Glowstick Visit
What started as an offhand comment inviting glowdragon to come on down to Florida to pay me a visit during his vacation time from work turned out better than we'd both hoped. Had wicked fun playing tour guide, and it was nice to take someone around who was actually interested in seeing the sights (glares at pyrophin).
I find myself at a loss for recalling all of the details of those few days (it has been a while) but here's the major highlights (as I recall them):
Started out by picking him up at the airport. Had a little fun with that, and waved an actual glowstick around to attract his attention. Surprisingly enough, it didn't gather any attention from airport security (maybe they're less anal at Tampa International than elsewhere). Unlike other folks I've met in person for the first time, his appearance managed to totally not surprise me at all. That was cool.
Took him to the local Waffle House. Apparently they don't have them in Wisconsin. Always fun to take people there, and it's not a budget-breaker. Only thing I could think of to do in the evening around here (I don't get out much), Still and all, it was fun. And good food, as always.
Took him home, got his living area temporarily set up in my living room, and we hung around and watched some episodes of Darkwing Duck and generally chatted.
Woke up and made coffee. Roused my guest and made plans for the day, starting with breakfast at the nearby bagel joint. Awesome sandwiches, if a bit pricy. Did a bit of wandering about, and then headed back to the house to grab stuff and head to clearwater beach. Rather late start, and it turned out to be a bit cold to actually swim, but just wandering the beach was fun. Ended up seeing a group of musicians that were playing. Island music, two steel drum players and a keyboardist. Wandered off for a while since they were taking a long break between sets (after I dropped my last $5 in the tip jar... I have a soft spot for live music). Drifted away, and wandered back that way a few minutes later, as I'd heard strains of Margaritaville. Stuck around for that, and ultimately searched for some place to get dinner. Wandered more, and eventually ended up at the place right by the main entrance to the beach. Pricy, since it was intended mostly to cater to hotel guests, but very, very good food. Full bar, too. Had a nice light dinner of a grouper sandwich and a drink with strawberries and rum called a "Miami Vice". Both were amazing and scrumptious. Did more wandering around, looked at the boats at the marina, and generally saw the sights of downtown Clearwater. Amazingly beautiful view, and very very expensive apartments and condos. Wandered back to the car after a fair bit of time. Stopped off at an Albertsons on the way home to pick up some odds and ends for an after-dinner snack. Turns out that Albertsons sells Jones Soda, so I went a little crazy and bought a bunch of that, too (I haven't had the stuff in ages). Headed home, and watched some stuff, and hung out for a while.
Went back out to Clearwater the next day, planning to go out on the Pirate Cruise. We got there a bit early, and did some more wandering to kill time. Went in search of a yard sale for which we had seen a sign on the way in, but didn't have any luck finding it. I did however find out where CMA is in relation to me, which is cool. Looks like the reservations that were underway in January turned out really well. The place looks new and good now, not old and ragged. I'd have liked to go see Winter, but I know Noxy's a squeamish one, and we only had an hour or so to kill. I did however see a park named after Sunset Sam, which touched me more than I let on to Noxy. Headed back to the docks and boarded the pirate ship. Arrrr. All in all, it was a blast. And due to both of us having had next to nothing to eat all day, we ended up getting a really nice buzz going off of only a couple of drinks. Yay free booze. It's kind of hard to describe the atmosphere, but it plain rocked. The kids were kept entertained and out of the adults' hair, so we were free to just watch the sunset and chill. The taunting of other ships we passed on our way was priceless. Nothing quite so riotous as pirates bellowing "we're having more fun than you are!" over the PA. Well, until we were almost back. Then, we were boarded by the Coast Guard. Turned out to have been a routine safety inspection, but the people yelling "make them walk the plank!" and "board them!" really added to the authentic pirate atmosphere. Eventually, when all was said and done, we boarded my pirate ship and headed for Castaways, full speed ahead. Had an enjoyable (but as always there, pricy) dinner. Divine. Headed home, and Introduced my guest to the joy that is Lexx.
On the next day, we ventured to the mall to get the replacement laptop for Noxy, something he'd been meaning to do for a while now. Watched him blow almost his entire tax refund in one shot. Then I took him to a SuperTarget (since he'd never been to one). More wandering, and I bought a couple of small random things. After that, we went to go get some Papa John's pizza (enough money spent on food the past few days, in my reasoning). So, we go there, get the usual ten minute wait, so we killed time with a wander through the nearby neighborhood, and ducked into the liquor store next door. Pretty nice one, too. Ended up picking up a bottle of Skyy Spiced. Cinnamon and Clove spiced vodka? Intriguing. Actually got Nox to do a couple of shots with me. As it turns out, the Skyy was quite tasty, and one of the most smooth vodkas I've ever drank. Watched some random things while Nox played with his new toy for quite some time. Actually stayed up quite late helping him with some stuff, ultimately hitting the hay around 6AM or so.
Got up late, and did some major piracy. Arrr. Swapped about 130GB over gigabit ethernet. My new switch paid for itself for sure. Didn't have too long until it was time to take Nox to the airport. I wasn't exactly looking forward to seeing him go, I quite enjoyed the company. I ended up taking the scenic route home after almost being plowed into by some jackass in I-275. So it was an extra 30 or so miles, but the view from the causeway was very nice, so I'm not going to complain.
Work that next night was a bitch, though. Going back to that bullshit after having such an awesome relaxing time. Just... not fun, and I felt like crap.
Well, now I know that Clearwater is the beach to go to the next time I feel like going to one..
I think that's about it. If I missed anything, I trust Noxy to butt in and yell at me about it.
I find myself at a loss for recalling all of the details of those few days (it has been a while) but here's the major highlights (as I recall them):
Started out by picking him up at the airport. Had a little fun with that, and waved an actual glowstick around to attract his attention. Surprisingly enough, it didn't gather any attention from airport security (maybe they're less anal at Tampa International than elsewhere). Unlike other folks I've met in person for the first time, his appearance managed to totally not surprise me at all. That was cool.
Took him to the local Waffle House. Apparently they don't have them in Wisconsin. Always fun to take people there, and it's not a budget-breaker. Only thing I could think of to do in the evening around here (I don't get out much), Still and all, it was fun. And good food, as always.
Took him home, got his living area temporarily set up in my living room, and we hung around and watched some episodes of Darkwing Duck and generally chatted.
Woke up and made coffee. Roused my guest and made plans for the day, starting with breakfast at the nearby bagel joint. Awesome sandwiches, if a bit pricy. Did a bit of wandering about, and then headed back to the house to grab stuff and head to clearwater beach. Rather late start, and it turned out to be a bit cold to actually swim, but just wandering the beach was fun. Ended up seeing a group of musicians that were playing. Island music, two steel drum players and a keyboardist. Wandered off for a while since they were taking a long break between sets (after I dropped my last $5 in the tip jar... I have a soft spot for live music). Drifted away, and wandered back that way a few minutes later, as I'd heard strains of Margaritaville. Stuck around for that, and ultimately searched for some place to get dinner. Wandered more, and eventually ended up at the place right by the main entrance to the beach. Pricy, since it was intended mostly to cater to hotel guests, but very, very good food. Full bar, too. Had a nice light dinner of a grouper sandwich and a drink with strawberries and rum called a "Miami Vice". Both were amazing and scrumptious. Did more wandering around, looked at the boats at the marina, and generally saw the sights of downtown Clearwater. Amazingly beautiful view, and very very expensive apartments and condos. Wandered back to the car after a fair bit of time. Stopped off at an Albertsons on the way home to pick up some odds and ends for an after-dinner snack. Turns out that Albertsons sells Jones Soda, so I went a little crazy and bought a bunch of that, too (I haven't had the stuff in ages). Headed home, and watched some stuff, and hung out for a while.
Went back out to Clearwater the next day, planning to go out on the Pirate Cruise. We got there a bit early, and did some more wandering to kill time. Went in search of a yard sale for which we had seen a sign on the way in, but didn't have any luck finding it. I did however find out where CMA is in relation to me, which is cool. Looks like the reservations that were underway in January turned out really well. The place looks new and good now, not old and ragged. I'd have liked to go see Winter, but I know Noxy's a squeamish one, and we only had an hour or so to kill. I did however see a park named after Sunset Sam, which touched me more than I let on to Noxy. Headed back to the docks and boarded the pirate ship. Arrrr. All in all, it was a blast. And due to both of us having had next to nothing to eat all day, we ended up getting a really nice buzz going off of only a couple of drinks. Yay free booze. It's kind of hard to describe the atmosphere, but it plain rocked. The kids were kept entertained and out of the adults' hair, so we were free to just watch the sunset and chill. The taunting of other ships we passed on our way was priceless. Nothing quite so riotous as pirates bellowing "we're having more fun than you are!" over the PA. Well, until we were almost back. Then, we were boarded by the Coast Guard. Turned out to have been a routine safety inspection, but the people yelling "make them walk the plank!" and "board them!" really added to the authentic pirate atmosphere. Eventually, when all was said and done, we boarded my pirate ship and headed for Castaways, full speed ahead. Had an enjoyable (but as always there, pricy) dinner. Divine. Headed home, and Introduced my guest to the joy that is Lexx.
On the next day, we ventured to the mall to get the replacement laptop for Noxy, something he'd been meaning to do for a while now. Watched him blow almost his entire tax refund in one shot. Then I took him to a SuperTarget (since he'd never been to one). More wandering, and I bought a couple of small random things. After that, we went to go get some Papa John's pizza (enough money spent on food the past few days, in my reasoning). So, we go there, get the usual ten minute wait, so we killed time with a wander through the nearby neighborhood, and ducked into the liquor store next door. Pretty nice one, too. Ended up picking up a bottle of Skyy Spiced. Cinnamon and Clove spiced vodka? Intriguing. Actually got Nox to do a couple of shots with me. As it turns out, the Skyy was quite tasty, and one of the most smooth vodkas I've ever drank. Watched some random things while Nox played with his new toy for quite some time. Actually stayed up quite late helping him with some stuff, ultimately hitting the hay around 6AM or so.
Got up late, and did some major piracy. Arrr. Swapped about 130GB over gigabit ethernet. My new switch paid for itself for sure. Didn't have too long until it was time to take Nox to the airport. I wasn't exactly looking forward to seeing him go, I quite enjoyed the company. I ended up taking the scenic route home after almost being plowed into by some jackass in I-275. So it was an extra 30 or so miles, but the view from the causeway was very nice, so I'm not going to complain.
Work that next night was a bitch, though. Going back to that bullshit after having such an awesome relaxing time. Just... not fun, and I felt like crap.
Well, now I know that Clearwater is the beach to go to the next time I feel like going to one..
I think that's about it. If I missed anything, I trust Noxy to butt in and yell at me about it.