This getting up kind of early and having to wait for “the call from the condo” has given us a chance to watch a few movies. Yesterday we saw a movie make of David Copperfield. I never did read that book. Bad on me, I guess. The movie was kind of weird, so I wasn’t inspired in further literary pursuit in that particular direction, sad to say.
When
the time came, we made our way south to the condo. Once again the family was already at the
beach, so we dropped off our stuff and joined them. There was a little excitement this time,
beyond just watching the youngsters play in the sand and the waves. Josh, Zak, and Caleb were in the water, about
up to their waist. Suddenly jumped up and
made their way as quickly as they could to the water’s edge. I thought something might be wrong, but they didn’t
head toward us. Instead, they took off
in a dead sprint in the other direction, pointing at the water. That made me think something might have gone
really wrong in the water, so I started following in their direction. All was well, but they had indeed seen
something unusual. Seems a whole school
of rays had just swam by them. “At least
twenty” by Josh’s estimate. That was
amazing that they got to see something like that. I know I never have. Well, at least I never had. A little while later a second school of rays
made its way right in front of us. They
were casually making their way through the cut.
And twenty was a pretty good estimate.
I told the boys it was the Tampa baseball team out for a morning
workout. It was amazing. Unexpected.
And quite beautiful.
Since
all the excitement appeared to have ceased, we made our way back inside for
some lunch. Plenty of leftovers. I admit I may have dozed off for a minute or
two. Next we went to the swimming pool
for one last dip before time to leave in the morning.
Now,
I have been mentioning local cuisine on occasion. I have a question. Does it make you a local if you eat in the
same place more than once? I mean, if
you have a choice and you actually choose to return? Well, count us local, then. We made a return visit to one of out previous
stops. Any guesses which one? The answer is … Lambert’s, Home of the Throwed
Rolls. The discussion at supper was who
has tried the most new things on vacation.
Luke outdid Zak by one when he tried some fried okra. I mentioned our air boat ride, the manatees
we saw, and eating alligator. Not to
mention seeing the school of rays. But unbeknownst
to me, my list of something news was not complete.
We
topped off the evening with a trip to the local amusement park called The
Track. There was a reason for the name. It has not one, but five different go-cart
tracks, along with other amusement park type rides. AnnaGrace enjoyed the ones that spun her in
circles. The older guys took a spin on a
track that rose several stories up in the sky.
But finally in was Luke’s turn.
He chose to ride a two-seater go-cart with his Dad. But they had something else up their
sleeve. Seems they had saved up enough
points for ol’ DadDad to get in a cart by himself. What they didn’t know was this … ol’ DadDad
had never been on a go-cart before. Yet
another first time experience for me.
And boy, did I ever make the most of it.
I raced around that course against those pre-teenagers. I zipped in and out and up and down (that
track was really bumpy). I saw Josh and
Luke once up ahead of me. Way ahead of
me. turn to the right here. Back to the left there. I had that track’s number, to be sure. All the way up to the final blaze of glory
toward the finish line. I came in …
last. I mean, I came in dead last. I mean, they were already letting people get
out of their carts when I finally puttered in.
It was fun, though. Hey … trying
something new …
Galatians
5:25 says, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the
Spirit.”
Father,
thank you for all the new experiences of the last few weeks. Thanks especially for the beauty of the schools
of rays we got to see. Amen.
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