Pictures of where I'm from: Tallahassee and Northern Florida

I had to forget about Calvin's List during the holidays, but let's dig back into it. Even though this week's item calls for just one picture, I'm going to do better than that. Once I started looking up photos of Tallahassee and North Florida, I couldn't stop. I lived there from ages 5 to 21, so it'll always be my hometown even though it's been 20 years since I've been back.

Apologies to the many blogs and websites I boosted these images from. I'm on too tight a schedule today to attribute credits.



The state capital. The old one in front is pretty much just a tourist attraction now. When they built the new, 22-story one behind it, they didn't want to tear down the historical one. I always appreciated that dedication to history.

I interned as a page during one congressional session when I was in high school. I wish I could remember more details than the maroon suit I wore and how sore my feet were at the end of each day.



Florida State University. I actually went to high school on this campus in a research school they ran. What that meant was that we would occasionally get pulled out of class to participate in research projects that the university conducted (without having to make up the work). Projects could be anything from cognitive testing to volleyball skills to letting college students measure our body fat with plastic pincers.

Every day after school my younger siblings (it was a K-12 school) and I would walk across campus to our church building on the opposite side where my mom would pick us up after she finished work. I never went to college at FSU, but I had a lot of friends who did and I attended a lot of football games. Still a Seminole fan today. And our high school graduation was in the building you see in the picture.

Weeki Wachee Mermaids

I grew up in Florida and whenever we were near Orlando I used to see signs for Weeki Wachee Springs. We never went (not when the Mouse was so close by), but I've always wondered what the famous Weeki Wachee mermaid show was like.

And now I don't have to wonder any more.



Thanks, Black Mermaid!

South Florida: Days Two and Three

That title's a misnomer, because I'm really not going to tell you much about the last couple of days. Key West was Awesome yesterday with all it's pirates and seafood and tropical islandiness. I finished up Jane and the Man of the Cloth in Haiti and needed a new book to read, so I picked up Stephen King's Duma Key on the way down US-1. It's about a guy who moves from the Twin Cities down to the Florida Keys, so it seemed like an appropriate book to start on since my next Jane book is at home.

Today we went down to the Art Deco district of Miami Beach and that was Awesome too. We didn't see Mike Westen, but oh well. Must be because he got in the back of that truck at the end of last season. See? I shoulda been looking for him in the Keys.

I think everything else I want to say about the rest of this trip will best be told in pictures and I still need to organize those. If I don't post in the next few days, that's why. I'm letting you wait for the movie.

Haiti: Day Seven/South Florida: Day One

And we're home. I didn't realize how good that would feel until the very serious-looking customs officer said, "Welcome home, gentlemen." I wanted to hug him.

Seriously though, I'd go back to Haiti. I'd prefer to do it when there's not any unrest and I could visit some more of the country, but I'd even repeat this trip just to hang out with those kids some more. Saw a couple of sights from the air as we were taking off: the Presidential Palace; what I think may have been the Basilica of Notre Dame. But oh well. I had fried plantain and bought some Haitian vanilla to take home. And some wooden animal figures for my son. Next time will be better. If nothing else, this trip has renewed the travel itch for me. I need to get out more.

So now we're in a hotel in Miami. We got settled and didn't want to go back out again so we just ate in the hotel restaurant. Mainly because I could get a burger and fries there. The other nearby places where Chinese and Thai and as much as I like that food, I wanted something distinctly US after all the rice and black beans of the past week. I love rice and black beans, but I'm thankful to live in a place where you can get a variety of foods easily.

Speaking of which, tomorrow we're heading down to Key West where I intend to eat a lot of seafood and finish it off with a slice of Key Lime pie. I'll let you know how that goes.*

*Hint: Also Awesome.