is awesome and the drinks are about half-price. The two couples went there again on Friday for the fish, and after several drinks Bill was approached to join the Moose Lodge. Suffice it to say Bill & Janes are now moose and moosette.

TARPON SPRINGS

Bill & Jane invited John & Carol to a day in Tarpon Springs, Fla. to do some sight seeing. Tarpon Springs is located right on the Gulf of Mexico about 35 miles north of Tampa. Back around 1870 the locals discovered that the seafloor around Tarpon Springs was covered with sponge. They began to harvest the sponge utilizing two-man rowboats and long hooks but this proved very inefficient. The town fathers reached out to the country of Greece which at the time was the center of the sponge industry in the Mediterranean. The result was a massive influx of Greek immigrants to Tarpon Springs which rapidly grew into the "Sponge Capital of the World". A large fleet of sponge harvesting ships sailed out the harbor and fortunes were made. Due to the development of artificial sponges and diseases among the natural sponge population, the industry died off in the middle of the 20th century, but Tarpon Springs remains the largest concentration of Greek Orthodox culture in the United States. The area around the old sponge docks is punctuated with Greek restaurants and nightspots, sponge shops and tourist attractions. There is a Greek Orthodox Cathedral which is the largest in the world outside of Europe. A good time was had by all that day. On the way home the foursome stopped at their favorite Mexican restaurant in Wesley Chapel for a spicy supper.

If you can't drink it all you can swim in it!

SPACE SHUTTLE

Tuesday morning, March 12th at 2:20 AM Bill and Jane got up to see the space shuttle launch. They joined several other sleepy spacenuts wanting to see a night launch. Unfortunately it was too cloudy to be seen from the RV resort. Our friends Ray and Ernie went to Titusville to see it. They said it lit up the night sky as if it were daytime and the launch felt like an earthquake under thier feet. There is always next time.

BUSCH GARDENS
On March 13, Bill & Jane journeyed to Busch Gardens in Tampa to cash in the Christmas present tickets from Greg. They converted the tickets into season passes and are glad they did. Busch Gardens is a beautiful theme park with huge roller coaster rides, entertainment and shows at numerous venues in the park, incredible wildlife and breathtaking floral and plant scenes. They watched two shows that day - "Men of Note" featuring Mike Buck as tenor lead, and

"Katonga" which was like a short Broadway show with singing, dancing and colorful costumes in nature themes.

The animal life is nothing short of awesome. Alligators,

Yes, it's alive!

rhinos, elephants, monkeys, zebras, figalopes, giraffes, wildabeasts, gorillas and dozens of species of birds all in their natural habitat are there to be viewed and admired.

Miami Vice

The continent of Africa is the theme of this Busch Gardens and it surely seems like you are there when traversing the park.

Bill asked for a tour of the brewery only to find out it had been torn down in 1995. However, they do have free beer samples (two a day) as well as beer tasting classes and Budweiser paraphernalia all over. It will take many more trips to Busch Gardens to see and experience all it has to offer.

RED HAT LADIES
On Tuesday March 11th, Jane went with several of her new friends to another Red Hat Luncheon. This time it was at a Country Club in Wesley Chapel. Within this Country Club are "mansions" where many famous people live, including Gen. Norman Schwartzkoff, John Madden, and golf and tennis pro's. The restaurant had all marbled floors, chandeliers, etc. It was a fun day.

Sybil, Jane, Roberta, Carla

NEW YORK YANKEES vs. DETROIT TIGERS

Bill & Jane got to see a spring training baseball game on Saturday March 16 at the Tigers spring training facility in Lakeland, Fla. They went with Ray & Ernie and several of their friends from Michigan. The Yankess came with a split squad as half of the team stayed in Tampa to play the Devil Rays. Joba Chamberlain was the starting pitcher and threw 98 mph fastballs, Jonny Damon played left field,

Jonny Damon looses up in left field

Robinson Cano played second, Melky Cabrera played right, and Jose Molina was the catcher. Ross Ohlendorf came in for middle relief. The rest of the Yankee players were minor leaguers. The Yanks batted around in the first inning and won the slugfest 11-7. It was a scorcher in the sun but a great game to watch, the attendance of 9660 was a new record for the stadium.

Melky Cabrera takes a cut

Joba Chamberlain looks in for the stretch

Yankees infield is ready

MEDICAL UPDATE

Jane had a slight accident slipping down the steps of the RV and turning her ankle. X-rays were negative for any breaks but the swelling, pain and bruising indicate a bad sprain. Bill continues physical therapy for his shoulder surgery and it continues to improve in flexibility and strength. Golf and softball are still a long way off.