The Great Florida Trip of 2012- Last Stop Jacksonville
I was up early on Sunday morning. I loaded the car and said my goodbyes to my sister, her boyfriend and their two little dogs. It was hard to say goodbye after an outstanding week of great weather and good company. I headed off to Kissimmee, a three hour trek north through the many strip mall towns of Florida. Actually, there are a few towns and cities with some history and character, not all are contrived.
In Kissimmee I was to meet up with my tennis coach for one last lesson before venturing further north. After two hours on the court, a quick change of clothes, I was back in the car for another three hour drive, destination Jacksonville.
The plan was simple, stop in Jacksonville, do a comedy show in a coffee house that night and leave for home the next morning. It was set up by Brian Foley, a fellow comedian I met back in Boston a couple of years ago. He moved down to Florida to teach law.
I've never been to Jacksonville, just passed through it a couple of times. Once, years ago, when I moved to Florida briefly and the second time just three weeks ago. Luckily, it was Sunday so there wasn't a lot of traffic, a good thing for a first time driver visiting a new city. I noticed a modern architecture combined with an old Southern charm vibe to the buildings and houses. There was definitely a new part of town and an old part as well. It was cool. I like to get a vibe from a new place based on the character of the houses in a particular neighborhood. At a traffic light I observed three zombies walking in the middle of the road. I'm kidding, they weren't real zombies, just crack addicts taking a walk in the middle of the street. After all, it was a very pleasant afternoon.
The next thing I saw was a drug deal. I've seen enough crime shows to know what a heroin transaction looks like. Gulp. Memories of Hardeeville, SC., and all of the bad hotels I had stayed in previously came flooding back. Is it happening again?! I tried to think good thoughts.
As I turned onto the street of my destination I noticed another troubling sight, bars on all the windows of every house. I won't lie, I wanted to keep driving but I thought, this can't be too bad, there's a sweet old black woman sitting outside her house. That comforted me in some way. Brian's wife answered the door a pleasant, petite woman and told me he was dealing with a crisis. Apparently, they were having some work done and the guys doing it knocked out part of the power throughout the house. Her name is Marylin. At first, I thought she said Maryland, which I thought was an odd name for someone but I quickly came to my senses and figured it out. Her warm smile made me feel welcomed.
Brian came hustling in, said hello, shook my hand, apologized and sped off to assist the workers with the crisis. He looked the same as the last time I saw him a couple of years ago.
After several minutes, he came back. I was still feeling a little uneasy with the neighborhood and voiced my concern. Their reaction calmed me. They laughed. Okay, I thought and that reassured me. Also, I could park my car in the back and off the street, yippee.
Brian's a comedian/author/lawyer and Marylin's a philosophy professor. In fact, check out Brian's book right here. It has a great title. I don't know how he got any work done with an office like this.
He's guaranteed me that if I post a picture of his messy office, he'll be inspired to clean it and send me the after photo.
This last night of the Florida trip was great. Next, we went out to dinner and I got the best steak I've ever eaten. We had wine with our food and I felt forever sophisticated.
The show at the coffee house was spectacular. A great way to end the trip. The crowd was especially grateful as well. The jumped for joy.
Then made some rather silly faces.
As I lay in bed that night, thinking of the night's events and all the nice people I had met, I thought maybe I read everything wrong. The neighborhood, as rough as it looked had charm to it, I mean, after awhile you didn't notice the iron bars at all. It was peaceful and quiet. Who knows, maybe the gentleman I saw selling drugs was just a popular fellow. Maybe, he knew the person in the passenger seat and was just shaking hands with him. And those crack heads, well, they were definitely crack heads.
Most importantly, Brian says, "Come back real soon!"
In Kissimmee I was to meet up with my tennis coach for one last lesson before venturing further north. After two hours on the court, a quick change of clothes, I was back in the car for another three hour drive, destination Jacksonville.
The plan was simple, stop in Jacksonville, do a comedy show in a coffee house that night and leave for home the next morning. It was set up by Brian Foley, a fellow comedian I met back in Boston a couple of years ago. He moved down to Florida to teach law.
I've never been to Jacksonville, just passed through it a couple of times. Once, years ago, when I moved to Florida briefly and the second time just three weeks ago. Luckily, it was Sunday so there wasn't a lot of traffic, a good thing for a first time driver visiting a new city. I noticed a modern architecture combined with an old Southern charm vibe to the buildings and houses. There was definitely a new part of town and an old part as well. It was cool. I like to get a vibe from a new place based on the character of the houses in a particular neighborhood. At a traffic light I observed three zombies walking in the middle of the road. I'm kidding, they weren't real zombies, just crack addicts taking a walk in the middle of the street. After all, it was a very pleasant afternoon.
The next thing I saw was a drug deal. I've seen enough crime shows to know what a heroin transaction looks like. Gulp. Memories of Hardeeville, SC., and all of the bad hotels I had stayed in previously came flooding back. Is it happening again?! I tried to think good thoughts.
As I turned onto the street of my destination I noticed another troubling sight, bars on all the windows of every house. I won't lie, I wanted to keep driving but I thought, this can't be too bad, there's a sweet old black woman sitting outside her house. That comforted me in some way. Brian's wife answered the door a pleasant, petite woman and told me he was dealing with a crisis. Apparently, they were having some work done and the guys doing it knocked out part of the power throughout the house. Her name is Marylin. At first, I thought she said Maryland, which I thought was an odd name for someone but I quickly came to my senses and figured it out. Her warm smile made me feel welcomed.
Brian came hustling in, said hello, shook my hand, apologized and sped off to assist the workers with the crisis. He looked the same as the last time I saw him a couple of years ago.
After several minutes, he came back. I was still feeling a little uneasy with the neighborhood and voiced my concern. Their reaction calmed me. They laughed. Okay, I thought and that reassured me. Also, I could park my car in the back and off the street, yippee.
Brian's a comedian/author/lawyer and Marylin's a philosophy professor. In fact, check out Brian's book right here. It has a great title. I don't know how he got any work done with an office like this.
He's guaranteed me that if I post a picture of his messy office, he'll be inspired to clean it and send me the after photo.
This last night of the Florida trip was great. Next, we went out to dinner and I got the best steak I've ever eaten. We had wine with our food and I felt forever sophisticated.
The show at the coffee house was spectacular. A great way to end the trip. The crowd was especially grateful as well. The jumped for joy.
Then made some rather silly faces.
As I lay in bed that night, thinking of the night's events and all the nice people I had met, I thought maybe I read everything wrong. The neighborhood, as rough as it looked had charm to it, I mean, after awhile you didn't notice the iron bars at all. It was peaceful and quiet. Who knows, maybe the gentleman I saw selling drugs was just a popular fellow. Maybe, he knew the person in the passenger seat and was just shaking hands with him. And those crack heads, well, they were definitely crack heads.
Most importantly, Brian says, "Come back real soon!"
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