February 11, 2007

Back from Florida

This weekend Sam and I took a quick trip to Florida. We left on Wed. night and got back home late this afternoon. It was a fun trip and so nice to get away to somewhere much warmer than here. We got to visit with Sam's Aunt and Uncle, who we rarely see and their 2 granddaughters, which was a real treat. Unfortunately we didn't spend a whole lot of time there as we were off doing all sorts of things during the day. Except for Friday, we were out of the house around 10 and didn't get home until late at night. But we had to pack a lot into our short little vacation. We were so blessed to be able to leave the kids with Jasmin at home. They had a lot of fun together too.
I took along my journal, the one I made last year, and did a few drawings. Most of the drawings I did were at the airport or on the plane...because we were running everywhere any other time, though I did do some writing about what we did. Here are a few of my drawings that I did. On Wednesday night, we had a stop in Atlanta for an hour and a half...but because we were not watching the time very carefully, we missed our flight...by like 2 minutes. Crap! We were kind of upset, because all we wanted to do was get to Florida. But we decided to make the best of it. We got a discount voucher for a nearby hotel and after getting checked in and gathering all the toiletries the hotel would give us (since our luggage had gone ahead of us) we went to our room and settled in to a nice comfy king size bed and had a great night's sleep. In the morning, we made sure we were up and over to the airport plenty early, so that we had no chance of missing another flight. We got into Tampa around 9...and then took our time getting over to Aunt Pat's. We drove by this cute little Cuban sandwich shop on the way and got the most delicious Cubans. Sam loves them, but nobody makes right up here, so he always makes sure he has some when he comes to Florida. I like them too...but I won't eat one every day, like he does. Anyway, we also spent some time at the IISA (International Independent Showman's Association) trade show in Gibsonton. Basically it's a bunch of Carnies getting together and then vendors bring in their new stock and stuff that the Carnies use for their games, concessions, and rides. All kinds of fun stuff to see. Cool food to sample and stuff to buy. Sam's other Aunt and Uncle (they own food joints) and cousins (who own games) were there too. So we hung out with them a lot, plus we met a lot of new friends. Sam arranged a meet up of some people from Sideshow World so he got to know some of the people he's been in touch with from his group. We also made a couple of trips to the Florida State Fair...found out we could get in free with our badges from IISA...so that was definitely a bonus. That fair is so huge. I think they had like 5 ferris wheels or something. Of course Ward and Chris' World of Wonders sideshow was there and we went and saw them. Sam had offered for me to paint mini-banners for anyone who wanted to meet us at the trade show, so I made these before we went. Three, for Chris, Ward and Little Pete (Poobah), were given at the state fair, because they had to be there working. Everyone loved them and thought they were cool. I was glad I could put a smile on their faces. Sam also made up some cool sideshow buttons, and we passed some of those out as well. On Saturday, Sam and I went over to Weeki Wachee Springs to see the mermaids. I have always wanted to go there, but never had the chance. It's pretty run down I guess, from what it used to be, but we still had fun and saw the mermaid show which was pretty cool. There are rumors that it may shut down, so I am glad I got to see it.
It was a great trip and we were very grateful to have the opportunity to go. It's so nice to have a break from the routine...and especially to some place warm! Anyway...back to the real life here in temps under 20 and a winter storm coming tomorrow from which we are expecting 8-12 inches of snow...fun!

Check out more of our Florida pics in our Flickr album to the right--->

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Welcome back. Loved seeing all your pictures, art and journaling. Love MOM

1:00 AM  
Blogger inki said...

Welcome back Julie! I must have neeeded to refresh you site, because today is the first I have seen this post and those above it....sigh...
Anyway, the drawings are really good! and are the carny cards the size of ATC's? VERY impressive!
Dede

7:16 AM  
Blogger Julie Durocher said...

Dede-
Thanks! Yes those are ATC size cards. I did some like them a while ago for a circus swap.

7:52 AM  
Blogger pedalpower said...

Wonderful sketches as always....and you got to see the mermaids. The day we passed there, on impulse we stopped to see the show, but they were closed. I wanted to see that piece of old time Florida tourism.

2:40 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home