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Vacation report
Mar. 12th, 2008 11:37 amWe spent March 5-10 in Florida visiting my parents. It was not as warm as we would have expected but it was nice and sunny so that was quite pleasant. My folks seem to be in good health, both mental and physical, and are very involved in a number of activities both in and out of their retirement community. They have been very active lately in getting an Episcopal church going in their local area. Their congregation has moved from a storefront to a small, former Baptist church building (the Baptist congregation is building a big new church down the road) which they are in the process of buying. We went with them to services on Sunday and were impressed by the vibrancy and multiracial quality of their community.
Thursday afternoon we visited a local quilt show. My mother hadn't entered any pieces but members of her guild had. We were very impressed by the high quality of many of the entries. I'm pleased Mom has gotten involved in this activity, it provides her with plenty of creative stimulation and fellowship.
Friday was Sea World day. They had gotten passes for us so we were able to breeze in but not before we had gone through a fingerprint scan. I had not run into that before and frankly we found it to be incredibly invasive and creepy. That said, we had a nice time. All the shows were very high quality, the food was good and the grounds were very nicely landscaped with tropical plants but the surroundings all were "faux". Faux rocks made to look old, faux Spanish style buildings again made to look old. I suppose it struck us both so much because we don't frequent theme parks or the like and we even mostly eschew malls. It made for a somewhat odd, unsettling experience.
We attended a flea market on Saturday and also drove around the local area. It struck us both how that region really is like a third world nation, one that in the past whose economy was agricultural and which now is being developed with no thought as to the environment. The natural landscape is that of dry sandy soil, pasture, orange groves and live oak trees (I saw some pretty magnificent ones). All these are being bulldozed to make way for retirement communities for affluent retirees. I am very torn. On the one hand I am delighted that my parents are really happy after having worked hard all their lives but on the other hand they live in a place (a gated community of affluent, primarily white people) that is diametrically opposed to what I believe in. Sigh.
Thursday afternoon we visited a local quilt show. My mother hadn't entered any pieces but members of her guild had. We were very impressed by the high quality of many of the entries. I'm pleased Mom has gotten involved in this activity, it provides her with plenty of creative stimulation and fellowship.
Friday was Sea World day. They had gotten passes for us so we were able to breeze in but not before we had gone through a fingerprint scan. I had not run into that before and frankly we found it to be incredibly invasive and creepy. That said, we had a nice time. All the shows were very high quality, the food was good and the grounds were very nicely landscaped with tropical plants but the surroundings all were "faux". Faux rocks made to look old, faux Spanish style buildings again made to look old. I suppose it struck us both so much because we don't frequent theme parks or the like and we even mostly eschew malls. It made for a somewhat odd, unsettling experience.
We attended a flea market on Saturday and also drove around the local area. It struck us both how that region really is like a third world nation, one that in the past whose economy was agricultural and which now is being developed with no thought as to the environment. The natural landscape is that of dry sandy soil, pasture, orange groves and live oak trees (I saw some pretty magnificent ones). All these are being bulldozed to make way for retirement communities for affluent retirees. I am very torn. On the one hand I am delighted that my parents are really happy after having worked hard all their lives but on the other hand they live in a place (a gated community of affluent, primarily white people) that is diametrically opposed to what I believe in. Sigh.
