Key West

We started our day with a workout in the gym. Then we cooled down with a walk around the grounds and then off to breakfast.

Got packed up for our snorkel trip and headed down to meet the shuttle.

Arrived at the marina with plenty of time to spare.

We chose this particular snorkel trip since neither of us had been on a sailboat before. Well, this is a catamaran with sails – but similar concept.


 On the ride out of the marina, you pass a private island.

Those always intrigue me.







This boat has seen better days.

Once in open water, the sails went up.

The water was so pretty.

On the ride out we talked a lot with the captain. We talked about the rough Florida winter, lack of tourism and lack of money.

We were the only ones on board that had brought our own snorkel gear. We also brought skins since the water was only in the high 70s.

When we stopped at the site, we noticed that the guides didn’t get in the water with us. That is rare. Usually a couple of them get in the water to help the newbies and often times sit in kayaks to keep the snorkelers corralled together.

We assumed it was because the water was too cold for them!

The reef was quite a ways out and the water was rough. But mom and I jumped in and started to swim. I was determined for something on this trip to work out!

In reality, I am terrified of snorkeling. I don’t swim all that well, hate salt water and am afraid of just about everything in the water. Ocean = sharks. But today, I was being a “big girl”.

We quickly found that you could see NOTHING! Not even the ocean floor. Between horrible ‘viz’ (visibility), strong currents and deep water, there was nothing to see. We swam and swam. Nothing.

Mom wanted to give up a few times, but I made us keep trying. Eventually, out of frustration we went back to the boat.

When the guides helped us out of the water and asked how it was, I was honest.
“It sucked! I have seen more in the Gulf of Mexico”

We were so angry with this boat company. How dare they accept thousands of dollars from these tourists to go out on this trip where you couldn’t see anything! For many, this was their first snorkel trip – what a disappointment! Plus, if this was their first impression, how likely would they be to go again?

We decided to go ahead and start drinking the cheap wine and beer and enjoy the sites outside the water. It’s a little gimmick all the snorkel boats have – once you are done snorkeling – free alcohol. But it’s always the cheapest crap.

Once back on shore, we ate an early dinner at the Conch Republic Seafood Company.

We spent the evening lounging in our room reading.

Chockoloskee > Key West

We got up at a decent hour, went down to the lobby for the free breakfast and to check email.

Breakfast consisted of toast, jelly packets and coffee. No frills!

We set out on our journey back across US 41 thru the Everglades once again. This would be our 3rd attempt to cross the state in less than 24 hours.

Things went well. There was some slow downs for road construction on the east side, but all in all, we were making good time.

Key West is far! We rarely bother going down there anymore just because it takes forever to get there. Plus it's not what it once was. It’s too commercial now days.

But the views along the way are amazing!

Plus mom wanted to take a boat trip to the Dry Tortugas – it’s a reef about 70 miles off from Key West. She has always wanted to go there and dad has never taken her.

We got down to Key West in the early afternoon. Got settled into our room at The Doubletree.

The hotel was on the east side – so no where near the hustle & bustle. But that actually is a good thing. Plus there was a free shuttle that left and returned every hour that stopped at a few of the prime spots. So we never had to drive after arriving. Which is great because parking and traffic can get nutty.


We checked out the pool for awhile

Ate a snack and had a few drinks.

We were FINALLY on Spring Break!





Afterwards, we stopped by the concierge desk to purchase a trip to the Dry Tortugas.

Well, things were right on track…. All the tours are sold out until the weekend!
So we opted for a snorkel trip a few miles out. We would meet the boat at 1pm on Wednesday.

That evening we took the shuttle down to the sunset celebration. Every night, there is a celebration of the sun setting on Mallory Square. It was about an hour before the sun was to set and it was just plain packed!

There are all sort of street vendors and performers. Basically, a freak show!

Since we had both been there and seen it before, we decided to keep on walking and find a place for dinner. If we waited until after sunset, it would take an hour or so for a table. If we went now, we knew we could get seated right away.

So we walked around until we came upon Carolines’s Café.

It was average. Nothing special.






Afterwards, we walked Duval St. for a while and stopped at a few bars. We had a few drinks, but I knew mom wasn’t having a good time. She is not accustomed to sitting at bars watching bands play like I am.

So we headed back to the shuttle stop.

Spring Break 2010 is now somewhat back on track.

Fort Myers > Port of Miami ?

Mom and I left Fort Myers at 10:20am en route to meet our cruise ship in Miami. This allowed us 5 hours and 40 minutes to make the 2 hour and 20 minute drive to the Port of Miami.

We could get on the boat as early as noon, but HAD to be on the boat by 3.

This was going to allow us plenty of time for me to drop off mom and the bags, then go park the car. And then leisurely go thru processing and security. Ultimately spending the afternoon poolside!

I was driving and had a terrible migraine. Shocking, yes.

We decided to stop at the rest stop on Alligator Alley so I could get a Coke. Which turned into an ordeal because the Coke machines were being serviced. Nothing is ever easy!

Approximately halfway across Alligator Alley (I-75), (the Interstate and main corridor connecting the East and West coasts of Florida), a semi truck caught fire. The east bound traffic was closed for several hours.

If we hadn’t made that stop – we would have been on the other side of the accident.

I don’t know why, but I didn’t take photos of the fire. We could see the smoke billowing in the air. And we also heard several explosions.

This is the only photo I took – which was several hours into the incident.

We only knew that it was a truck fire because Uncle Hugh was able to find news stories about it on the internet.

I called NCL several times updated them on our situation. At this point, there still was a chance of making it to the Port of Miami. Mom and I laughed because the lady on the other end of the phone didn’t understand why we didn’t just make a u-turn in the median. I explained to her that we were in the Everglades and alligators and moccasins lived in the medians and along side the roads.

Because there is only 1 gas station on the Alley and we had no idea how long we would be sitting there, we had to shut off the car. We would get out and walk around and talk to other motorists. Then get back in the car, turn it on, cool down and then repeat the process.

Once the eastbound traffic was diverted, we had to go back to the west side of the state, to SR 29 South and then connect with US 41 East along with thousands of other vehicles.

Traffic was heavy on the 2 lane roads, however, there was still hope. After several more calls to NCL, they agreed to allow us to board up until 4:30pm. Linda, my GPS had us arriving at 4:10pm. Okay, we can do this!

Just as we got on US 41, there was a rest area. We both had to go really bad, so we ran.

Back in the car in 5 minutes and on the road again.

People were driving like maniacs though and it was pretty scary. This road was not ever intended for this amount of traffic and people were passing when they shouldn’t be. Mom and I said several times, someone is going to cause a head-on collision.

And then the traffic on US 41 came to a stop.

So mom got out and tried to find out what was going on, while I called NCL again.

Mom ran into one of the guys we had been talking to on the Alley. A few people who had walked on ahead came back with the report… a head-on collision. Fatalities.

Shit! We are never going to get out of here!

And once again, stopping at the rest area screwed us!

Plus, now we were on a 2 lane road in the heart of the Everglades. No where to go, very limited cel signal.

Mom and I knew that a “signal 7” (accident with fatalities) meant we were not making the cruise. My dad is a retired Florida Highway Patrol Lieutenant – over the years he worked his fair share of 7s on the Alley. It takes about 30-45 mins for FHP to arrive, then an hour for homicide, another hour for the coroner… this would easily be a 4-5 hour wait.

So it was time to admit defeat and cancel our trip with NCL. While on hold, I took time to enjoy the sites… here is a Florida Cracker…

Barefoot, shirtless, talking on his Nextel with this dog in tow.

Brenda, who worked at NCL in the Port of Miami, explained to me that we would not be getting our money back. All we would get was a refund of about $180 – the government taxes and fees.

So I called Berkely Care, the company I had purchased a travel insurance policy with thru NCL.

That is when I learned that there was not a provision in the insurance policy for traffic accidents – unless you are directly involved in the accident.

I was furious!

But the guy I spoke to said to go ahead and file a claim with as much documentation as possible – our case would go before a “board” and they would decide whether or not we would receive a voucher. The most the voucher would be for was 75% of what we paid, to be used towards a future cruise.

Our gas tank was down to ¼. And the skeeters and no-see-ums were eating me alive.

Mom and I decided to turn around and head to the gas station which was about 20 miles back. Then decide what to do.

While driving back thru the miles of cars, we randomly would stop and tell people what had happened up ahead.

We had decided we still wanted to take a few days and relax. We were thinking Marco Island or the Keys. However, I needed internet to research what was available – which probably wasn’t much since it was Spring Break.

If we went home, that was a wasted hour+ in the wrong destination. So mom said there were a couple hotels in Everglades City and Chockoloskee which were near the gas station we were going to.

We got to the gas station and it looked like it does when there is a hurricane. Over 50 cars lined up! No way were we getting in that mess!

So we headed to Everglades City.

And then Chockoloskee – the “drinking town with a fishing problem”.

Chockoloskee, settled in the 1870s became the trade center for those scattered among the Ten Thousand Islands region. Until the causeway was built in 1956, the only way there was by boat.

Mom gave me a little tour of the town. Mainly all that is there is Ted Smallwood’s store which opened in 1906.

It served as the general store and post office; for many years it was the only store between Key West and Fort Myers. It is steeped in ‘old’ Florida history. Including the site of the murder of Mr. Edgar Watson who was on the run from killings in Key West in 1910.

Ted Smallwood retired in 1941, however the store remained opened until 1982 when the doors shut. It is now a museum and the artifacts from the day it closed are still there today.






In the 1980s when the net fishing ban went into effect, the fishermen resorted to running bales of “square grouper” from the marijuana ships out in the open waters into places like Chokoloskee since the area was so remote. No one else knew the ins and outs of the Ten Thousand Islands like those fishermen.

Back to present day…

We stopped to gas up and asked the lady at the counter about hotels with internet. She told us of a few and I also called a few that Linda had suggested. However, finding one with internet was proving to be a challenge.

We stopped at a few with vacancy and found that they had jacked up their rates since we had called. They were learning about all the stranded people 30 miles away.

Believe me, I don’t blink at spending $100+ on a hotel. But not a single one of these places were worth it!

Eventually, we settled on the Captains Table Hotel.
They had a room, a restaurant next door and internet.

Well sorta…

They had internet in the lobby.

But the lobby closed at 8pm.



However, they had a screen room outside the lobby and the lady said I could sit on the patio and still get internet.

So mom and I checked in and I lugged our luggage up the steps. No elevator or first level rooms.

The room was primitive, but it would work.

(photo taken Tuesday morning)








We changed and went to dinner.

Afterwards, I headed down to the screen room for internet.






Initially the lady at Hilton had told me there was no hotels rooms from Miami to Key West. But after a little pressure and reminding her that I was a Hilton Diamond VIP, she magically came up with rooms.

It took me over an hour but I got us a 2 nights in Key West (Tues/Wed) and then 1 night in Key Largo (Thurs). It had proven to be very difficult to find anything being that it was Spring Break.

Time for bed – what an exhausting day!

Columbus > Fort Myers

Happy Easter!

Took an insanely early flight to Florida this morning. Ugh!
But by doing so, I am home by noon.

As always, I had my window seat on the flight from Atlanta to Fort Myers. As I have said many times, I live for the final decent into RSW. The site of “my islands” brings such peace into my life.

Upper Captiva (left)

Captiva (left)  
Upper Captiva (right)

Pine Island Sound

Sanibel Island & Causeway






Mom and I went over our lists of stuff to pack for our cruise to the Bahamas. We will be leaving mid-morning tomorrow.

In the late afternoon, we prepped for dinner. Uncle Hugh, Aunt Mary and “cousin” Harry were coming over. They were doing a test visit for Harry – next week he will be moving in with mom and dad for a month while Uncle Hugh and Aunty Mary go on vacation thru Europe.

Well, Harry managed to provide the entertainment for the rest of the evening. The second Aunt Mary put him down in the foyer, he bolted! Unfortunately, the front door was still open.

He ran into the yard next door and eventually into a heavily wooded lot. We spent the next hour calling him and spotting him. However, since the lot was so overgrown, we couldn’t walk thru it. We gave up for a while, but I couldn’t stand it. So I put on jeans and real shoes and set back out. Again, numerous spottings, but never able to get close enough.

Eventually, they talked me into coming inside to cool down and I did. After random checks, it was determined he was again in the neighbors yard. And eventually in ours. It was now dark. We chased him around our backyard and finally cornered him!

This ordeal had gone about for about 4 hours.

Looks so sweet and innocent here doesn’t he?!

Columbus

Washington vs Columbus – NHL

Spent the past 2 days prepping for Spring Break ’10!
Tomorrow, I head to Florida so mom and I can go on a cruise on Monday.

Today, I am working the NHL visitor feed.

This my last NHL game of the season.

Caps def. Jackets 3-2

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Columbus

McDonald’s All-American Games - ESPNU & ESPN

Another night of 7 hours of sleep – one could get spoiled livin’ like this!

Never enough time… Alex and I jammed all day getting the stuff ready for our double-header. Thank God we got that bonus half set day yesterday or we would of never gotten it all done!

We had gotten word that Jared Sullinger, the #2 player in the country, played at Northland High School (Columbus) and had signed with Ohio State for the 2010-11 season, might not be playing tonight. He had gotten food poisoning the night before and was currently in the hospital on IVs getting hydrated.

It was somewhat of a blow to us since he was local and should draw a crowd.

However, shortly before game time, we learned he would indeed play.

Our producer needed an additional stats person to relay player stats over the phone back to Bristol so they could include the stats on the “bottom line” during the game.

So we hired Dave to do it. Easiest money he ever made! And he had a blast doing it!

Once again, our wonderful crew pulled of 2 really great games! So much fun! Can’t wait til we get to do it all again next year!

Columbus

Half Set Day for McDonald’s
&
Tampa Bay vs CBJ – CBJ Vision

I was able to get 7 hours of sleep which was amazing in itself!

Until yesterday, I didn’t even know I had a partial set day today. We have asked for one the last several years and I guess it finally got approved

It only makes sense since there is a “dark day” between JamFest and the All-American games.

Thankfully, I was working for Dave tonight and he let me come in a little late so I could work both my 'jobs' today.

Jackets defeated the Lightning 3-2

Columbus

PowerADE JamFest - ESPN2

The JamFest just happened to be in Columbus this year. Which worked out well since a couple of us on the JamFest core crew live in Columbus.



I arrived rather groggy and pretty cranky. But this is one of my favorite shows and crews I work with each year – so I was able to pull thru.

Plus my AP was Alex – he is the best!!

This event is easily the hardest one I do. The pacing of it is totally insane.

It is essentially a show of graphics. Alex and I have teamed up the past couple of years and we have a really good system. And we totally nailed it again this year!

What is the JamFest?
It’s the best high school seniors from across the country that get invited to the JamFest and McDonald’s All-American games.

On the first night, they compete in the JamFest which consists of a 3-point contest, a skills competition and a Slam Dunk contest.

I enjoy it because it’s fun in the coming years as the kids become superstars on the court – to remember them doing this event.

Columbus > Fort Wayne, IN > Columbus

March 25th – 28th

NCAA Hockey Regionals

On Thursday afternoon I went and got a rental car. Then picked up my friend Andy and we set out on our journey to Fort Wayne, Indiana.

It was a nice trip – always great to have someone to make a boring drive with. Plus even though we live 2 miles apart; we rarely see each other, so it was nice to catch up.

We exited in Bellefontaine, OH so he could get some lunch. As we were sitting in the drive thru at McDonald’s, we both spotted the Rax across the street. My reaction was that I hadn’t seen one of those in years. He completely freaked out!

Apparently Rax was a childhood favorite. So we promptly went across the street and bought more fast food. He was super excited about our discovery.

About 2.5 hours into the trip, the car started dinging and indicating it was out of gas.

Huh? So we pulled over and concluded there just was no way it was possible since we hadn’t gone far enough to burn up a tank. We turned the car off/on a few times to see if it would reset. Nope.

Since we were in the middle of nowhere, all we could do was keep driving until we found a gas station. It was only about 15 minutes later that we found one. And sure enough, we only needed about $8 worth – so the car was just crazy!

We had a lot of good laughs over that one!

Got into Fort Wayne in the early evening. We were staying at the lovely Holiday Inn.

After getting settled, Andy and I headed up to Denis’ room for cocktails. Eventually our friend Dave joined us. The boys ended up going out, but I was a good girl and went back to my room. We had a long couple of days ahead of us and going out would only lead to trouble!

Our set day on Friday was ok. The hockey disk was frustrating – just a lot of stuff wrong with it. But my AP Russ and I powered thru.

Friday evening, I just ate at the hotel bar. Again, knowing better than going out with the boys.

Saturday we had a double header. The games went well – just a really long day!

Saturday night, we all met in the hotel lobby for drinks. Since we were staying at the hotel, I went down in flip flops, jeans that were too big with no belt, my drivers license and a room key.

The hotel bar was very crowded and next thing I know we are leaving. The boys didn’t want to wait for me to get shoes, belt and coat. So… oh well!

We stopped at a few places trying to figure out where we were going to hang out. I think it was as we were walking up to Rick O’Shea’s that I realized that I didn’t have any money! Since I wasn’t planning on leaving the hotel, I was just going to charge my drinks to my room.

I asked to borrow one of the cars; however Denis insisted I just take money from him. So for the rest of the night I joked about my allowance from dad.

We ended up at Ruby Tuesdays. They were about to close, but we begged them to stay open long enough for us to have a few drinks and some dinner. Thankfully, they obliged.

Once they finally kicked us out, the manager suggested we go to “Legends” – he said it was a sports bar, so we went there.

Well it was the first sports bar any of us had been to that didn’t have any sports memorabilia hanging on the walls, let alone any sports on the TVs. They had one too many fog machines going – you could barely see 10 feet in front of you.

There was a DJ doing something – not sure what – other than making a ton of noise.

On the TVs there was like a screensaver from a computer playing.

We felt extremely out of place, but decided to at least get some drinks.

Well that took forever! We couldn’t get anyone to wait on us. Eventually one of the boys had some words with one of the bartenders and we finally got drinks. REALLY bad ones!



We decided as soon as the drinks were gone, we were out of there!

In the meantime, a couple of the boys posed for some silly photos

Dave and Denis

Dave, Andy, Denis







After leaving “Legends”, it was decided there was only one other bar that was still open. However, it was said that “We can’t take Nikki there!”. Basically, it was deemed inappropriate and they assumed I would not go to a place like that.

Well, that only made me want to go – out of spite!

I won’t say exactly where we went, but I will tell you it was pretty nasty.

We had a lot of fun and the boys thought I was way cool for going there. Not exactly my cup of tea – but I will do just about anything to prove people wrong and for spite!

No photos were allowed inside the ‘establishment’, however, I did sneak one of Denis being silly in front of a projection tv screen. It came out very bizarre!

Not at all what we actually saw there.






Once that place closed at 3am, we stumbled back to the hotel.

Sunday we had one game. 8pm puck drop.

Which went well until it went into overtime. Ugh! Playoff hockey has full 20 minute periods.
And then it went into a second overtime.

This was not at all a good situation for Andy and I because we had to still drive back to Columbus. We had a 10am crew call for the PowerAde Jam Fest. Originally, we were not supposed to do this hockey site because of the late puck drop and the quick turnaround. But things don’t always go the way they should.

The drive home was BRUTAL! We were both so exhausted. But we really didn’t have a choice – we had to do it. We made it safe and sound … getting back a little after 3am.

This was definitely one of those nights filled with anger about our jobs. At least we had each other to complain to.

Baltimore > Champaign, IL > Columbus

March 21st – 23rd


Kent State vs Illinois Basketball – Men’s NIT - ESPNU

Sunday morning, as soon as I got in the car, I went to plug in Linda. Hmm… I know I left her lifeline (power supply) in the car – where is it?

Instead of accusing the valet of taking it, I drove away. The car was parked on a busy street so I couldn’t get out and look for it.

Upon arriving at the rental car facility, I immediately looked in the spot where I would of placed the power supply. Not there.

I have a “system” on the road. All items have a specific spot in my backpack. That’s the only way I can keep track of things.

Since it was not there, that mean the valet had taken the power supply.

Why would you do that? It’s worth like $1 at a pawn shop!

I was so mad because now I was going to have to find a Best Buy in Champaign to buy a replacement. Grr!

As luck would have it, my connection from Detroit to Champaign was delayed. And there was a store in the Detroit airport that sold GPS power supplies. Done!

Simple. But believe me, this will not be the last of the power supply saga!

Got to the hotel in Champaign, got settled and went to bed rather early.

On Monday, the game went fine. Somewhat bitter sweet – last college basketball game of the season.

Travel back on Tuesday was crappy.
Nothing happened – it just took all day. Which seems silly. It’s just the lack of flights out of Champaign. Oh well.

Baltimore

Syracuse vs Johns Hopkins Men’s Lacrosse – ESPNU

Had a good sleep!

Met up with Stephanie and rode into work together. This is the first of many lacrosse games we will do in the coming months.

Our day went well. Ate with the producer & director across the street from the stadium at a vegan place. It was really good!

After the game, Steph and I went to a bar near the hotel. She wanted to celebrate my b-day (belated) and the start of our lacrosse season.

There was this Italian place in the alley behind the hotel. Along with some Miller Lite’s we shared a pie. Yummy!

Columbus > Baltimore

Well my one day respite was nice, but back to reality! It’s March after all!
Switching gears a little – my lacrosse season is starting a little early this year.

I am flying Southwest today – which is rare. Southwest uses the A Gates; which I never frequent. I had to laugh when I read the sign in the ladies room.

It wasn’t about the bathrooms – it was the bottom part….

Sadly, that is SO true!
You don't "understand" it until you live here.
(and even then.....)



Travel to Baltimore was fine. Took forever and a day to get to the rental car facility – but that is to be expected.

Got checked in and settled at the Hampton Inn Inner Harbor – which was pretty nice for a Hampton Inn.

It was an amazing spring day – so I set out for the Inner Harbor. Grabbed some lunch and then sat on a park bench in the Inner Harbor for some people watch and a little book reading. A nice and peaceful afternoon.

Columbus

This morning Smokey and Claude came over to spend the day with Auntie Nic.

They quickly settled in to watch all the wildlife outside.

Throughout the day, we all took a few well deserved naps

Claude

Smokey






Well, the kids did, Auntie Nic didn’t really have time.

Tampa > Columbus

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
This has always been one of my favorite holidays!

Mom and I kinda slept in (for us at least).

Went downstairs and worked out.

Had some breakfast and then leisurely got showered and ready.

We really had no plans. My flight wasn’t until 7pm, but she hoped to get on the road before 5.

Would of loved to spent the day at the pool, but again too chilly!

Decided to go to Ikea.
Walked around there for a few hours and got all sorts of crap that we really didn’t need!

Afterwards, we decided to go for an early dinner, but got kinda lost and all turned around.

We ended up at a Mimi’s – which was good since it was right off I-75 because then mom would have no problem getting home afterwards.

Even though I have been on the road for over 2 weeks now, it was nice to have the chance to spend the day with mom.

Got home a little before midnite.

Have about 36 hours to recover before I head to Baltimore to start my Lacrosse season.