Tales from Down South

In between the craziness of wrapping things up in North Carolina and beginning things in Boston, I decided to squeeze in a short vacation. Since my best friend Shelly is a Disney photographer and her boyfriend Zach and his family were gracious enough to offer me a place to stay with them, I hopped on a train to Florida.


I'd never taken the train before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised at how spacious the seats were and how smooth the ride was. In fact, the only unpleasant surprise came when I woke up at 1 am (after boarding the train at 9 pm and promptly falling asleep) to find that I was quite damp because of a leak in the roof directly above my seat.


I, Shelly, Zach, and Zach's family spent my first day here at the beach. It was the first time that I had been to the beach during the summer since I was in middle school and it was lovely. Right next to Cape Canaveral, the beach offered a delightful view of some of our nation's best technology (which was pretty cool just to look at). After playing in the waves, we (me, Shelly, and Zach) took turns burying each other in the sand in order to turn our legs into fins so that we could pretend to be mermaids (or a merman...to each his own--apparently we are six-year-olds at heart. Irregardless, it was great fun.


Yesterday Shelly took Zach and I to Disney World (one of the perks of having a best friend who works for Disney). We began the day at Epcot (where I happened to run into another friend of mine who also works for Disney--it was a delightful surprise). In addition to traveling the world, we also went on adventures to outer space (quite unpleasant) and the future (quite amusing).


We finished up the day at the Magic Kingdom so that Shelly could show us around Main Street (where she works). Zach was kind enough to indulge my and Shelly's desires to relive our childhoods through riding the flying Dumbos and the merry-go-round respectively. We also went to the Haunted Mansion, where I screamed like a scared little girl when a skull popped up at me. It was okay, though; Shelly held my hand.


Today was pretty chill--just some lounging by the pool and Food Network indulgence. Since I don't have a car here (and I didn't want to have to ask anyone to drive me to the grocery store--something about an independent/stubborn streak) I decided to grab my huge fabric bag and try the whole grocery shopping on foot thing after Shelly and Zach went to work. I really enjoyed it. The weather was gorgeous and it was only about a quarter of a mile walk--long enough to feel like I had accomplished something, but short enough that the bag didn't get too heavy. Ask me again how much I like it in the middle of a Boston blizzard.


In related news, I am currently wading through the truckload of Americorps info that arrived in my inbox this morning. It's a bit overwhelming, but it's also exciting--it makes the whole thing seem more real. It's hard to believe that I'll be in Boston a week from today. Until then I'm just going to lie in the pool and enjoy the warmth and sunlight. Rumor has it that both warmth and sunlight were banished from the north long, long ago. (Although I think that rumors may be propaganda spread by forces who are trying to keep me in North Carolina.)