The Lure of the Sun

As some of you know, we long planned to hang a right and head west after visiting North Carolina. Well, that obviously didn't happen! My uncle unexpectedly moved to Charlotte from Manhattan a week before we were in North Carolina. From Boone, Charlotte was just a couple of hours southeast. Once we were in Charlotte, we realized Atlanta was only 5 hours southwest (and Canton just a mere 45 minutes north of Atlanta). What's a five hour drive to visit a friend Andrew hasn't seen in years? It's not that far out of the way and we're certainly in no rush...

So we headed south to Georgia to spend a couple of nights with Charley, Andrew's former roommate and RA, and his wife Andrea and two kids.

This visit for me (Kristy) was a chance to learn more about the wild Andrew from Fredonia College days. I had heard some pretty crazy stories over the past three years and always had a hard time reconciling the sweet Andrew I know and love with the one who apparently harassed a news truck wearing an ape mask on "No power Tuesday." I should probably stop there before I get in trouble telling any more of Andrew's secrets! 

Meeting Charley and hearing even more stories only left me more confused though! Haha! What could be done but seek out more friends?

So after a couple of nights we again started to do the math: only 10 hours south to Florida + sunshine + reunion with close college friends with clues about Andrew + beach time! = you guessed it...

Along interstate 75 south, it became even more abundantly clear that we were in the SOUTH, friends. No mistaking it. Aside from the billboards condemning homosexuals (and oddly enough, promoting vasectomies), there were flags, big ones.

We made the long drive in nearly one day because I realized that my great aunt and uncle also live in Florida, conveniently right along the way! A full Christmas display greeted us.

The following day, my Aunt Deanna & Uncle Bill treated us to a delicious lunch. Turns out they knew a special spot where manatees gather- the local power plant. No kidding. We got to see lots!

Bill & Deanna at the power plant 

The warm water from the plant attracts the elephant-relatives

So ends blog post #1 of Florida. As of New Year's Eve, we're still here with plans for a sweat lodge tonight. Turns out, by the way, that our intuition to chase the sun saved us from midwestern blizzards a couple of weeks ago. Whew.

Stay tuned, in the next couple of days we'll post photos from our Gilligan's island Christmas (we had a blast) and what turned into an extended visit with the Davis family.

Happy New Year to all and happy birthday mom!!!