Days 2 & 3, St. Pete to Tallahassee

On Saturday, we had a nice visit with Rick and Alan in their beautiful home.  We had a great dinner and Sue was able to catch up on the last half century.  Alan showed off his new 50th Anniversary Mustang and Rick demonstrated his vintage Seeburg jukebox.  Just for our arrival the jukebox decided to get stuck playing Living La Vida Loca, by Ricky Martin.  The Seeburg must have heard that we were from Miami and assumed we were big fans.

Seeburg Jukebox

The following day was a typical "road trip" series of events.  Jack and Sue wake up at 8:00 a.m.  Jack is ready for breakfast at 8:03 a.m.  Jack waits until 10:00 a.m. when Sue is ready for breakfast.  The Hampton Inn runs out of bacon at 9:58 a.m.  Jack now has to eat a healthy breakfast and begins to see that Sue has planned every detail.

We pack the car and hit the road at 10:30.  We begin to notice the simple changes in our environment.  No, we do not spot any leaves with fall colors but just the subtle changes as you head north into the deep south.  There is Garth on the radio, FOX News on the TV, and the people at he rest stops look like the cast from the 1920's silent horror film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

We arrive in Tallahassee to visit Sue's aunt Jane and her cousin Ben and his family.  The name Tallahassee is from the old Indian word for Home of the Bubbas.  It is our state's capital and the location of the throne of the much beloved governor, Rick Scott.  I say much beloved because that's how he describes himself.  The folks south of Lake Okeechobee might disagree.

We have a pleasant dinner visiting with Sue's aunt Jane, Ben, Brooke and their children, Caitlan, Shelby and Bryce.   I also have a political conversation with their shelter rescue dog, Honey.  It seems that Honey was a political and financial adviser to Rick Scott before being literally kicked to the curb and made homeless.  Honey, says Rick is basically a nice guy, except those times when he is awake.  Sue's aunt Jane, now 85, drove us for our visit.  We were a bit nervous at first but, I have to say, I have been with other drivers much younger than she and they made me even more nervous.

We will spend two days in the state capital before heading to Hot-lanta.  Our second day will be spent visiting Ben's coffee business.  His Lucky Goat Coffee roasting and supply seems very advanced.  We have been ordering our coffee at home from him for the past two years.

Coffee Roaster @ Lucky Goat

We started our second day in Tallahassee with a trip to the Hampton Inn breakfast for our morning ingestion of the requisite 9,000 calories.  We have found that you need to overload on your caloric intake if you are ever to gain weight on vacation.

We then head out to a local state park, Maclay Gardens.

Entrance to Maclay Gardens

Gate Near Reflecting Pond