Robin cooked us a breakfast casserole. It had eggs, potatoes, cheese, and sausage. It was very good and there was enough so that everyone had their fill. Mark made arrangements to visit a local friend and go for a boat ride down the inter coastal waterway. He left shortly after breakfast and the rest of us decided to go to Broadway at the Beach and visit Ripley’s Aquarium.
The Aquarium was great. There were a lot of interactive exhibits. A whole section involved pirates and their activities, social structure, and history. There were a bunch of kids there and they were having a great time crawling over and through some of the exhibits. There is a pedestrian tunnel with a slowly moving motorized serpentine walkway that winds around under a very large aquarium. Fish and sharks swim over your head and all around you. It almost makes you feel that you are in the water with them.
After leaving the aquarium, we investigated some of the motorcycle displays around the parking area and common areas of the complex.
I was in regular contact with Jenn via cell phone. Their trip down was going well with good weather (except for it being a little cold in the morning) and good spirits. Will did not get on the road until a few hours after Jenn, Brad, and Nazim. It looked as if everyone would get here in time for a late dinner.
When Jenn and company were about an hour away, I left everyone at Broadway at the Beach and rode to the Wal-Mart near our resort where we had arranged to meet. I did a little last minute shopping for dinner and then waited outside for a short while until they arrived. We motored to the resort and then I got busy putting together a spaghetti dinner for the whole gang.
By about the time the sauce was complete and on to simmer, Will called and was at the entrance to the resort. I ran down, met him, and directed him to appropriate parking. Mark and Robin had acquired some mussels that they steamed for an appetizer. With everyone hungry and ready to fight for the food, we had no choice but to placate them with the mussels to buy enough time to make garlic bread, noodles, and get the spaghetti on the table. Everyone ate well.
After the movie, the obligatory trip to the hot tub got us relaxed and ready to turn in for the night…..except for Chez. He called and indicated that he was on his way here and would probably arrive around 2300hrs. Mark, Will, and I decided to stay up and make sure that he got here OK. Mark fell asleep on the couch, leaving Will and I to try and stay awake for Chez. We were attempting to stay awake by consuming more alcoholic beverages. When Chez finally called, Will and I went down to the entrance of the resort. There was a table, umbrella, and two chairs that security guards had been using all day to direct traffic and let folks know where to park motorcycle trailers and such. We were barefoot and in undershorts/pajamas and took command of the security guard station. It was between 2300hrs and 2400hrs and we decided that this was our new job. As people drove into the resort we made our best effort at looking official and waving people in. The real security guards didn’t come and chase us away, so we must have not been annoying people enough for them to complain. But, the power…….the power…….
Chez finally showed up and we got him up to the room. I heated some dinner for him and we fed him several beers to lessen the effects of the road trip. By 0130 Wednesday morning, I finally had to call it quits and go to bed. I later found out that Will and Chez stayed until about 0200.
Tomorrow morning Mark has an appointment to have his bike analyzed on a dynamometer in Merrill’s Inlet (just south of
What a great day! We sure are having fun.
