Tahoe Highlights and Facts to Amaze and Impress Your Friends

It's early Sunday morning here on the west coast and we've had a fabulous time here in Tahoe.  As I had mentioned in a previous post it's been quite a while since we've been here and we're looking forward to coming back some time but there is a bunch of the world still to be seen.  One thing about Tahoe at this time of the year is that it's very crowded so parking at some places can be a little challenging.  If you come, and I hope you do I would suggest the fall.  The temperatures would be a little chilly but I'm sure there wouldn't be half as many people here.  If skiing is your thing then a visit in the winter would be great as well.  My skiing career which was never much has been over for a number of years.  I may not be the sharpest pencil in the box but I was smart enough to realize it was time to hang the skis up while all the joints were still working.
A couple of highlights and facts;
Sand Harbor Beach-This beach is actually a Nevada State Park located about 18 miles from Tahoe on the east side of the lake.  There are actually 3 nice sandy beaches in the park; main beach, divers cove and boaters beach.  We set up at divers cove which is the smallest of the three beaches.  The water is incredibly clear and there are huge rocks (boulders) on land and in the water.  There is also a very nice amphitheater where they run a Shakespeare Summer Series and have concerts.  If you go in the summer go early, the parking lot fills up quickly.
http://parks.nv.gov/parks/sand-harbor
Echo Lake & Echo Lake Trail-Beth and I have done a lot of hiking in a lot of places around the globe but we agreed this was one of the most interesting and scenic trails that we have ever hiked.  It's actually part of the Pacific Crest Trail which runs from Mexico to Canada.  Since we only had four bottles of water, two peanut butter sandwiches, and one peach we opted not to do the entire trail.
What we did was recommended to us by a Park Service employee and her recommendation was excellent.  We drove to Echo Lake which is about 10 miles Southwest of Tahoe and took a water taxi to the far end of the lake.  The water taxi ride was very scenic and the lake which is quite large is actually about twice as large as it first seems because of a channel at the end of the first part that cuts through to the second section.  We were dropped off at the far end and hiked back to where we started.  It wasn't a long hike, only about three miles in length and the elevation change was minimal but the views were amazing.  There are many options for longer hikes or not taking the water taxi and doing an out and back hike.  There is also wilderness camping further out that a lot of folks were doing although I prefer a bed, toilet and not risking getting eaten by a bear.  Both Sand Harbor and Echo Lake would be high on my list of recommendations if you come to this area.
http://www.tahoeactivities.com/echo-lakes-trail-head
http://www.echochalet.com
If sitting in a smoke filled casino is your thing they have those here as well.  We did about a five minute walk through of Harveys and Harrah's and were glad to be back out in the fresh air.  There was a time in our past when we enjoyed that stuff but like skiing those days are long gone.  Maybe I am getting older and wiser!
OK, now for the quick facts on Lake Tahoe that you can share with friends and family to impress them on your intelligence level.
The Lake is:
22 miles long
12 miles wide
72 miles of shoreline
1,645 feet deep
37 trillion gallons of water (enough to cover all of California with 14 inches of water which could be helpful with the wildfires)
Today it's off to Napa Valley and the wine country.  I'm going to be on the lookout for the Boone's Farm, Ripple and Mogan David (Mad Dog) wineries.  Those were the three official wines of any underaged kid in Mulberry in the 70's.


Divers Cove at Sand Harbor

Sand Harbor Beach

Rock Star!

The Main Beach at Sand Harbor

I'm not sleeping, I'm in deep thought!

Echo Lake Water Taxi



Passing through the connecting channel of Echo Lake

From the Echo Lake Trail

Harold and Gladys on the Trail

Echo Lake looking toward the channel

We found what we were looking for............sorta!

We left Texas Wednesday afternoon after a couple of busy but great days.  I was happy to get a chance to visit with just a few folks at the hospital.  The building is looking great and I know the two grand opening events were excellent thanks to an amazing marketing team.  I appreciated the offers to tour the new hospital but didn't want to disturb all the work that is going on in preparation for the move on August 7. I am looking forward to seeing it when we are back in the area in late November after our big trip.
We flew from Dallas to Sacramento (which has an incredibly nice airport) and drove the two hours to Lake Tahoe getting in just after dark.  The temperature when we arrived in Tahoe was very pleasant even though it was close to 100 in Sacramento.  When we woke up it was amazing!  We took our coffee and tea down to the beach around 6:45 and the temperature was in the low 50's!  Man that was a welcome change from the heat of Florida, Arkansas and Texas.  It did warm up pretty quickly but still nothing compared to where we've been the last few weeks.  So I think we pretty much found what we were looking for in terms of cooler weather.
This is our first visit to Tahoe since 1999.  I can remember it because we were here when the Dallas Stars won their first and so far only Stanley Cup.  We were huge hockey fans back then and it was fun following their rise to the championship.  The area has developed quite a bit since then but it still has some amazing views.
It was a pretty low key day for us today.  I think we were both needing a little break although we did a couple of nice hikes including the Eagle Lake Loop Trail and a short but interesting hike at one of the visitors centers on the west side of the lake.
Every Thursday evening during the summer there is a free concert series called Live at Lakeview at a local park on the lake.  The music tonight was a reggae band from Italy (you can't make that up).  They sounded about like you would think a reggae band from Italy would sound.  We stayed a while and did enjoy the dancing of some very well medicated and colorful characters that seem committed to keeping the hippie movement alive and well in spite of the breakup of the Grateful Dead.
All in all a great first day in Tahoe!  More and longer hiking on tap for Friday but plenty of chilling out time built in as well!

Yes, it was 51 degrees and yes, it felt awesome!

Sunrise on Lake Tahoe

The Idiots Enjoying Hammock Time!

When I checked my e-mail this morning I found out I won 2 Million Euro in a raffle that I didn't enter.  I told Beth about it and she had an e-mail letting her know she had won 2 Million Euro as well!............Can you believe our luck!

And next it's off to........................

A couple of posts back I mentioned that once we left Texas we weren't sure where we were going but that we had flights booked to Boston, Boise, Denver and Phoenix.  We had two goals in mind; cooler temperatures and of course the best deal.  All four had a little of one or the other but not necessarily both so the decision was a tough one but we've decided and tomorrow we're heading for none of them.  Beth as the search and bargain expert idiot (I'm still looking for my expertise) found not at all to my surprise something better than any of the four aforementioned so tomorrow afternoon we're off to South Lake Tahoe and Napa Valley!
We fly to Sacramento and will then be driving to Tahoe for 4 nights and then it's on to Napa for 4 nights.
As always, there will be posts and pictures along the next part of the journey.
Until then, cheers!

Reconnecting

It's Sunday morning and we'll be moving from the north side of Fort Worth about an hour south to Burleson where we are looking forward to spending time with Ben.  Ben's days off are Sunday and Monday so this will allow us more time to visit with him as well as one of our grand dog's, Allie who is about 70 lbs of loving lab that would be perfect if she didn't shed so much.
While we've been staying here at Champions Circle we have enjoyed reconnecting with two couples that we are honored to call friends.  Rob and Pam McNeely from Burleson from our more recent past and Tatum and Margaret Boulware from Elon, North Carolina who were great friends of ours when we first got married and were living in Burlington, North Carolina.
Rob and Pam joined us Friday afternoon for a one night stay.  It was great seeing them and sharing so much time in the pool as well as a few meals like we have done so many times over the years.  It's fair to say that they were our first and best friends throughout our 23 years in Burleson.  We look forward to them visiting us in August when we are back in Florida.  Keep Rob in your prayers.  While working out yesterday morning the TV on his elliptical machine only got MSNBC.  I'm concerned they brainwashed him and suggested that when he got home he do some binge watching of Fox News.  We're going to see them Tuesday night and I'll update you on his state of mind.
Tatum and Margaret were our first and best friends in Burlington, North Carolina who we met shortly after we moved there in the summer of 1982.  Beth and I had been married all of two weeks at that time and while I can't remember specifics as to who was in the Brittany Apartments first I think we both arrived around the same time and that they were newlyweds as well. One of my earliest and favorite memories of Tatum was him walking into our apartment, looking around and then asking "do you guys have a thing against furniture?"  I guess he was really onto something since here it is 34 years later and we don't own a piece of furniture or a house to put it in.
We had some great adventures with Tatum and Margaret in the three years that we lived in North Carolina and stayed in touch for a period of time after we relocated to Florida but hadn't spoken with them in at least 20 years until yesterday.  Keep in mind that Mark Zuckerberg was probably still in diapers at the time we moved from Burlington and Al Gore hadn't invented the internet yet so staying in touch was a little more difficult at that time.  I don't do facebook but through the magic of google I was able to track them down and we had a great visit by phone yesterday and look forward to seeing them sometime soon.  There's a lot of catching up to do!

Bentonville, Arkansas

Just to catch everyone (including myself) up on this past week. We left Sarah, Joey and Sweet Baby James last Monday and spent three nights at Devil's Den State Park which is about an hour north of Fort Smith.  We left there yesterday (Thursday) and drove to Fort Worth/Burleson where we will be until next Wednesday.
Currently we are staying at the Marriott Champions Circle on the north side of Fort Worth right across from the speedway.  They offer some amazingly cheap rates during the summer that often include breakfast making it an even better bargain.  The hotel staff are super friendly, the property is located on a golf course and they have a very nice pool area so it makes a great "staycation" for anyone who lives in the vicinity. We'll be leaving here on Sunday and moving a little south to the Burleson area and are looking forward to spending some time with Ben and catching up with a few folks.  Also, we have a few scheduled doctors appointments, because going to the doctor is what retired people are supposed to do.


http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/dfwmc-dallas-fort-worth-marriott-hotel-and-golf-club-at-champions-circle/


On Tuesday we drove from Devil's Den up to Bentonville which as most of you probably know is where that great institution with everyday low prices Wal-Mart started.  It would be an understatement to say that Wal-Mart has been good for that region.  Bentonville and Rogers which is the adjoining town are really nice.  Beautiful parks, trails, nice neighborhoods, a vibrant looking restaurant scene and even a Wal-Mart or two! 


I'm not a big Wal-Mart fan although spending a little time in a store people watching can be quite entertaining.  I will have to say they appear to be a very philanthropic organization and family which is very apparent in this area.  In addition to the parks and trails that I mentioned there is the Wal-Mart Arkansas Musical Amphitheater (AMP) and also the Wal-Mart Museum which is really quite nice and located in the original 5&10 store that Sam Walton owned and operated.  The crown jewel is the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.  The building itself is amazing, there are outdoor sculpture gardens and a great collection of art that even someone as culturally incompetent as me could enjoy.
If you're in the area I would certainly recommend you take a few hours to visit both museums.  One other great thing, there is a really good ice cream store attached to the Wal-Mart museum and the prices are very cheap!


http://www.walmartmuseum.com


http://crystalbridges.org/






We've got our game plan for next week but that's for another blog.........the idiots will be on the move again!




Where it all started!



Devils Den State Park-The Early Bird Gets The Webs!

On Monday afternoon we left Fort Smith for a short hours drive north to Devils Den State Park.  I’m a few days late posting this particular blog because there is no wifi in the park which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. 

Our cabin is a really nice studio type cabin that was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps back in the 1930’s.  What a novel concept the CCC was in its day, offer employment plus educational opportunities to healthy and capable young men instead of a handout……………interesting!

The park is an outstanding state park with plenty of shaded camp sites, cabins (which thankfully now are air conditioned) and plenty of great hiking trails through some interesting terrain that runs along creek beds, close to waterfalls and by some really interesting sandstone caves and crevices.  If you’re in this neck of the woods and this is your cup of tea I’d highly recommend you checking it out.  They even have a swimming pool for park guests although they have rather silly hours (12:00 Noon-6:00 PM but closed from 2:30-3:30 for a “pool break”).  I never really knew a pool needed a break, I guess you’re never too old to learn something new.

Beth and I are early risers, always have been and continue to be even in retirement.  One of our favorite things to do early is to walk before it gets too hot or too sunny which is really important this week since our timing was impeccable and we’re here during what the weather guys are saying is the “hottest week of the year”.

This morning we were fully caffeinated and had eaten our Cheerios by 7:00 and were hitting the trail.  The temperature was great and we had plenty of shade from the rising sun however there was one little drawback we encountered.  We were clearly the first folks on the trail and did any hikers that followed behind us a great favor by clearing all the spider webs that had been spun overnight and it seemed like there were hundreds of them.

As we were pushing our way through the webs I was reminded of one of my lifelong best friends deathly fear of spiders.  I’ll not share his name but he was a fellow Mulberrian who graduated from Mulberry High School in 1974 and is a fellow alumni of the University of Florida……some of you will figure it out pretty quickly and I think he’s actually been reading this blog or at least he told me he was going to read it.  To him all spiders no matter how small and harmless were man eating creatures with the intent on destroying mankind.  I remember him sharing with me that one morning while brushing his teeth that a tiny spider dropped down in front of him causing him to swallow his toothpaste which led to him puking.  Now why I can remember this trivial nonsense but can’t remember where I parked the car 10 minutes earlier is one of the great mysteries that I frequently ponder but I guess it makes for good storytelling.

As Beth and I talked about all the spider webs we were destroying (mainly me since she volunteered me to walk in front this morning)  we came to the following brilliant philosophical conclusion; the “glass half empty” person would focus on destroying the spider webs that the spiders had worked so hard on while the “glass half full” person would focus on all the bugs lives we were saving from an agonizing and painful death in a spiders web.  I think my friend would be a “glass half full” guy on this one.

 

 

 

Cabin 17 in Devil's Den-A cute and cozy studio

 

She lifted this rock over her head right after I put the camera away

 

Devil's Den Trail

 

Some of the nice stacked rock formations in the creek bed

 

Up River from the Bridge

 

I just couldn't resist this picture.....I would have never figured out what all that stuff in the background was without the sign!

What a journey it's been!

Thirty four years and about 3 hours ago a fantastic journey began when Beth walked down the aisle of First Baptist Church of Mulberry, didn't change her mind at the last minute and said "I do".  As we often do on this day we were replaying the big event and laughing at the simplicity of weddings back then compared to nowadays.  It was a quick afternoon service, Beth had two attendants her sister Cindy and her best friend Lori.  I had my brother, Gerald and one of my best friends Drew who just a little over six months earlier had married Cindy.  After being pronounced "Husband and Wife" by Rev. David Bump it was off to the church social room for cake, punch, nuts and mints.  No sit down dinner required or expected back then!
We weren't "the traveling idiots" back then or at least Nana hadn't publically and proudly proclaimed us as such.  But wow, in my wildest imagination I could have never believed how lucky I was to have such an amazing life partner!
I guess from day one we were destined to one day become the traveling idiots.  We had saved spare change and a few bucks here and there while in college and splurged on a honeymoon to Denver, Yellowstone and Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  This was a little over the top for folks from the dusty little one red light town of Mulberry.
I remember us getting excited when we first spotted some type of deer on the side of the road.  We stopped and took pictures like true tourists, only later as we continued up the road did we realize that over the next week or so we'd probably see about a billion of these critters.
After the honeymoon we loaded up the smallest U-Haul trailer known to man and moved to Burlington, North Carolina.  Beth completed her masters degree at UNC-Greensboro while I taught and coached at Burlington-Cummings High School.  We were ridiculously poor back then.  I mean take the calculator to the grocery store poor and steal the newspaper from the mall door before it opened at noon on Sunday poor.  As poor as we were we still enjoyed adventures and often went to the mountains or coast where we'd usually have to sit through some 90 minute timeshare presentation just to get a hotel at a cost we could afford.  We also took advantage of a short lived discount airline called People's Express which offered cheap flights to New York.  God knows we couldn't have afforded a hotel in New York so we'd take the early flight up and the last flight home.............we were big time travelers!
After three years Beth had graduated, worked a bit and we were ready to move on.  Here's another interesting but little known part of the journey.  Nana was instrumental in my career.  Keep in mind back in the early 90's things were a little different and you looked for jobs in the newspaper (remember when they were relevant?)  Nana found and mailed me an ad from Medical Center Hospital in Punta Gorda which was opening a new Wellness Program.  I was fortunate enough to get a position and we were off to Florida in an ever so slightly larger U-Haul.
Seven years in Florida and the birth of two amazing children, first Ben and then Sarah and we were off to Texas where we really earned the reputation of the "traveling idiots".  DFW airport was close and became our gateway across the country and to all corners of the world.
I'm so fortunate to be married to one of the most "live life to the fullest" people I know.  She has been a rock of support through good days and challenging days and really opened my eyes to so many incredible adventures.  I remember one day saying in passing that Iceland looked interesting and the next thing I knew we were booked to Iceland.  One day I got a call at work and Beth asked me what I thought about going to Hong Kong, I said when and she said there were some great deals in four days.  Thanks to an incredibly understanding boss who was amused by all of this four days later the Tucker family was off to Hong Kong.  Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Thailand, South America, China, Europe and more...........Nana couldn't have been more accurate in naming us.
While travel may not be everyone's cup of tea, the lesson that Beth has taught me so well is that you can go through life or you can live life. Beth has pushed, encouraged and supported me to step out of my comfort zone and I am so blessed and fortunate.
This little blog is intended to document our journey for our amusement as well as the amusement of anyone who wants to read it but I also hope that it will serve as an inspiration for others to find their passion and make dreams a reality and oh by the way, don't wait, the future is not guaranteed!
It's hard to believe that it's been 34 years, time does fly when you're having a great time!

Sweet Baby James!

We've all heard that a picture is worth a thousand words.  I'm a believer.  The pictures below can speak for themselves in this post.


Loving this Grandpa stuff!!!!!!!!

Breakfast in Fort Smith...............Lunch just outside Paris!

Well it wasn't exactly Paris, France but Paris, Arkansas is pretty nice as well and they have their very own Eiffel Tower as you can see below.

The Eiffel Tower............Paris, Arkansas Style!

In addition to their very own Eiffel Tower, Paris Arkansas is one of the nearest cities to Mount Magazine State Park.  Mount Magazine and more specifically Signal Hill is the highest point in the state of Arkansas and while it's not exactly Mount Everest, Kilimanjaro or even the rocky mountains it's a very nice state park with some great overlooks from the many bluffs throughout the park.
Sarah and Joey took Sweet Baby James (SBJ) to have his newborn pictures made today so Beth and I did a quick day trip over to Mount Magazine for lunch and a little roaming around.  We had visited the park on a prior trip, had a great lunch in their lodge and decided to make the hour drive over again.
We've only visited a few of the state parks in Arkansas but I'll have to say they have all been really nice.  In addition to Mount Magazine we've been to Lake Fort Smith and Devils Den.  Next week we have a cabin reserved for three nights at Devils Den which is about an hour north of Fort Smith.  Once we check out from there we will swing back through to see (SBJ) and Sarah and Joey of course before heading down to Texas where we look forward to spending some time with Ben and visiting around.
The week after that the idiots will be on the move again although we really don't know where we're going yet.  We've got flights booked to four different cities (Denver, Boise, Boston and Phoenix) or none of the above.  I really love Southwest's liberal cancellation policies (it's rare for me to use the words love and liberal in the same sentence).  Additionally, they continue to expand their routes and I've heard rumors that Hawaii and Europe may be coming.  I'll let you know where we're going as soon as we figure it out...........don't hold your breath, we probably won't know until around the 27th or 28th.

Mount Magazine State Park Lodge

F



From the back porch of the lodge

We've been as high as you can legally be in Arkansas!

Baseball & Family

I've always been a big baseball fan.  Growing up in Florida I can remember going to quite a few spring training games with my dad or with some of my friends and their dads.  The Detroit Tigers have made Lakeland their spring training home since 1936 and mostly we went to their games although the Red Sox trained in Winter Haven during my childhood and we'd sneak over there every now and then.
I've maintained my love of the game to this day for a couple of reasons.  I love the ballpark experience, soaking up the atmosphere around and in the stadium, eating health foods such as hot dogs, peanuts, nachos, etc.  Also, baseball unlike the other major sports allows you to sit back relax and carry on a conversation while the game is going on and the best part is that so many of the games that I've been to that conversation has been with Beth, Ben and Sarah.
Living in Texas we frequently had access to Rangers tickets that we took advantage of frequently.  One of the great things about the Rangers games is that you can bring in your own food and drinks.  Beth and I would load up Ben and Sarah along with enough food to feed a small army and have a great time at the ballpark.
For Ben's 13th birthday we took him to New York to a Yankees game (he was a big Yankee & Derek Jeter fan at that time).  We took the subway out to the stadium and I can still remember his eyes lighting up when Yankee Stadium came into view.
Some of my favorite "Tucker Road Trips" were baseball road trips.  We did one that included 4 games in four days (White Sox & Cubs games in Chicago, Brewers game in Milwaukee and a Twins game in Minnesota.  We also did one that included an Orioles game in Baltimore, Nationals game in Washington and Phillies game in Philadelphia. We've also done games in numerous other cities including San Diego, St. Louis and Kansas City to name a few. These were great trips and now that the kiddo's are full fledged adults I appreciate them even more.
Keeping in mind that with all or part of the family in tow they were all great experiences. Below are a few of my favorite parks:
Wrigley Field and Fenway Park-Hey, I'm not only old, I'm old school.  I love the old parks that are located in neighborhoods like these two parks.  If you go to either of them go early and take in all the activities around the stadium where every game day is a party.
Yankee Stadium (the original one)-I have to admit that everytime I went there I got chills thinking about all the greats that played there.  Ruth, Mantle, DiMaggio, etc. and the late, great Bob Sheppard on the PA.
Camden Yards-Great location with the warehouses in the outfield.  Try Boog Powell's BBQ if you go!
Petco Park-San Diego  Great setting but be warned that even if it's been a hot mid-summer day in San Diego when the sun goes down it's going to be chilly. 
Candlestick Park-San Francisco  Clam Chowder in a bread bowl and baseball....a winning combination!
Honorable Mentions include: Minute Maid Park (Houston), Kaufman Stadium (Kansas City), Safeco Field (Seattle) and Globe Life Park (Rangers).




I'd be remiss if I didn't give a James update:
He's had a great first Monday and continues to get cuter by the minute.  Sarah is doing excellent and Joey is such a big help to both of them.  It's a joy just to sit back and watch them!

Tropicana Field (Tampa Bay Rays)- Where the majority of fans show up disguised as empty seats! 

James Kaden Martin!

Today is the day we have been anticipating for months.  At 7:23 AM Sweet Baby James was born at Mercy Hospital in Fort Smith, Arkansas.  Sarah, Joey and James are all doing awesome and make a beautiful little family.  He's eating, pooping, sleeping and just being as cute as he can be (referring to James of course).
Sarah's doctor admitted her last night around 8:30 and shortly thereafter starting inducing labor.  Everything went well (easy for me to say) and faster than anticipated although I'm sure Sarah would tell you it seemed plenty long enough for her.
As for Beth and I, we flew out of Tampa at 6:50, got to Dallas around 8:30 and drove to Fort Smith arriving a little before 2:00.  James was born while we were on the plane but we were able to stay in contact with Joey by text messaging and had a celebratory high five when we got the text letting us know he had arrived and both he and Sarah were doing well.
Our plans are to stay here for a week and be "helping hands" when and where we are needed.  After that we'll spend a few days at Devil's Den State Park which is about an hour from Fort Smith.  We will then swing back by for a visit and head down to Texas to see Uncle Ben for a few days.  After that we're planning on going somewhere where it's cooler.  We're not really sure where that it is yet, we've got a couple of things booked (Colorado and Idaho) but if something better comes up..........who knows where we'll end up.  I do know one thing, after the heat of Florida, Arkansas and Texas it's going to be cooler.  We will then go back to Texas, pick up Uncle Ben and come back to Arkansas so Ben and James can meet.  Ben has a great plan for a birthday gift for James but that's a story for another day.
It's a crazy world out there these days and seeing the innocence of Sweet Baby James today gives me hope.  As adults, we have an obligation to make the world a better place, hopefully we won't let James or all the other children introduced to the world today down.

Our Beautiful Daughter Sarah and Sweet Baby James!

3 Generations

Bonding!

Very Happy Day!

Growing Up in Mulberry-Part 2 of Many

Incredibly Stupid Things We Did As Kids

If you're not from Mulberry you may be starting to get a little bit of an idea of what life was like in this dusty little one red light town.  Often times peoples image of Mulberry is that of the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina.  While there were some similarities there were also quite a few differences, probably the biggest one being there were a whole lot more Goobers and Gomers per capita in Mulberry than Mayberry. Looking back on some of the stuff me and my buddies did back in the day we definitely fit into the "Goober and Gomer" category .
Other than playing sports and fishing there wasn't a whole lot of organized activities for us so we had to amuse ourselves.  You take a bunch of bored "Goobers and Gomers" and some crazy stuff can happen.  Thanks to the grace of God and a little luck and somehow in spite of our best efforts to kill or do serious bodily harm to ourselves somehow we all managed to survive.  I could probably write a book on this particular subject that would be fairly lengthy but for now I'll just share a little bit about three of the more incredibly stupid recurring feats.  Momma's and Daddies don't let your kids participate in any of these activities!

Crawling Through the Storm Drains

It was a simple thing that we figured out that could provide hours and hours of incredibly stupid fun.  Take a manhole cover off, jump down into the storm drains that ran under Northeast Mulberry, pull the cover back on top and there was a great maze of tunnels.  We'd crawl on our hands and knees all  over or more appropriately under the place without any concern for snakes, rats, poisonous gases or whatever flesh eating bacteria might be living in those pipes.  I do recall scraped up hands and knees but from what I can remember the most serious damage any of us came away with from this adventure was some serious ringing in the ears when one of my buddies who wasn't with us on a particular underground adventure figured out where we were and tossed a pack of lit firecrackers into the drain directly in front of us.  I remember the sound of those things exploding sounding like bombs going off and the echo they made lasted well beyond the last actual explosion.

Riding Our Bikes Behind The Truck That Sprayed Mosquitos

The mosquitos that lived in the Mulberry area seemed larger than many species of birds. I'm sure they carried diseases back then but nothing like Malaria, West Nile or Zika or if they did we just didn't know about them.  What we did know was that there were billions of them that would come out at night to bite and chew on any exposed flesh.  To combat them the city had an old pick up truck with some kind of fogger/spraying device that would go up and down the streets at night spraying a thick white smoke that contained unknown amounts of unknown chemicals that were supposed to kill or at least send the mosquitos into some chemically induced high that would make them quit biting for a while.  I don't recall it ever working but I do recall when we heard the truck coming we'd all hop on our bikes and ride along directly behind the truck in this chemical fog. 

The last couple of years they have been spraying for mosquitos in the area of Texas we just moved from in an attempt to reduce the risk of exposure to mosquitos carrying the West Nile virus.  It was quite controversial with good Momma's and Daddies all up in arms about the potential harm this was doing to their kiddos.  All I can remember in Mulberry would be that if my mom heard the truck first she would yell out "Kent the mosquito truck is coming, you'd better get your bike and get out there with your buddies"! 

Swimming In Alligator Infested Phosphate Pits

To the non-Mulberrian you would call it a "pond", to us they were phosphate pits which were actually nothing more than big holes left in the ground as a result of the phosphate mining operations (remember Mulberry is the Phosphate Capital of the World).  These pits didn't really seem to have a bottom,  and with few exceptions the water was stagnant so it was full of who knows what that had been dumped in there or carried there by storm water runoff.  These pits were also home to a bunch of big gators.  When I say "big" I mean 8-12 footers were not uncommon.  We'd see them and stupidly figured that as long as we didn't go near them or where they nested that they wouldn't bother us.  Thankfully we weren't wrong and as best as I can remember I never lost a friend to an alligator although a few pet dogs that liked to swim mysteriously went missing including my beloved Spot.  Again, I can't ever recall my mom saying "Kent there are man eating monsters living in those phosphate pits, don't you dare swim in them" it was more along the line of "it sure is hot today, why don't you and your buddies take the pet dogs down for a swim".

Some parents sure seem to be over protective of their kids these days!

The idiots will be on the move again soon with some big news to share sometime in the next week or two.  In the meantime I hope you are enjoying these reflections from my past, it was a heck of a ride!







Happy 4th of July!

Morning beach walk @ 6:00.
Quick trip to the grocery store before the onslaught.  Fresh Cuban Bread coming out of the oven when we were there.
Fresh hot Cuban Bread for breakfast.
My morning paddleboard workout on "smooth as glass" water @ 8:00
Heading to the beach for a morning swim in a few minutes.
A nap sometime this afternoon.
Family meal at the "big house" later today followed by fireworks on the beach.


A moment to pause and say thanks to all the men and women in uniform serving overseas and at home as well as the first responders whose natural instinct is to run towards danger instead of the other way.


It's a great day to be an American and a great day to be on AMI!

Not only do you get spectacular sunsets on AMI on the east side of the island you can get an amazing sunrise over Tampa Bay!
Photo courtesy of Cindy Eason

Beach House- "That's just the way it's always been"

Every summer on AMI there is a ritual that has been taking place for as the title suggests a very long time.  When I asked Beth’s mother (the one and only NaNa) about the origin she simply replied that it’s been going on for as long as she can remember and without revealing any age I'll just say that’s a fairly long time.

She did share with me that she remembers coming out here across a rickety one lane bridge with her Mom and Dad along with her brother (Blake) and three sisters (Kay, Sally and Phyllis) when she was a young girl.  At that time they along with an extended family of aunts, uncles and cousins spent 3 entire months on the beach. According to her, back then the island was mostly mangroves, marsh and mosquitos.  Good or bad the island has changed and evolved a lot since then but the legacy of the beach house continues.

When I first started dating Beth the beach house was a month long extravaganza that now lasts for two weeks with the “main event” occurring on July 4^th when there will be over 100 relatives, friends and I’m pretty sure even a few complete strangers who are just passing by and decide to join in the party.  You’d be hard pressed to find a nicer, friendlier or more welcoming group of people and I’d say that even if I wasn’t going to be with them for another week and related by marriage.

In addition to the big event on the 4^th there are a number of other rituals that go along with beach house.  Sunday lunches are a major time for everyone to gather at the main gathering spot known as the “big house” which is wonderfully located just a few steps from one of the best beaches on the entire planet.  There is a morning swim which is usually from around 10:00-noon and the nightly gathering on the beach for sunset.  There are fishing trips (fresh grouper and snapper for dinner tonight), morning walks, bowling trips and much more that has been passed down from generation to generation that make this such an amazing annual family tradition.

One tradition that deserves a little more explaining is the annual Rook tournament.  For the uninitiated, Rook is a card game that is played by two teams of two players.  Like so much of the beach house, the card game has always been around. Over time friendly casual games have  evolved into a major tournament complete with a “Tournament Director” {a position proudly held by Ken Burton), a dedicated website with team seedings, tournament history, sponsors and much more.  Prizes are awarded to the top three teams and there was at one time a trophy that was as prized by the players as the Lombardi Trophy is to pro football players or the Stanley Cup is to hockey players.  The trophy went missing some years back and there were rumors abound for a period of time regarding its whereabouts and who may have it. 

I think there are about 15 teams in this years tournament with players ranging in age from the youngest being in their teens to a few who are in their 80’s.  I’ve played in the tournament a few times over the years but I’m a lousy player who’s had trouble keeping the same partner for more than one year so I retired from competitive Rook a few years back much to the delight of those who needed a partner but didn’t want me.  You can follow the action of this year’s tournament on the link below:

http://rooktournament.com 

Here’s to a great tradition and one that in spite of the crazy, fast paced world we live in today I pray will last for generations to come.

 

 

 

The Queens of the Beach!  L to R  Joyce (NaNa), Kay, Sally and Phyllis
Photo courtesy of Kristy Jones

 

The Four Sisters and Blake enjoying a little Rook at the 2015 Beach House
Photo courtesy of Kristy Jones 

NaNa and Sally debating who ate the most

Lined up for sunset

 

Tournament Rook games always draw a crowd



Spectacular Sunset!