Camp Holly- Alligator Tour

We first decided to go to Camp Holly, for an Alligator Tour Boat ride. When we got there, we were a little skeptical- it was a broken down bar on a swamp encircled by run down trailers and out houses. Inside we found a group of old men (who we assumed were the ‘regulars’) drinking and smoking and a gruff looking bar tender. We found a man polishing his huge moose antlers, lots of alligator skin and trophy boar heads hanging on the walls and many funny signs. We had walked right into a Redneck Fishing Bar- it was awesome. Both of us couldn’t believe how ‘redneck’ it really was- but we were excited and eager to see what they could show us.





Our guide, Dan, took us on a swamp boat (with a HUGE fan propeller in a cage). We had to wear ear protection because the fan was so loud. It was really hard to spot the alligators- which we found out later was very unusual. It was November 2nd and the alligator hunting season had ended the day before- so there were almost no alligators left and those that had survived the hunt learned to hide from the boat. (They say that if you go before hunting season you will see 40 or 50 at a time). We probably only saw four total, but it was still cool. Our guide was a big, gruff, redneck man who talked and talked to us- he was really nice. And (we think because we talked to him a lot) he took us on an extra special ride (we think we were out longer then usual). He took us fast on the boat through the marshland- it was amazing. It looked like we were riding right trough a field but the weeds would push aside and the boat would go through. It was so much fun and well worth it- we really loved the opportunity.

Our Florida Adventure

This week end we were able to fly down to Florida to see the Markos Family (Ben’s sister Sarah and her family). They live in Melbourne, which is near Orlando. We flew in late Thursday night (and Sarah was nice enough to pick us up). Then Friday (October 2nd) morning we were able to start our true ‘Florida Adventure.’ Ben had been to Sarah and Doug’s house two years earlier, but this was Brea’s first time in Florida.
We were able to do so much with their family and we LOVED it. The kids are so much fun and we got to know them even better. Mer loves to read, and she and Brea read chapter books out loud in the back of the van when we went places. Max is a rascally little guy who loves to tease his siblings, but he has a big heart. Jack is talking a lot and loves to play with his Uncle Ben (and Aunt Beer- that’s what he calls Brea).
Florida has such different terrain then Brea thought. It was hot and humid, marshy, tropic and swampy. We went on a ‘nature walk’ on a short path through the natural forest. There were palm trees next to pine trees and long vines hanging everywhere. (We both decided it would be a perfect place for a horror movie- so much marsh and creaking noises everywhere). But it was so beautiful and so different.

Halloween in The Village

In New York City on Halloween Night there is a huge parade in ‘the Village’ (near Union Square) where there are some floats and a march of anyone who wants to can parade around in their costumes. We decided to go to this because everyone told us it was a very ‘New York Experience’- boy was it ever. We were packed in the streets (we were up front by the railings- but packed really tight) with about 3 million people (we learnt later). The parade was supposed to start at 7:00 but didn’t actually get going till after 8:00- but it was worth the wait (which we didn’t know at the time). There were crazy floats and even crazier costumes. I have decided that Halloween has become a time when men dress like women and women don’t dress at all- no one cares about scaring others anymore. There were MANY cross-dressers, very-mini skirts, uncomfortable looking high heals and Jason’s (the chainsaw massacre). There was a Gay and Lesbian section, a Circus float (I had to cover Ben’s eyes), a ‘We hate Bush’ section, ect. But there were also some cool and notable costumes- we saw a man in a trash can, a person getting eaten by a shark, the Ghost Busters (won 2nd place on the Today Show), Lego Heads and (Brea’s Personal Favorite) there was a huge group of people dressed up as Zombies who were dancing (in unison) to the Thriller by Michael Jackson (it was soo cool). There were also cool ‘float’ things, like huge skeleton things, flying things and such. There was defiantly a LOT to see.

It was mostly adults on the street (and we were up front) and Brea looked youngest out of all the adults we were huddled and jammed into, so she got picked on- A LOT. Dracula tried to bite her neck, she almost got chain sawed to death, scary people were always lurching after her, instead of candy she got condoms and shot glasses- it became the running joke with the people around us- that everyone picked on her (or gave her a condom- weird).
It was such a fun night- we saw a lot- both that we wanted and DIDN’T want to see (there was a whole group of people just wearing body paint- yuck!). We aren’t sure we would do it again- but it was defiantly a New York experience and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Our Halloween Costumes

For Halloween, Brea was a witch- she wore all black, black lipstick and wore a black hat. For Halloween, Jet Blue was having a costume contest so we had to work very hard on Ben’s costume. Because we did not have very many resources we had to pull out the ‘creativity card.’ Ben decided to be a MetroCard (the Subway/Bas passes). We got poster board and drew out and colored a huge Metro card on it, and Ben wore it over his shoulders. He won a prize for his creative costume on his floor- so we were really excited. His work even wanted to keep it- so they could use it for future things.

The Seinfeld Cafe

Ben LOVES the TV show Seinfeld and we watch it in the evenings together, when we are home. It takes place in New York and has many “New York-ish” jokes, that we are both starting to pick up more, now that we are living here. In the show they always eat at a diner- which we found today- so we took a picture. We didn’t end up eating at the diner, but we ate a couple blocks away at a FANTASTIC pizza place- probably one of the best we’ve had so far, and the pieces were bigger then usual…it was so good. We were both stuffed from only one piece of pizza each!! YUM!

Columbia University

We went up to the North West side of Manhattan today to check out Columbia University. It was beautiful- we were both very impressed by the architecture of all the buildings. We agreed that it would be VERY different from going to school at BYU-Idaho. Across the street from Columbia is a huge cathedral that is getting renovated. Today was the renovation open house- so we went in to look around. It was beautiful and very interesting for us to see and read about the different Orthodox Catholic traditions and religious aspects- we learnt a lot that we didn’t know.