Florida

Traditionally (at least when there's been enough of the white stuff) I've made a snowman during the Christmas holidays. Not having any snow whatsoever this year, I resorted to making a Sand-man instead. Do you like him?

We enjoyed the sunshine (we were far enough west and south of where we live to gain an extra hour of daylight each day) and the sand of course. The water wasn't warm, but frankly, it was about the same temp as the ocean is up here in New England during the summer, so we went in anyway!

We also watched a dance group - Urban Dance - from New York, who performed on the beach on Friday night, which was a nice treat ('specially since it was free).


While we were in Florida, we attended a game of Jai Alai, which was very interesting to watch. The game originated in the Basque region of Spain and France and is a strange mixture of fast and slow paces. Watching it reminded me a bit of tennis, but also a bit of squash, though the intensity and speed at which the ball is played is much more intense, and the cesta ("basket") used to propel the ball is unlike any other sports equipment I've ever seen. Apparently in the US, Florida is the only state that still has frontons (the arenas in which it is played) thought the sport used to be much more popular.

We explored a mangrove forest by canoe, but suffered for a few days after from lots of bug bites. Of course we didn't have bug spray with us - I remembered the sunscreen, but really wasn't thinking bugs at Christmas time... I've had tropical Christmases before, but even then, we didn't have much for bugs (other than cockroaches, and they don't bite... or at least, I've never been bit by one...) so it never occurred to me we might need bug spray. The preserve's webpage never mentioned them either. But who am I to complain? We saw some interesting wildlife, and it was a nice way to spend the day.

No, the girls didn't go surfing. We spent New Year's Day at the Universal Studios theme parks. I woke in the morning not feeling well, which disappointed me because I was looking forward to the day, but luckily as the day went on, I felt better and was able to enjoy. We spent the whole day there, then drove a few hours before stopping for a hotel at the beginning of our trip back. The consensus was that the Spiderman, T2, Twister, and Hulk rides were the best, with the live Fear Factor show getting honorable mention.

The weirdest part of the trip? Apparently Hollywood, FL is some kind of huge francophone magnet because every third car in the parking lot had Quebec plates and you heard almost as much French being spoken on the beach as you did English. You could buy Quebec and Canadian newspapers, Canadian cigarettes and Quebecois cuisine all up and down the boardwalk. I had to wash my beach towel when I got home because I spilt poutine on in the last day there - poutine on the beach! - can you imagine?