Florida 1998

A couple weeks ago we went for a quick visit to Florida. One of Zach's Army buddies, Ron Karpinski, was at his condo in Tarpon Springs (a little north of Clearwater). Ron and his wife, Irmi, live in Germany but spend several months of the year at their condo. For those who don't know (like us) Tarpon Springs is the sponge capital of the US. We stayed with Ron three days.

On our second day we went on a 40-mile bike ride with Ron on the Pinellas Trail, a converted rail bed. We made
several stops at beaches along the way and also stopped for "big" ice cream cones in Clearwater. The trail is car free except it occasionally crossing over some roads. We thought we were moving at a pretty good pace, 14 miles per hour, until a young women passed us on roller blades. On our next visit we will attempt the entire 76-mile trail in one day with Ron and
Irmi.

While visiting with Ron we were treated to some of his Army stories. Ron is a great storyteller and Zach even learned some new things about Ron. We also ate at several authentic Greek restaurants at the sponge docks and went sponge shopping. We had no idea how many different kinds of sponges there are. We won't tell you either. You have to visit Tarpon Springs to discover that for yourselves.

On Wednesday we got up early and headed for a day at Epcot. This was Cathy's first visit there. Mother Nature was not kind to us that day. It rained most of the day. Since it was Epcot, where almost all activities are indoors, the rain was no major problem except at those times we moved from one building to another. Our favorite things were the "Honey I Shrunk the Audience" and the "Spirit of America" shows. Also, the China and Canada 360 movies we very interesting. The visit ended with a bang or should we say many bangs, the laser and fireworks show on the lagoon. Fortunately, the rain ended at about the time the park was closing and we were able to watch the laser and fireworks show without getting wet. The show was great! A tremendous amount of fireworks were used. It was better than the 4th of July!

As we left the park at 10 pm we decided to go to Kennedy Space Center the next day, since Cathy had not visited there before and it wasn't very far away. The real reason was so Zach could go to the Dixie Crossroads Restaurant in Titusville for lunch. In the morning we went to the Space Center and did all the usual touristy things. About lunchtime we headed for
the Dixie Crossroads and had a great seafood lunch. Now Cathy understands why Zach was so eager to eat there.
After our delicious lunch we headed north for Atlanta. On the way back we stopped in St. Augustine, the oldest city in the US. You guessed right. Cathy has never been there either. We spend several hours wondering through the streets and shops.
That day turned into a long day since we drove straight home from St Augustine and didn't arrive home until am.
The next day Zach ran a 15-mile race at Stone Mountain with his usual racing companion Paul Velker. They will run the Atlanta Half-Marathon on Thanksgiving day.