If it seems like forever since I’ve put up a new blog, that’s ‘cause it has been. Things’ve been utterly crazy around here on a number of fronts, (primarily the filmmaking front with The Bunker and Inside the Bunker, the Making of… documentary), but though it’s late and Pam and I just got back in from checking out two local bands, figured I’d blast this one out.
Two weeks ago was our 23rd wedding anniversary. Wait…6 years? Oh, that’s right. Just feels like 23. (Okay, okay, just kidding. I may be sleeping on the couch tomorrow night for *that* one.) Anyway, Pam and I hadn’t done anything in a while, so we just packed up our stuff, dropped the mutt off at my parents’, and headed outa town. No particular destination, just…North. Eventually, we tracked East, hit Orlando, and skipped Universal and Disney (we’ve done both before a couple of times), in favor of checking out a lot of the other things. Old Town, The Fun Spot, some of the smaller attractions, Universal Walk (which has restaurants, clubs, bars, etc.), that sorta thing. Had a blast, and I’ll be posting some video from the trip sometime later this week. Did the country’s biggest slingshot ride (very cool), Pam raced on a number of nutty Go Kart tracks (including one with a wipeout turn which was constantly soaked with water), spent an interesting night in a guerrilla-comic-con-flashback sleep-cheap, and ate enough to make me think twice about doing it again any time soon. Only thing we were thinking about doing and didn’t was water-skiing. (And trust me, if I get on water skis, that will *definitely* warrant it’s own video upload).
So, we bummed around aimlessly in Orlando for four days, hit the Bob Marley restaurant, hit Ponderosa (which became a fave of ours and poet Alex Ness when we did MegaCon together last summer), and eventualy wound up in Ybor City, checking out where the Castle is (the top goth spot in FL), and, a place we didn’t wait around for to open, but which you can see already has a special spot in my heart.
On the way home, I was not to be denied. The last couple of times Pam and I have been up North, usually in Tampa, I’ve missed out on hitting a Krystal Burger. Now, for those of you not in the know, Krystal is pretty much the South’s version of White Castle. Since there isn’t a White Castle within a thousand miles or so (that may be an exaggeration, but I don’t believe there’s one in FL or GA), Krystal is a must-stop type of establishment. Well, okay, not for Pam, but she didn’t grow up in Valley Stream, with a Castle right in Lynbrook, where on any given weekend, me and my buddies would all wind up sometime between three and five in the morning, after hitting McQuades, or the Dublin, or coming back from midnight hockey, or an Islanders game, or… You get the picture. White Castle. Murderburgers. Sliders. Belly bombers. Call ‘em what you will, but I’ve always loved the things and you just can’t get them down here.
But you can get Krystal, and despite the nearest one being about an hour and forty minutes away, I don’t get there as often as I’d like. So, en route home, we diverted just South of Tampa, and hit the home of little square, paper-thin, practically meatless hamburgers. Even brought a dozen home for my mom, who also likes White Castle. Occasionally, she gets a package of the frozen ones from Publix that you gotta microwave. Now, trust me. There’s not much you can do to lessen the quality of a White Castle burger. But microwaving frozen ones…? Even I have *some* standards.
So, we made the pilgrimmage to Krystal, brought back a still-warm sack as payment for the dog-sitting, and staggered on home after an exhausting four days. We also thought about Adventure Island in Tampa, the huge water park across from Busch Gardens, and we might check that out next month. Do a quick overnight, grab a cheap room at the hotel we stayed when The Bunker screened up there in ’07, and make a day of it. It’s less than two hours, so going up and coming back doesn’t create impossible hassles with Pam’s internet biz.
Here’s some pics, video to come, and a whole lot more to update you on regarding The Bunker and the docu. Check in over the next couple of days, things’re definitely heating up with the flick.
Oh, and for those who’ve been waiting, the Every day you haven’t written is a day you’ve written off… tees are back in stock. Here’s a coupon code you can use to get a couple bucks off.
Enter code: WRITETEE
‘Til next time…
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Currently listening to: Hollow by Drowning Season
