VACATION RECAP 3/19 – 3/27/05
Yes, once in a while, I actually do it. GO ON VACATION! And this time around, I even amazed myself because during this particular vacation, I DIDN’T SEE ONE LIVE BAND OR MUSICIAN! Yes, I actually took a vacation from live music for a week as well. So for a change of pace, Rockpage readers, here is my essay of “What I Did On My Winter Vacation.” Enjoy…
SATURDAY 3/19
After dealing with cold temperatures and snow-covered roads all winter, and enduring that excruciating slow part of the winter that lasts from Jan. 2 to the first day of spring (except for Super Bowl Sunday and St. Patrick’s Day, I’d rather hibernate through the rest of it), my long-awaited vacation down south had arrived! For the next eight days, I wouldn’t have a worry in the world. I could kick back and relax, not be on anybody’s time clock, and just enjoy life!
My usual partner in crime and designated wheelman, Sparky D’Engineer, and I left the ‘Toona in mid afternoon. Ironic that on this day when we were heading south to get away from cold weather, it was actually unseasonably warm this day, with temperatures in the low 60’s as we left. We did our usual route southward, from I-99 South to Route 30 East to I-70 East to Route 522 South, through Berkeley Springs, West Virginia to Winchester, Virginia. We did our traditional pit stop at the Waffle House for good grub cheap, before proceeding on Route 17 south to Fredericksburg, Virginia to hop on I-95.
The first day of the trip was fairly uneventful; our destination would be the abode of our friend, recording studio operator Ted Etheridge, near Hamilton, North Carolina. We arrived at Ted’s shortly after 11 PM, and Ted showed us the latest innovations in his studio, Music Box Recording Studio. Ted continually upgrades his facility, and he had a few new toys to show us, in particular his new console, with mouse-operated sliding pots and state-of-the-art pre-sets. Ted played some samples of recordings done through the new equipment…Wow! Ted allowed Sparky and I to crash in his children’s rooms overnight; no toys were harmed during our stay.
SUNDAY 3/20
Like the first day, the second day of our vacation was a travel day, as we completed the sojourn from North Carolina to Florida. As such, it was again a pretty uneventful day spent mostly in Sparky’s Pathfinder.
Having stayed up late the night before watching a movie with Ted and one of his friends, Sparky and I didn’t arise from our slumber until late Sunday morning. After showering up and watching Ted trampoline with his daughters and demonstrate his unicycling talents, we dined at Andy’s Cheesesteaks & Cheeseburgers, a regional North Carolina sandwich franchise, before hitting the road for the rest of our journey.
We spun the radio dials between local FM stations and XM Satellite during the journey. As we encountered news reports and the Matt Drudge Show upon entering Florida, we soon realized we were spending our vacation in a news hotbed. The Terri Schiavo situation was happening in the county adjacent to where we were staying, and the kidnapping and murder of a 9-year-old girl also happened not far from where we were staying. Those two news stories dominated the local news headlines for the entire week we were in Florida.
As I mentioned, the second leg of our trip was uneventful, except for matching wits with some of the insane drivers and road construction we encountered along I-95. And we happened upon the scene of a nasty accident involving two 18-wheelers and a U-Haul truck along I-4 near Deltona (between Daytona and Orlando), which forced us to detour off and back onto I-4 through exits near the accident scene. (The U-Haul driver was seriously injured in the accident.)
We finally arrived at our destination, Sparky’s parents’ winter home in Zephyrhills, around 3 AM Monday morning. We quickly unpacked and crashed for the night. Vacation was under way!
Away from the recording studio, Music Box Recording Studio proprietor Ted Etheridge, trampolining with his two daughters. Ted rides a mean unicycle, too!
Yours truly as the designated windshield cleaner. Once we got south of North Carolina, we accumulated a lot of bugs on the windshield along I-95.
MONDAY 3/21
It was a gray and rainy Monday in westcentral Florida, and we were still a bit tired from the two-day sojourn to get there, so we spent much of the day housebound and relaxing. It was a good day to get accustomed to Sparky’s parents’ winter home and its neighborhood, where we would be staying for the remainder of the week.
Sparky’s parents reside in an over-55 retirement community; complete with small community center and swimming pool (the busiest night of the week at the community center was Monday – bingo night!). Within the community, the preferred mode of transportation was golf carts. So in the afternoon, after the rain tapered to light showers, Sparky and I took a golf cart tour of the neighborhood. Sparky’s parents told us that a small 4-foot alligator had reportedly been sighted in the small pond located near the entrance of the community. We headed there to investigate; we saw some water birds and a turtle, but no gator.
For dinner, we all headed to a place Sparky had been raving about prior to the trip, Sonny’s Open Pit Barbecue. We gobbled down some great ribs and barbecue there, before returning to the house and spending the rest of the gray and rainy evening doing couch potato duty in front of the tube.
Sparky prepares to do some golf cart drag-racing.
TUESDAY 3/22
Sunny skies and only a chance of thunderstorms made conditions much more favorable for checking out attractions. Sparky’s folks suggested the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa to us, so we ventured there to check it out.
As zoos go, Lowry Park was a nice one, featuring several sections showcasing animals from around the globe, all in spacious, natural surroundings. I personally enjoyed the aviary, as well as the manatee and aquarium areas. We also took the overhead ‘tram’ trip over the zoo (translation: a ski lift without the snow or skiers). And we also purchased tickets for the Lowry Park Zoo riverboat ride, where we traversed a stretch of the Hillsborough River in Tampa and checked out the sights. This was interesting, because despite being within a major metro area like Tampa, the river environs looked almost like a delta bayou, with riverside shacks and docks, barking dogs, abundant plant life and the occasional heron, turtle, basking alligator or crackhead. WHAT!? Yes, we did see one reminder that we were in the big city. As we passed under the I-75 overpass, we noticed a lone individual sitting on the concrete abutment bordering the river, in the process of doing something he suddenly retreated from doing whenever he spotted the riverboat approaching (we suspect smoking crack, based on the way his hands were positioned near his face). Also noticing this individual, another passenger on the boat asked our river tour guide, “What is that?” The guide responded, “The Hillsborough Hilton.”
After our riverboat returned, we left Lowry Park Zoo (after investigating a lone rooster who was strangely cock-a-doodle-doo-ing from inside a bush as the zoo entrance). Since the sun was setting at this point, we decided to head east to Orlando to grab something to eat and peruse the sights at Downtown Disney. Upon our arrival at Downtown Disney, though, we quickly discovered that half of the nation must have been staying in Florida this week, as it was wall-to-wall people! It was so crowded that several of the parking lots in the area we wanted to visit were totally full and blocked off, and we had to backtrack some distance to another part of the Downtown Disney complex for some available parking spaces.
We eventually made our way up to the Rainforest Café for some foodstuffs after a lengthy walk. We had to wait the better part of an hour for our table; during which we memorized the greeter’s spiel that she robotically spouted for every dining group: “(Name), party of (number); get ready for your rainforest dining adventuuuuuure!” For those who have never experienced it, Rainforest Café is a rainforest-themed eatery and store with lots of tropical plant decorations, lighted aquariums, swinging monkeys (fake ones, not real), and rainforest-themed menu items. We did the “Raging Thunder Buffalo Wings” (good, but didn’t compete with wings around here) and a pizza with four cheeses and shrimp. A couple of times during our meal, the house lights darkened and thunder and lightning rumbled and flashed. Woahhh…scary.
More scary was the log jam of traffic gridlock we encountered when trying to leave the Disney area to head back to Zephyrhills. This was major rush-hour-styled gridlock at 11:30 at night, and it took us half an hour to merge onto I-4 for the trip back. The culprit: In their infinite wisdom, the Florida highway department (their equivalent of Penndot, whatever it is called) decided to narrow 3 westbound traffic lanes down to 1 for roadwork, at the same time all the Disney attractions were closing and leaving out! Eventually we did get rolling; but this traffic congestion, combined with the massive crowds we encountered at Downtown Disney, prompted our decision to avoid the Orlando theme parks area for the duration of our trip.
If they have to post a sign warning about molesting alligators, I have to conclude that at some point in history, some sick pud must have attempted it…geesh!
At Lowry Park Zoo’s aquatic area, this otter gave us a show when he saw us watching him.
We nicknamed these lizards “geckos” and “Geico Insurance salesmen;” they are plentiful in Florida, and on warm days you can even find them on sidewalks and climbing on the outsides of houses.
Sparky, eavesdropping on monkeys at Lowry Park Zoo.
If you take the Lowry Park Zoo Riverboat ride, you’ll likely see a few of these guys out basking in the sun…
Here’s another one. I don’t think I’ll try wading in the Hillsborough River anytime soon…
Sparky, in front of Lowry Park Zoo’s entrance.
And yours truly in front of the zoo entrance…we were there!
This power line array illustrates what the most powerful entity in the Orlando area is…
WEDNESDAY 3/23
One of the things we looked forward most to doing during this year’s Florida trip was to catch a Pittsburgh Pirates spring training game in Bradenton, which was about 45 minutes away from where we were staying in Zephyrhills. But the sound of thunder awakened us on Wednesday morning, and the television weather indicated that the whole area was under a tornado watch until 11 AM. The game was scheduled to start at 1 PM.
The rain had ended by the time we left Zephyrhills, but it was still stormy and windy in Bradenton when we arrived to hook up with Ed and Cheryl, two friends of Sparky’s parents who were attending the game. We made our way to McKechnie Field, and our tickets fortunately placed us under the stadium roof. The tarp was still on the field, and a rain delay appeared likely.
The rains had pretty much subsided, but it was still breezy and dark clouds were in the vicinity. More people arrived at McKechnie Field and found their seats. Just as everybody was getting settled in, a bright flash of lightning hit nearby, accompanied by an ominous and loud thunderclap that sent many people scurrying for cover. Despite this, though, the storms were heading away from Bradenton, and the tarp was soon removed from the field and the game began. It turned out being a good game between the Pirates and Cleveland Indians, with the Tribe jumping to an early 5-0 lead, the Bucs battling back to tie it, and Cleveland retaking the lead and holding the Pirates at bay, 8-6.
After the game, we had two options for our meal plan. Ed and Cheryl invited us over to their RV (they were over-wintering in an RV park in Bradenton) to grill up some steaks. Sparky’s mom, however, wanted to go to a pizza establishment called Roaring 20’s Pizza and Pipes near Sarasota. Initially, we opted for the pizza choice, and set out for the Roaring 20’s. Bad move. We ran into major rush hour gridlock out of Bradenton, and it took us about an hour to endure the gridlock and a few wrong turns before we arrived at Roaring 20’s, only to discover a major line stretching outside the building. We decided to abandon the pizza option, and headed back to Ed and Cheryl’s RV abode to do the grilled steak option instead. The steaks and hospitality were great – thanks Ed and Cheryl!
As we left, Ed and Cheryl lent Sparky’s parents some movie DVD’s, and soon after we arrived back at the house for the night, we watched Ray. This was my first time seeing this movie about Ray Charles’ life; and I was very impressed. The movie was revealing and educational for me; as I had never heard about Ray Charles’ childhood or his battle with heroin. If you haven’t seen Ray, I highly recommend checking it out!
The Bradenton sign at McKechnie Field, the spring Grapefruit League home of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Pirate Parrot.
The game in progress. One of the Pirates (I forget which one) rounds third after hitting a homer.
We don’t know what this lady’s official title was, but she danced on top of one of the dugouts during the 7th inning stretch. We nicknamed her the “Pittsburgh Pirates Swiss Miss.”
THURSDAY 3/24
The itinerary for this day was simple: Busch Gardens in Tampa. Too bad our first experience at Busch Gardens wasn’t nearly as simple.
Busch Gardens itself was relatively close, only about 20 minutes from Zephyrhills. It was smooth sailing as we took I-75 south into Tampa and took the exit for Busch Gardens. Shortly after we got off the exit, though, we ran into massive gridlock, and a long line of cars backed up outside of the Busch Gardens complex and parking area.
The gridlock was bad enough, and it took us at least over an hour just to get to the parking lot areas. But our frustration turned into anger over the ineptitude of the parking attendants once we arrived. The guards and attendants kept waving us by and waving us by – until we were waved past the final parking lot! We turned around and came back, still getting waved by in the other direction. Getting pissed, Sparky decided we were just going to turn into the lot regardless on the third try, and we did, and quickly found a space. What were these damned lot attendants smoking? After this experience, I’ll never again complain about the parking lot Gestapo at Delgrosso’s Park in Tipton again!
We had first encountered the gridlock just before 2 PM. It was around 4 PM before we had finally parked. Considering we were blowing around $50 each to enter the park, I already felt somewhat cheated by losing 2 hours of my park experience to parking!
We then rode the tram service to the gate and paid our admission, and enjoyed what we could of the park in the 4 remaining hours it was open. Inside, Busch Gardens is a nice facility with plentiful rides, animal attractions, the Budweiser hospitality area (where you could enjoy free Bud on tap, two cups maximum) and more. Because of our late start and considerable lines and waiting times, we didn’t get to do any of the rollercoaster or water rides; we did do the African trainride and the safari truck ride (both as it was getting dark, so we couldn’t actually see a whole lot). The clock hit 8 PM – closing time – as we completed the safari ride, so we made our way to the souvenir shop before exiting the park gates.
Then it was hell time again. The tram service was to shuttle everybody back to their respective parking areas. In other park situations we’ve seen, such as the Disney theme parks, it was an organized and orderly process. But the scene that greeted us outside the entrance to Busch Gardens resembled something you’d witness in a third world country or at the end of the Rolling Rock Town Fair back when they held it at the fairgrounds in Latrobe – complete chaos! It was a mob scene as people clamored for seating space, one tram at a time. There was no organized gating areas for people to line up in orderly fashion, it was everybody mobbed at the curb, and every man and woman for themselves! There were points where four or five trams would arrive, and a near riot scene would ensue – it felt like a third world country train station as foreign tourists aggressively cut in front of us so they could scrum for their seats on the tram! Then 10 or 15 minutes would pass before the next round of trams would arrive, and more chaos would then ensue. We wound up being among the last people to leave Busch Gardens, and we were plenty pissed off by the time we did. We weren’t the only ones; other folks around us were growling about the mess. After experiencing this episode, I can further understand why the Disney attractions in Orlando do so well; besides the obvious entertainment value, no hassles getting in or out!
Bottom line: Between the times we entered and left the gates at Busch Gardens, we had a good time. Before and after, though, was pure hell. Beware if you ever decide to visit there.
Adding insult to injury was running into another Florida Department of Transportation one-lane construction zone on I-75 heading back north to Zephyrhills. Unlike here in Pennsylvania, Florida doesn’t believe in warning signage to let you know of roadwork or lane closures ahead. You just see the traffic slowing up in front of you, and hope that your brakes are in good shape so you don’t rear-end somebody. The roadwork slowed us some, but we still arrived back at the house early enough to still enjoy the delicious lasagna dinner Sparky’s mom prepared for us.
While waiting in the gridlock outside of Busch Gardens, we saw this business sign. Cheap booze, Chinese and Latin cuisine all in the same place! We should have gone inside while we were waiting in traffic!
Yours truly adopts a new head ornament in the Lory Landing (lorikeet) area…
A hungry head ornament…
This amounts to bird torture, but it was funny…somebody chucked a bottle of Mountain Dew above the lorikeet cage, and these birds – used to drinking nectar – were trying to get at the remaining Mountain Dew in the bottle.
FRIDAY 3/25
Time flies when you’re having fun, and our fun time spent in Florida was nearing a close. Today we would begin our trek back north.
But there were still a few Floridian highlights left for us to enjoy before we exited the state. First, Sparky’s mom had mentioned that one of the neighbors at their Zephyrhills community had a grapefruit tree loaded with fruit; and this neighbor welcomes Sparky’s mom to help herself to the grapefruit, since this neighbor couldn’t possibly eat them all. I had been planning to purchase some grapefruit to bring back home with me; instead, Sparky’s mom took us to the neighbor’s tree up the street, and we filled a plastic grocery bag with fresh grapefruit. (I’m still enjoying it 2 months after it was picked!)
After obtaining the grapefruit, Sparky’s folks led us southward from Zephyrhills to the town of Plant City, home to Parkesdale Farms. Sparky and I went there to stock up on oranges before we left; this was a huge fruit farm and market; and with strawberries in season at this time of year, it was strawberry central! Sparky’s folks treated us to the house dessert, strawberry sundae/splits (Thanks!), before we parted ways and started our trek back home.
Our destination was across the state to Daytona Beach, to check in with Sparky’s friend, Doc Dave “D’Skipper.” (This is the friend who works in the medical field and owns a yacht.) Usually, under ideal road conditions (ideal conditions = no/minimal traffic, usually around 3 AM in this part of the world), Daytona is about a 3-hour trek from Tampa. Midday Friday is not ideal conditions. Traffic started slowing down and crawling midway between Tampa and Orlando. Then, after we got past Orlando, we ran into the thunderstorm. Lots of brilliant lightning, torrential downpours; the type of storm that brings severe weather warnings here in PA – in Florida, these are garden variety storms. We savored the impressive lightning fireworks as we crawled along I-4; the rain let up as we approached Daytona. But the combination of Friday traffic and the thunderstorm drew our trek out to over 4 hours.
We arrived in Daytona shortly before sunset and visited Doc Dave’s new abode. After Dave gave us a tour of his new digs, he and his roommate treated us to dinner, introducing us to a Mongolian grill establishment in Daytona called Song’s Mongolian Grill. This place was cool! It was an all-you-can-eat establishment with an interesting set-up. You picked out the ingredients for your own stir fry from several counters; including meats and seafood, veggies, spices, sauces and seasonings. You then took them back to the kitchen area, where they would stirfry and grill them together before your eyes. If you screwed up and messed up your ingredients and the results sucked, no problem! You just got a new plate and stared over again, at no additional cost! Fortunately, I nailed all my stirfry concoctions, and left the restaurant a happy camper!
Afterward, we got on the road and headed northward out of Florida. For some unintentional funny radio listening, we listened to Jacksonville FM shopping station WTKS – a sort of FM radio “QVC,” only with southern accents. It was funny to hear their announcers rave and hype up normal every day merchandise you could get cheaper at a Dollar General store, before listeners would call in and horde up on this merchandise at the higher prices! Boy, are people gullible!
We had hoped to arrive in the Savannah, GA/Hilton Head, SC area in time to do some bar hopping with another one of Sparky’s friends, former State College radio guy Mike D’News Director. But since we left Daytona around 10 PM, we didn’t hit the Savannah/Hilton Head area until around 2 AM, and couldn’t locate a vacant hotel room until around 3 AM. So we wound up crashing for the night, and would hook up with Mike in the morning.
Yours truly, picking grapefruits.
SATURDAY 3/26
Since Mike D’News Director was himself doing some traveling on this Saturday morning, he drove over to our hotel location to greet us, and we then did breakfast. Another first for me on this trip – I would get to eat at a Huddle House for the first time.
There are certain markers and symbols that let you know you’re in the South. When you cross the state lines into Virginia, for instance, you soon begin seeing Waffle House diners. Once you head further south, you start to see Waffle House’s chief competitor, Huddle House. As I would learn, Huddle House is essentially Waffle House without the waffles. Like Waffle House, Huddle House offers good heart-attack-on-a-plate breakfast cuisine cheap. In all, save for the jam stain on my napkin, my first Huddle House experience was a decent one.
From there, we continued to head northward through South Carolina, eventually stopping off for lunch at famous I-95 tourist trap South Of The Border. We then continued into North Carolina, meeting up briefly with Ted Etheridge near Rocky Mount, before heading to Roanoke Rapids to meet up with the pride and joy of Queen, PA – Matt Da Hick – who was doing engineering work at one of his radio/television station clients. The block of stations Matt was working on was housed inside an old, refurbished train station. Matt gave Sparky and me a tour of the facilities, including the television station upstairs. After the tour, we proceeded to a nearby Applebee’s for supper, and then continued our journey northward into Virginia.
We were headed to our overnight accommodation, “Big Jim” Ricotta’s time-share resort condo at Massanutten Resort, near Harrisonburg. It took us a little while to get there, and with the temperature becoming steadily colder and light rain developing as we headed northward, we encountered some thick fog as we crested some of the Shenandoah mountain range. Fortunately, the Virginia highway system had a unique innovation for their mountaintop highways we don’t have yet in PA – lights actually embedded in the road surface to help you see where you are going (like the reflectors we have on road surfaces here, only actual lights).
Eventually, we arrived in Harrisonburg and hooked up with the vacationing Big Jim at around 3 AM. (He had just arrived earlier in the evening; he was starting his vacation as we were ending ours.) We cracked a few beers and chatted, before retiring to rest up for the final leg of our journey.
Sparky, standing beneath the South Of The Border sign. Obviously, a big-ass sign!
Yours truly, sitting under the same sign. Moments after this photo was taken, I noticed a dead pigeon laying about 3-4 feet to the right of where I was sitting; I’m glad I didn’t wind up sitting on it!
Matt Da Hick poses in front of one of his radio engineering works of art, at the broadcast facility in Roanoke Rapids.
In a pinch, Matt Da Hick subs as a fill-in weekend television news anchorman…
SUNDAY 3/27
It was Easter Sunday, and still cloudy and damp as we awakened. I was up before Sparky, and got to enjoy the morning on the back patio of Big Jim’s vacation condo abode. We were visited by a local cat – surprising, as Big Jim said the resort didn’t allow pets on the premises. Either another vacationer violated the rules and brought one in, or a local stray had ventured in. Big Jim put out a saucer of milk for the visitor, who stuck around and drank most of it.
After Sparky awakened and showered, the three of us headed to a local barbecue establishment, where Big Jim treated us to an Easter buffet (Thanks!). We again embarked on the final leg of our journey, which took 3 hours from Harrisonburg to Altoona, using I-81 to Winchester and then Route 522, I-70, Route 30 and I-99. It was cold and rainy for the final stretch of the trip – yes, it was still late March in PA. Back to reality for a few more weeks…sigh.
Overall, the past week was just what the Professor ordered…relaxation, warm weather, a few attractions, good food, fun, no deadlines or workloads to worry about. Aside from the Florida traffic gridlock and Busch Gardens hassles, it was an enjoyable week. Too short, as always. But for eight days, life was good…
Big Jim’s vacation digs in Massanutten, Virginia.
Big Jim and his feline guest enjoy a Sunday morning on the back patio.
MATT WAGNER BAND @ PELLEGRINE’S, ALTOONA 3/27/05
There was no rest for the wicked. I barely had enough time to unpack my stuff into the house from the vacation trip, when I had to head to work, where “Backyard Rocker” duties awaited me. After the show, I headed to Pellegrine’s, where the Matt Wagner Band was closing out Easter weekend.
I wasn’t surprised to find a jam-packed house as I arrived. It wasn’t quite as sardine-tin packed as it was when Matt and his band played here on Thanksgiving eve, but it was still a full house. Matt and his band were in the latter stages of their second set, and closed out the set with Rusted Root’s “Ecstasy” and Billy Joel’s “Piano Man.”
With the dance floor packed, Matt and his band – guitarist Jimmy Tangeman, bassist Mark Cooper, keyboardist Denny Karl and drummer Lisa “Woo” Fazenbaker – mixed current and classic rock favorites, including songs from Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, Tom Petty, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Darkness, Rage Against the Machine and more. The night ended with the group’s Dave Matthews slant on “All Along the Watchtower.”
Likely due to the fact that some of the band members had been away at school and the group hadn’t practiced much, this show was on the sloppy side. The performances weren’t particularly tight or on target; and there was a lot of disorganization and down time between songs as the group debated what to do next. Because it was largely a friendly hometown audience with friends, family and fans, the performance glitches didn’t diminish the enthusiasm of the crowd, and these people cheered after each song regardless.
Continuing to attract huge crowds like this night, the Matt Wagner Band will no doubt have a future on Altoona area stages. Here’s hoping that if they have any aspirations of taking this show beyond the Altoona city limits, that they log some practice time together and tighten up their presentation.
Matt Wagner and his band, entertaining the crowded dance floor at Pellegrine’s.
Jimmy Tangeman of the Matt Wagner Band.
Matt Wagner Band namesake, Matt Wagner.
Once again, the Matt Wagner Band.
Again, Jimmy Tangeman of the Matt Wagner Band.
Matt Wagner and the Pelly’s fans.
Lisa “Woo” Fazenbaker of the Matt Wagner Band.
Jimmy Tangeman of the Matt Wagner Band, chowing down on some guitar strings.
