Here is the update on our Florida trip. Tom was attending PhD classes at the end of the month of October in Orlando. This was his opportunity to meet face to face with professors and choose a mentor for his thesis. He asked me to join him to squeeze in a Florida vacation since most of the trip was covered by work. We decided to fly to make the most of our time so Tom cashed in some points for my airfare. We left on Saturday morning to spend a few days with the Seitz family members before Tom's classes started Weds night. Scott was home on his own during the week, so I stocked the fridge Friday so he would not have to worry about running around at dinner time looking for food. Allison was home over the weekend before heading back to school on Monday to start her new semester. She is taking Management and Finance this semester. Turns out the Management class is with the same professor she had as an Undergrad, and actually looks like the same course syllabus!  Hopefully they will kick it up a notch!

We headed out to the airport on Saturday morning. We flew into Orlando, rented a car and drove down to Venice to spend a few days with Tom's parents. We had dinner at Carraba's and I started my customary vacation puzzle. On Sunday, after church and breakfast at Denny's, we stopped into the Veteran's cemetery in Sarasota. I was quite impressed with the place. It reminded me of  DC with sculptures and small monuments. It also included military photos and quotes from service men and women stemming from more recent wars back to the civil war with added photos from the Smithsonian archives. Tom's family members have military backgrounds and now plan to use the services.  Of course my trip wouldn't be complete without a stop into the Venice cemetery to visit Dad Bozyk's gravesite. I was surprised to see a new Chinese monument for a Karate Master nearby. Cemeteries are like museums, full of history. We also spent the day walking around downtown Venice at the Sun Festival with an afternoon visit to John and Susan's house. They lost their big tree in their backyard during Hurricane Irma, but now do not have to worry about any branches falling on their house. They also had hurricane shutters installed, so they won't need to ride any future storms out with the neighbors and can stay in their own place. And Susan has more room to grow her garden in the backyard.  We all went out to dinner at the local BBQ place and spent the evening visiting. I had planned on a trip to the beach with Susan and their dog Gus at the dog beach, but the jellyfish warning was up!  Not good for Gus or us if we were to get stung. As it is, Gus loves eating the lizards!

Instead, Tom and I enjoyed lunch at Pop's outdoor deck at the Nokomis beach on Monday while watching the boats and dolphins pass by in the canal. I talked Tom into letting me take a quick walk on Nokomis beach before heading out to Tampa. It was a beautiful day for a beach walk, and I had time to pick up a few shells and shark teeth. I also noticed that they built a snack bar at Nokomis beach-a great place for a fish taco and a beer. We then stopped by my Mom's house up the street. I wanted to get some photos of the place to see if there were any hurricane shutters and to see what type of damage occurred during the storm. I had heard from the property manager that is was minimal.  I got out to take some photos and was spotted by the renter, his friend and his son working in the yard. They were quite suspicious, but when I explained who I was they invited me into the house for a post hurricane update. I did not want to stop in and bother them without going through the property manager first, but I did not really plan on a visit. Just a drive by. I am glad I got out of the car though. The renter, Eddie, showed me damage to the sea wall from reoccurring flooding. We knew it was deteriorating, but now it is pulling away from the land. Looks like it will be a big expense to replace, but if not, there won't be any land left to own! Big decisions. Looks like the house survived the the hurricane. Minimal damage to the roof where a tree limb fell on the corner. Eddie cut up all of the plant debris including the neighbors and they paid to have it hauled away. I also see they are building a new house at the end of the street right on the bay. All new construction has to be built up for flood control which means a house on stilts basically with the garage underneath. 

So we had a great visit and it was time to head back towards Orlando. Tom and I decided to stop into Tampa for a quick visit to Busch Gardens. It started raining, and the park was not very crowded. Especially since it was only open until 5pm. We had a few hours though to take a ride on the safari train. We loved seeing all the animals, especially a 1 month old rhino! Then we walked through the safari and were surprised by two very young gorillas. Tom took time out to catch the newest roller coaster. I really was not in the mood to be flung all around, so I passed, but it looks really cool. It starts off with an elevator ride to the top, then the cars twist and turn and even go backwards on the course. Similar to a ride at Hershey Park. Tom just could not convince me to ride that nor the Cheetah Chase. And that was about the only rides open due to rain. No matter. We stopped into one of our favorite restaurants in Tampa afterwards, Gators, for some fish tacos and then to the hotel. 

On Tuesday Tom had to stop into Northrop to meet with some previous Maryland employees in Apopka, just north of Orlando Northrop acquired a Litton plant there many years ago. While he was meeting with the staff, he dropped me off at a local mall in Altamonte. I managed to entertain myself with a manicure/pedicure and lunch by the time he was done. After his meeting, he offered to take the guys out for beer, so we met up at World of Beer. We had a wonderful chat about life in Central Florida and surviving the hurricane. Seems that Florida is chock full of strange critters, including black bears, alligators, cranes, snakes, mice, rats, lizards and see -through frogs. Even Tom's Dad spotted a bobcat in the middle of the day in their community in Venice! And Susan and John can barely open their door without something making its way in their house! Everything grows well in Florida! We actually chatted for a few hours in the restaurant, into BINGO Happy Hour, so I tried my luck which was no luck. But we had a fun visit. 

We knew we had a busy day on Weds as we were meeting up with our neighbors Dan and Gloria to spend the day at Epcot. So we checked into our hotel. Dan and Gloria also traveled to Florida for the week to celebrate Gloria's new nurse manager position. They decided to take a quick vacation since it was going to be awhile until Gloria had any time off. She was happy though to find a new job a few miles down from the house in an out patient surgery clinic. And they were happy to join us for a quick vacation in Orlando! Tom's classes did not start until Weds night, so we decided to attend the Wine and Food Festival at Epcot during the day. We had a wonderful time sampling food and drinks from all over the world, as well as catching some rides. Things are always changing at the theme parks. They closed the Ellen Degeneres Energy ride with Bill Nye. But we rode Soarin, which is always full and we rarely get on. And we loved it-a video screen ride the size of an IMAX which makes you feel like you are flying over vast stretches of the world like an elephant herd in Africa or a German castle. Complete with smell o vision!  And we enjoyed a performance by Billy Ocean in the park(Carribbean Queen and Drive My Car from the 80s). This is a nice time of year to travel to Orlando since the kid population is down during the week and parks not quite as crowded. But busy enough. We still did not get to ride the new Frozen themed addition in Norway. 

    We pooped out by 830, and opted out of the fireworks show. Tom still had some online homework to complete before attending class on Thursday. We got up early so I could drop him off to his class down the street from our hotel. We had a suite, so we picked up some snacks the night before so Tom would not have to eat out during the course. Dan and Gloria were staying down the street, so they picked me up and we headed to Disney Hollywood Studios. They are doing an amazing amount of remodeling in the park and several old rides were gone, including the Race Car Stunt Show and the Back Lot tour as well as the Hollywood Movie History ride. But we enjoyed all the live shows including Beauty and the Beast , The Little Mermaid and The Indiana Jones stunt show. And I finally got on the Toy Story Video Arcade Game ride(it also is usually too full). And they are building Star Wars Land, to open in 2019, so there was a whole lot of Star Wars going on including shows and merchandise. We rode the Star Tours ride(one of my favorites) and also called it quits fairly early. We decided to opt out of the night time shows as well since we were all too tired from walking around the parks for 2 days straight. We even passed on getting together to watch the Ravens game for our usual Thursday night football since Tom did not get done until after 8pm and we were all too tired after ordering pizza in. Instead Tom and I  climbed into bed to watch the crazy Raven/Dolphin game with our quarterback out for a concussion! However they still beat the Dolphins. Plus, Dan and Gloria were headed back to Maryland early Friday morning. Their son was scheduled to take the GRE on Saturday in DC and Dan was driving him down. Alex is looking to attend the University of Delaware to study Environmental Policy after graduating this December in Political Science. 

So Friday I was on my own. No problem. I took a hotel shuttle over to Sea World since we have season passes. It was a bit clowdy in Orlando, and temps in the 70s, low 80s, but very nice after the humidity left. I arrived before the park opened and filled my day with rides and shows with lots of great sea creatures. I had a wonderful time even though I was all by myself!  Naturally I sent lots of  animal photos to the kids. 

Allison finished classes on Tuesday night and stayed a few days to participate in frisbee practice. She was also excited to see they finally fixed their toilet at her University condo!She headed home on Friday to spend the weekend with Scott. She also had to get another iron infusion-good timing since she wasn't feeling well during the week. On Saturday the two went off to Zoo Boo at the Maryland Zoo with our season passes. Tom was still in class, so I spent my Saturday at the hotel and the pool, even though it was overcast and in the 70s. It was nice to get a day to rest up, take a swim and finish my blog! After Tom got out of class in the evening, we headed over to catch the opening Hockey Game of the Solar Bears at the Amway Center where the Orlando Magic Basketball team plays. Once again, we opted for tickets on the Club level which turned out cheaper and better than any other seat in the house. Plus we had our own little table to sit and enjoy dinner and the game. A lot of fun, even though the Solar Bears did not win. We must not be picking the right teams! It was raining that evening, so it was nice to do something indoors. And we did not stay out too late since I had to be at the airport at 5am for a flight home.