I had been telling my husband for years about my brief time in Florida during Junior High and my Freshman Year of High School and all the places I had been during our time in Dade County.
We had flown into Orlando a few times over the years to attend the theme parks but never ventured southward to Miami where I had once lived.
Our last trip in our beloved Sprocket would see us traveling all the way to Key West.
We were packed and ready to go when one week prior to departure, we were faced with a dilemma.
A new Slim Chicken Restaurant opened near our home and we decided to give it a try. It was very busy, so much so, attendants were outside in the drive through taking advanced orders.
It took a good while to get through. On our way out, behind a string of cars, I noticed something on the drive connecting to the street. For all intensive purposes, it looked like one of those puffy things people put on their key chains. A car drove over it, straddling the small gray puff.
It moved.....
I leaped out of the car and ran up to it. It was a kitten, days old, eyes closed. I scooped it up and quickly looked around. No mama cat. No other babies. Poor thing was hyperventilating from being on the hot sidewalk. I had not seen it going in so, it could not have been there long. There were tree crews behind the restaurant and we figured they must have startled the mother and when she ran with the kitten to the street, must have panicked and dropped the little thing.
Off to Petsmart we went to find a nurser and formula. Poor thing was covered in fleas so I combed him out and fed him. He was hungry!
I have raised countless baby birds, a possum, and another kitten. He slept in my night table with a hot pack for warmth.
Then it dawned on us......
We were going on vacation! Well, we would just have to take the kitten with us. After all, they sleep a lot when they're little. How difficult could it be?
We named him Slim Chicken Parking Lot, Slim for short.
So, with the trailer packed and Lucy ( my Chihuahua ) and Slim in tow, we were off to the most southern point in the Continental U.S.
Our first stop was Dauphin Island, AL which had a nice little campground and one huge bridge to get there!
The next day we toured Bellingrath Gardens. We love gardens. It was a beautiful day and we even enjoyed the soup in the restaurant.
The next stop was Panama City Beach where we should have stayed in the state park but lodged at a campground in town....... during a Harley Davidson Motorcycle Rally! The small campground was packed to the rafters and was unfortunately located by the bars and smack dab on the main drag. We pulled in and hooked up and my first question was, "Where are the ear plugs?" They were of minimal help as the vibration from the bikes could not be quashed.
The next day brought the longest leg of a long journey made longer by a tragic wreck on the freeway that had traffic backed up for miles. We arrived at the Fort Wilderness Campground at Disney World way after dark. It was very near to Halloween and the park attendees were decorated to the hilt. Not to be outdone, we arrived prepared.
I cannot say enough good things about the Fort Wilderness Campground. Lots of elbow room, nice paved sites, full hookups, spotless restrooms, great transportation. So very, very nice. The online reservation system had been a challenge but well worth the effort. Even the man who checked us in was friendly and bore a striking resemblance to Judy Garland!
The days at Disney were wonderful! We took a break half way through each day to come back and feed Slim Chicken and walk Lucy. The weather was perfect.
We departed Orlando and headed directly south to Key West arriving after dark to Boyd's End of the Road Campground. Ours was a waterfront spot and the whole property was tightly packed.
Little did we know, we had arrived on what was called "Fantasy Weekend" Now, I'm no prude and the human body does not offend me, naked human body, that is. And that's just what it was.
We awoke to people reading themselves for the festivities. Body paint does not clothing make. Especially, on bodies that require gallons instead of cups.
Why is it that people that have no issue with being nude are the people who have bodies no one wants to see?
This is what we woke up to.....
So we left.
Into town we went. We toured the Hemmingway House. We took the glass bottom boat tour. And we towed the trailer to the buoy that marks the southern most point in the U.S.
We did some antiquing and looked at houses. It was amusing to see chickens running around everywhere. We ate at an open air restaurant and if it were not for the fan we were directly in front of, we would have passed out from heat stroke.
For what we saw of Key West, they can keep it. The downtown with it's seedy bars and tourist traps, not to mention sky high parking prices, and dubious looking transients did nothing to bolster our opinion. Take my advice, stop at Cedar Key, unless you're into that sort of thing.
Heading north was a relief from the heat. We were staying near Coral Gables in a Snow Bird RV Resort on the outskirts of town. We arrived tired and very much enjoyed our dip in the round swimming pool and playing Put Put by moonlight. I caught up on the laundry.
When I had lived near there, it was in Coast Guard housing, and it was way out in the country in the middle of tomato fields very near to a WWII airfield. This was 40 years ago! My parents belonged to a bowling league that was at Don Carter Kendall Lanes. It was brand new at the time and quite the plush place. I remember doing my Algebra homework on Thursday nights to sounds of exploding pins. I would ice skate at the old Polar Palace, too, both are now gone.
We had a time finding the old housing complex but it was still there but sold to the city and was now an apartment complex. The old Coast Guard anchor was still out front. We drove in and found the townhouse we had lived in. It all looked smaller, in the way things from your childhood do, seeing it through adult eyes.
The next day we were off to explore The Everglades National Park, another childhood memory I had shared with Dave. We were excited but as the day went on, the excitement dwindled. The park looked tired, old and not well maintained. Again, I saw it 40 years ago but I have an excellent memory. By the time we arrived in Flamingo at the end of the road, all my reservations had been confirmed. The wonderful old CCC lodge was gone. The pink interpretive center and restaurant were closed. I found my way to the park office all the while smelling mold and mud. The officer came out and I ask the burgeoning question, "What happened to the park? It seemed so much nicer 40 years ago." The man paused with squinting eyes, "Well, there were two hurricanes. The first one took out the old lodge and the second filled this building with mud after blowing out all the windows." I asked," Why wasn't the lodge rebuilt?"
He very quickly replied, "No money. Call your congressman."
Point made.
We headed out of Miami the next day along the Tamiami Trail. I had remembered many camping trips along the canals and pulling lunker bass and tarpon from them. We stopped when I found our favorite old spot from 40 years ago. Again, it seemed smaller than I had remembered it as a teenager.
We drove down "Alligator Alley" on our way to St. Petersburg staying at another campground designed for Snow Birds. The next day, we went to Busch Gardens. We had a wonderful time and saw the ice show twice!
Little Slim was doing great!
We had a lovely dinner with our friends Chuck and Pat whom we had met at the Tybee Rally. It's great the friends you make at these events!
Slim enjoyed riding in my lap the whole way. Florida is full of toll roads. We pulled up to one pay gate and the white haired man in the booth saw our trailer and said, " Well now! I believe that little honey deserves a free pass!" Grinning from ear to ear, he let us through, no charge.
Poor little Slim had developed diarrhea from the formula. We stopped several times on the way back. The kitty would sleep, blow up and squirt, then nurse and sleep again. His little claws were razor sharp even though I had trimmed them. Dave earned Sainthood holding little Slim as he clawed and scratched because his little bottom must have been on fire only for the liquid kitty poop to get into the scratches on Dave's hands and wrists. Burned like hot lava which initiated a road side sterilization process involving peroxide and rubbing alcohol. Bless him, the things we go through for our fur babies!
There was one more stop in the Florida Panhandle at an interstate RV park and then home.
We had a fun and safe trip. It was early November and by the first week of January, Sprocket would be gone. We had a lot of fun with this little trailer and created a ton of memories. We learned a great deal and we now laugh at the mishaps during those two years.
We were ready for the renovation of our 1954 Boles Aero. Our dreams and vision for it were in place and we began the process with high hopes.......
