Spring Break in Florida

For Ryan's Spring Break, I tried to put myself into a 9-year-old's head (not a real stretch) to figure out what would be most fun for the boy. I figured beach, pool, sun and amusement parks, and decided upon Clearwater, FL (near Tampa) to stay on the Gulf and visit nearby attractions like Busch Gardens.

The weather was beautiful, but windy. On the first day, Ryan's main ambition was to hang out at the pool, which was fine by us. Within an hour, he had run into a baseball teammate of his from NoVA, so whammy, he's got a playmate for the next couple days. It's a small world after all.


On day two, I reiterated to Ryan the prospect of going to Busch Gardens. "Nahhh... maybe later" was the response. OK. No worries. Another day at the pool, and dinner at the local seafood restaurant. By day three, Ryan still wasn't keen on the whole amusement park deal, but finally relented, so off we went.

For our second ride, we found the biggest, baddest coaster at the park. I wanted the front seats, and Ryan and Sherry were indifferent. We stood in line for a quicker middle seat for a bit, but I had us move to another line for a front seat. Guess who turned out to be waiting in that line? Ryan's friend and his family again. Go figure. Naturally, we hung out together for a good part of the day, and had a *great* time... even Ryan confessed to being happy about the decision to go to the park.



Of interest, the airline lost my luggage (and only my luggage) for 2 1/2 days... long enough (just barely) to force a change of underwear, and hence a trip to Walmart for new clothes, etc. ;-)


Ryan got a tat. It was his second choice, but unfortunately the nose-ring piercing pagoda was closed.

All in all, we had a very enjoyable spring break.