Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Our Star-Spangled Guys and Dolls Disney Summer

We left our South Carolina friends in early June and travelled south. We spent another nice night at the submarine base in King's Bay, GA where we had stayed one time before. A great military campground and an easy one day's drive on to Stacey's home in Hernando, FL.

We arrived in time to be added to the local Art Center's cast of "Guys and Dolls." This time Roger was "Society Max" and "Margarita" was a doll at a Havana night club. We also played the roles of two tourists from Texas (easy for us!) We rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed....leaving us pretty well "used up" by day's end! But it was worth all the effort. The show was a popular success and we had loads of fun. Here's Darren ("Nicely Nicely") singing "Sit down you're rockin' the boat!" We had a cast party after the final matinee, where cast members each received awards for their accomplishments. Meg's was for "Best Substitute Hooker" and Rog's for "Best Characterization."

Roger entertained the rest of the cast with his mysterious feats of magic.

The cast members enjoyed each others' company so much we had a couple of impromptu parties at a local restaurant as well.



Florida visits are never complete without a trip to Mouseland and we spent several days at Typhoon Lagoon, Disney Quest, Blizzard Beach and Animal Kingdom. We shared the fun with Darren's parents, Lynn and Darry Griffis. Darren's back really started hurting; good thing Meg is a physical therapist. The military and Disney provided me with complimentary and discounted family tickets in appreciation of my service. A neat blessing! Very popular are the "can't miss" shows: "Finding Nemo" and "The Lion King" While in Orlando the kids treated Meg and Roger to a birthday dinner at the local Ethiopian restaurant. It's one of our favorite foods and the hostess provided us with cake and coffee.

We've made some wonderful friends in Hernando, FL and, along with Stacey and Darren, we hosted a "murder mystery" party. This fun evening was spent questioning suspects and accusing one another, until we finally figured out "who dunnit." . Darren won the Sherlock award for the best solution to the crimeAll the time our intrepid sleuths kept up their strength with wonderful fondue dishes topped with chocolate fondue for dessert. Wow!!

One final entry: Florida boasts a beautiful large spider, the Golden Web spider, so-named for the golden threads she weaves into her web. This large, but harmless, weaver had her web right outside Stacey's home.
So you see, Florida is not all manatees, dolphins and giant mice! Wish you were here!