10/31/2009

Turning Toward Home

Today we waited for weather to clear at Melbourne and then made a dash to the northwest trying to reach the front edge of a slow moving storm front so it would pass us overnight. To get around a rainy patch we went due west for a while and ended up passing not far south of Disney World.


Even with the distance and haze, we recognized two of the four massive areas in the complex.


Turning northwest toward the panhandle, we saw smoke stacks in the hazy afternoon sun in a somewhat developed part of the otherwise mostly wilderness Gulf coast.


Sundown approached as we drew near Tallahassee, so we decided to stop here rather than press on to the corner of AL. As with so many impromptu choices on this trip, it was enchanted. Little did we suspect that tonight is a Big Deal related to team homecoming. Several blocks of the downtown (serendipitously right outside the hotel where we got a good rate) are given over to a festival. At one end a bandstand with cheerleaders and other performing to loud music. An inflated trampoline with Spiderman "dancing" from the kids bouncing inside seemed to keep the beat.


At the other end a bandstand with live rock performers.


In between kids of all ages, food, crafts, face painting and general merriment.



What a great start to our return journey! Tomorrow we might reach New Orleans in time for Halloween. Will we be swept up in some celebrations there? If you know anything about this, please post a Comment!

3 comments:

Amanda said...

Hi John & Anne,

On behalf of the Doubletree Tallahassee, thank you for staying at our hotel! Your pictures are beautiful. We wish you a safe and happy journey with many wonderful experiences and memories.

Most sincerely,

Doubletree Family (Mark, Amanda, Carter, Michelle....)

John said...

Hey thanks back at y'all for adding so much to our taste of Tallahassee! This morning's tip about the outdoor marketplace in the park added greatly to our fun, and I can hardly wait to post some pix of that. All the best -j&a

Nancy said...

Hey! How fun to hear from people in Tallahassee!

Don't you just love it when you run across some kind of celebration without expecting it? I love these photos of all the happy people.

It reminds me of another fond memory, when last summer Donaldo and I were driving through the hills of Utah and came across a hand-painted sandwich board sign saying the rodeo is tonight! We stopped at the little rodeo and it was all locals from the surrounding area. It was their big event of the year and everyone was so excited.

I think things like this are even more fun because they are a surprise!