Visited the " Stingray petting area " at SeaWorld during the 1st day of vacation in Florida
I didn't even know you could "pet" these creatures --but you can! A SeaWorld employee walked us through it. All she asked is that we not try to tough them in the face where their eyes were. Their " stinger " (as it turns out) is NOT their entire tail but rather a sharp thing at the base , of which Seaworld caretakers clip to avoid their patron's injury.
I took SOME pictures of this, but none came out very well. Still, watching the Stingrays in the pond I found them receptive to people. They actually lifted their side fin up over the berm and over the surface of the seawater as they glide by.
The Stingrays were comfortable in the boundary SeaWorld provided and had learned over time that those watching them posed no threats I guess. Even knowing the truth about these most foreign of creatures , I was still timid around them , though eventually I worked up the courage to "pet" one .
SeaWorld's best ride was the "Manta", which was a fast-moving rollercoaster with Stingray accents, where the riders is upside-down for most of the ride. Overall though, SeaWorld has like only five rides: The Kraken (pretty good rollercoaster), the penguin rollercoaster (mostly a disappointment), and the exploring Atlantis ride (which was really lame), I think there was a fifth, I just can't remember.
SeaWorld has an excellent sea lion show, and seeing what trained dolphins can do is something that everyone should see in their lifetime at least once.
It costs $35 bucks to park at SeaWorld, $65 if you go premium. Costs like these were a prelude of what was to come throughout the trip. Like parking $31 bucks for a six hour window only at Key West!
Early in the vacation the theme and application of "boundaries" weighed heavy on my heart and mind. A couple weeks earlier I had an incident with my brother's youngest son's cat Shy-shy (no shit, that what he named it). I though I was getting along very well with this cat, then one day lifted up up on the pedestal of my hand, and the cat go scared and scratched me. So much for trust! But after seeing animals at SeaWorld, then other others that came along the way later, I leaned boundaries and respect of animals is something you need to have even with animals in captivity. No matter how "friendly" you think an animal could be towards you, they can act out. I saw this at the Everglades Gator places. The keeper was showing off how he could pin an adult alligator beak to his throat at one point. Yet, later when fed a group of alligators, they had no qualms with snapping at him when teased them with meat.
Animals have their place, people have theirs, and when you attempt to coexist on the same plane be respectful of boundaries and what the animal could do--even if beforehand you though your had good report with them. Even domesticated animals can't be trusted throughly by humans. I've learned that lesson with the household cat, and backed that by what I saw on this trip.
After SeaWorld, mom and I spent a couple days exploring the region around Titusville, but never actually went through the town. At the Canaveral National Reserve we saw a most amazing sight: box turtles on the side of the road running as fast as they could eating grass as they ran. They i did this in 90 degree heat on coast where unless you were in the water, you as human being were in AC.
Getting off the highway, off a concrete walkway me and mom watched dolphins in the wild swimming around. I tired my best to film them , but the results were bad. Still, seeing them pass me by a two feet way was a real thrill.

I rented a Ford Mustang Convertible: a.k.a. the Mad Max special; to get us around. And my mom made sure the AC was cranked full blast for almost all of our trip. To God's credit He gave us great weather for our central-to-south Florida vacation. While swimming in the ocean I praised Him for the blessing that the ocean is.
Mom didn't do well at Universal Studios, Florida. Me, it took me a while by by about 4 p.m. I was ready to RUN from ride to ride. The Transformer Ride was done very well: a combo of rollercoaster and video action where the Transformers fight each other. The Simpson's ride fused the same elements and was likewise very good. The Hollywood Rocket Rollercoaster lets you "pick a song" to listen to, then an action-packed ride commences. I was pleasantly surprised by how good that ride was, though in riding it I though the song selection was a novelty--it's not. My song ended up being "Waterloo" by Abba.
I did go to a couple "shows" while at Universal Studios, their horror make-up, and and an Imagination production that Sweat Pea kinda liked.
For all the money they pour into Universal Studios there is still a lot of room for improvement. The Tonight Show Staring Jimmy Fallon exhibit looks like a ride, but it's really just old memorabelia from that show's run; you walk through it and it's really lame. Likewise at Steven Speilberg endorsement doesn't even come close to saving the VERY LAME "ET" ride. The Fast and Furious ride was a missfire. The Minions Villains was a moving floor where you try to zap targets, the Men in Black ride lets you ride a tilt-a-wurls while zapping alien target with a guy. None of those rides impressed me.
THIS is what a loving mother looks like: she HATED Universal Studios, is even more opposed to Disney
By 4 o'clock my 76-year-old mom had enough of the heat and retreated back to the Mustang to run the A/C. Thank you Jesus she made it there! I really wanted to go on more rides and acted against my better judgement letting her make the 1/2 mile track back to our car. YES, at Universal Studios the airport style parking garage can set up back a half mile from the actual park you want to go to.
After Universal we toured the Florida's Atlantic Coast starting in Vero Beach going south. Every place we parked by the beach was a pay spot. Found all of the beaches had orange seaweed in them. Still, God never disappointed: EVERY ocean swim I took totally relaxed me. The longest swim I took in ocean was probably 45 minutes. During which time I burnt my shoulders. Still, it was worth it! I love swimming in the ocean.
While in Vero Beach mom had us meet up with some very old acquaintances from our past: Joe and Michelle Litton. My first encounter with them came in mid-1980s. Joe was a missionary and Michelle was his committed fiancee. Joe always had a heart for the mission of Christ. At one point he councilled me against attempting to start a Christian Dance Ministry in the 1990s and early 2000s. Other that that I had very limited exposure to them during the early stages of my Christianity in the early 1990s. They were just frequented the first church I attended as a born-again believer. Those two went on to serve in wore-torn Albania. A few years ago from a parishioner who liked him Joe got a plane, and at one point had a pilot's license from his contacts he made in Florida. When a pastorship opportunity opened up in Vero Beach, he accepted it and sold that plane. He and his wife headline a church in Vero Beach, and have for the past five years.
This is what God's faithfulness looks like Florida style
Who says God doesn't reward missionaries--in THIS life! Anyway, seeing God's favor on them, and His hand on their journey does my heart well. God is good!
While exploring south of Vero Beach me and my mom came up on pond just outside the ocean nearing dusk. We watched a box turtle swim in it, and heard a grunt akin to a duck sound, "Wonnk" coming from four spots in different areas of the pond. My mom speculated these were alligators signaling each other. I tried to verify that, but alas the dense mangroves concealed the noise-makers identity.
Boca Raton was ritzy, with great restaurants galore. Pompano Beach was the last place on the Atlantic coast we swam. It had almost no seaweed. After that barthrooms on the beach stopped existing, and then the Condo's came. Ft. Lauderdale had nice beaches but limited access--unless you were in a condo. We did drive through Hollywood, Florida; but never made it to Miami. I wanted to see it, my mother did not.
On the Keys...
While staying at a hotel for the night at Key Largo my mom and I watched large Iguannas go up and down the mangroves. My mom speculated that was done in attempt to avoid alligators. I was on in the bay at sunset and was ejoyed the Lord's beauty in nature there. While looking for crocks in the neighboring mangrove canal I get bitten up by mosquitos. I also got bit up trying to see the local fauna at a game perserve. When I woke up the next morning I had a mild case of pink eye in my right eye.
Upon arriving at Key West, knowing we only had about 12 hours to explore the place, I settled on Sunset Watersports. And, boy oh buy am I ever glad the Lord brought us there. The receptionist talked my mom into doing parasailing. My mom also agreed to a snorkeling expedition. I signed up for an hour and half of jet skis, which was probably the most fun I had on the entire trip.
To my mom's credit, she did go up and parasail. We went with two other couples and I voluntered us to go first. We started on a boat deck and ended on the same boatdeck. Time up above the teal water wasn't too long. And they winched us down. Memories for life. My seventy-six-year old mom had one last hurrah that she can look back at with pride.
Follow the lead, follow middle of the lead jetski's wake -- and gun the throttle most of the time!
The jetski trip was from 9:30 - 11:00 a.m. and entrailed going around the main island of Key West. During this follow-the-leader ride I didn't see any wildlife, but at times riding the jetski was like riding a bucking bronco. I love it! Would do it again in heartbeat. There we two short breaks in the trip at which time I made sure to jump in the water. Found re-boarding the jetski was EASY. So I learned alot.
The snorkling trip was way better than I thought it would be. They takes you out in party boat to a neighboring coral reef. I had never snorkled before, but after putzing abound with it, got the hang of it, and was able to take extended sessions looking at what was in the sea.
Not a lot of life in coral reefs I checked up. They had some plant fauna on them and some fish, but was nothing overwhelming. About five minutes before the session at sea ended I did spot a sea turtle following the bottom of the ocean. He was mid-sized and eventually outswam me. On the ride back to the marina our party boat passed a pod of dolphins swimming in tandem.
After Key West me and mom checked out the Everglades National Park. We even drove to "Flamingo" thinking that would have some good shots of the keys off the distance. Found a lot of mosquitos in Flamingo. Did see a couple alligators in a watery canal, but for the most part the Everglades was a big disappointment; and I know I'll never purposely go back there again.
On the return trip home we traveled a very deserted Interstate 41. Saw warning signs for panthers but none for alligators. Lot of Floridians like to fish in the canals, closer to Miami I did see a few mom-and-pops airboat services that I would have like to try instead of the one we too at an alligator farm right off the keys.
Thank you Jesus I never hit anything, nor got hit by anybody on our two-week trip. My mom did put a few minor paint scratches on her door, but the night before we flew back to Blountville I applied some touch-up paint to make them go away. I also vaccumed it out, and put leather protector on the interior figuring that after two weeks on the road I was set for a through car check at the Enterprise return center. Didn't happen. I even asked if the guy wanted to check the fuel level--he didn't saying the company had the car's computer linked so my progress and stops were being monitored.
Writing wise I did get some editing in on the 2nd novel, and did an initial breakdown of the first four scenes of the 2nd script adaptation. Some progress, not alot. In being home two and half days now, I did reconnect with the drawer in the U.K. and got some preliminaries back from him. More to come on that in later posts.

Two weeks of THIS -- (in a couple days comes the credit card bill... yikes!)
Sorry for not posting in over a month. I'll try to be more frequent poster in the weeks to come. I've got pink eye, a fever, and a sore throat. Got some medicine from a doctor in Kingsport, but I'm not over this yet. Fever got as high as 101. Last night it was 99 degrees... Hopefully I wont have to ask for a third day off, when I do a self-evaluation at 1:30 / 2:00.
The vacation itself was a blast, but very expensive. It's going to take some time to rebuild my finances. I basically threw this vacation together in about a week's time after my mom's heart evaluation came up clear with no worrysome flags.
I turn 56 on Tuesday, so there's that. I'll try to get out another post before that.
I like showing people the beaches, Lord!
The place I work isn't doing very well financially so I may hafta start looking for additional work.
My brother and his son really want to do a "road trip" to Pittsburgh to see the Seahawks play the Steelers in Week two of the regular season. That plus playing another season of U-tube NFL package are my goals now. Don't know if I'll get there given my shaky work situation... NE Tennessee isn't a high thriving area. There aren't a lot of good paying jobs to be had here. Still, my younger brother loves the place. Should my mom pass away I'm very tempted to leave NE Tennessee behind and go somewhere else.
Sincerely,
E.C. Henry
P.S. Didn't get a lot a great pictures on this trip. I took SOME with my smartphone, I don't think my mom took any. In a week or so I'll do a sidebar with more pics.