Category: Travel

Categories
Animals Travel

The Major’s Walk-A-Thon: Special On-Location Edition – Miami Seaquarium

I visited the Miami Seaquarium for the first time since an unspecified date sometime during the mid-to-late-1990s.

Here are my takeaways in 15 words or less:

– I’m on my ‘2009 Economic Stimulus Tour’ (of tourist attractions).
– So far – Metro Zoo, Monkey Jungle, and Miami Seaquarium.
– When we (me and a buddy) got there there weren’t a lot of people there.
– By the time that we left in the afternoon the joint was jumpin’.
– It was really jumpin’ !
– It was good to see people spending money at a tourist attraction.
– I love to hang out with the animal kingdom.
– I loved the sea lions.
– I could watch them frolic for hours.
– They are really smart creatures of the sea.
– They will work for food.
– So will I.
– They love their fishies.
– So do I.
– Lizards, Turtles, Alligators, Crocodiles – They were all chillin’ in the hot sun.
– The birds are not afraid of the humans – or the killer whale !
– Speaking of birds – The next logical stop on this tour – Jungle Island.
– Maybe we’ll hit that place up next month.
– Lolita is a 7,000-pound killer whale !
– She’s the same exact age as me – born in 1967.
– ‘Free Lolita the killer whale’ generates 183,000 searches via Yahoo !
– She’s been at the Seaquarium for the past 39 years.
– This is the only life that she knows.
– Some activists want her to be released into the wild.
– Releasing a killer whale from her home of 39 years makes no sense to me.
– The manatees were MASSIVE !
– They are sort of like elephants of the sea.
– They are calm, cool, and collective – just like me !
– They mostly eat plants – not like me.

No visit to Miami is complete until you’ve visited the Miami Seaquarium !

Categories
Animals Driving Health Holidays Money Music Politics Travel Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

Nearly 16 months of historical statistics reveals that Tuesday is by far the busiest day here on the big green blog. I think that we all know why that is so:

1.  We may actually receive some significant rainfall here in America’s Rivera between tonight and Sunday as a couple of old cold fronts from the north ease closer to us. Don’t expect a flood or anything close to that, but don’t be surprised if we manage to receive up to an inch of the much needed rain that we so desperately need. There’s also a very remote possibility that I may actually issue a late-season ‘Homestead Cold Weather Alert’ for both Saturday and Sunday mornings as wind chill temperatures may approach the upper-40s for a brief period of time.

2.  I’m not exaggerating here when I state that most motorists here in America’s Riviera totally ignore the green traffic light arrow that points to the left that states that you have a protected path to make a left-hand turn. I guess they don’t teach that in traffic school down here. GREEN = GO !

3.  Weight Check – I’m slowly easing down into the lower-170s. I just weighed in at 172.5. My goal is to get back into the more comfortable upper-160s. Yes I can !

4.  We probably won’t find out that the recession has ended until at least six to nine months after it has actually ended. It may have ended already, but we won’t really know for sure until perhaps Thanksgiving or Christmas. Politics and policies aside I’m rooting for a strong and robust economy in 2009 and beyond. How can you not root for that ?

5.  It’s St. Patrick’s Day in 2009, and I wore virtually all green today. I’m proud of my Irish heritage. My ancestors on the paternal side had a last name of ‘O’Day’. The ‘O’ was dropped when they emigrated from Ireland to The U.S. back in the late-19TH Century. For over 17 years our beloved cat Fluffy – a Manx – was an integral part of our family. The Manx breed originated from The Isle Of Man in the Irish Sea. I lived in the U.K. for exactly two years from 1985 to 1987, and I did quite a bit of traveling during that time. But one regret is that I never got to visit either Northern Ireland (part of the U.K.) or The Republic Of Ireland. Some day I hope to visit both countries. While living in the U.K. two Irish bands – The Pogues and The Dubliners – joined forces to become one, as they performed a traditional Irish song about a MASSIVE ship in the sea. Check out this 1987 performance of “The Irish Rover”. It was a U.K. TOP 10 pop smash back then, and I present it to you as a very special St. Patrick’s Day edition of the ‘Saturday Night Retro’.

Categories
Astronomy Food God Health Holidays Humor Shopping Travel

Monday Night Countdown

Here are the TOP 5 things that I’m looking forward to this week:

5.  St. Patrick’s Day – Believe it or not I’m 50% Irish (on the paternal side), and I always look forward to showing off my Irish heritage by wearing lots of green on this date every year. Look for me in my flame retardant leprechaun outfit tomorrow on the streets of Homestead !

4.  Life Group – That’s this Wednesday night, and due to a wide variety of reasons I haven’t attended in exactly a month. I can’t wait to get back to the group again to discuss The New Testament of The Good News !  We also need to reschedule our Key West ‘Bike-A-Thon’.

3.  One word – Publix – It’s my playground. I don’t know how to cook, but then again I don’t need to know how to cook as long as I know how to shop for food – and I do that very well thank you. Whenever I’m at Publix I’m as happy as can be. It’s all of that food staring at me and begging and crying out for me to buy it. Oh yeah and the pop, rock, and disco music that usually blares through the sound system. It makes me wanna dance up and down the aisles like a crazy man.

2.  Dentist Appointment – Believe it or not I actually look forward to this cleaning appointment every six months. I always get scolded by my dental hygenist for (allegedly) not flossing and brushing properly. Six months ago after my last scolding I slightly altered my flossing and brushing routine and made it even more all-encompassing. (Right now my brother is giggling because he just read through an inside family joke there.)

1.  Vernal Equinox – Spring begins at precisely 7:44 AM EDT this Friday morning, and that means that the Sun is on our side of the Equator for the first time in nearly six months. That’s real important to me because when I’m confused I check with the Sun. I carry a compass to help me along. My feet are going to be on the ground. My head is there to move me around …

Categories
Animals Blogging Food Movies Travel

The Major’s Walk-A-Thon: Special On-Location Edition – Monkey Jungle

My scheduled trip down to Key West and back was cancelled for today and postponed until another day, so what’s a dude to do once he’s cleared out his entire Saturday schedule to get out and do something fun ?

I went to Monkey Jungle !  Here are my takeaways in 15 words or less:

– This is now an annual visit treat.
– I was last there 59 Saturdays ago in January of 2008.
– Here’s what I wrote about my adventures back then.
– I got there a few minutes before they officially opened for business.
– I was the first tourist through the gate.
– I love to hang out with the monkeys.
– I think of House Of Pain’s “Jump Around” when I watch them do their thang.
– Mei is my favourite 23-year-old orangutan.
– She was more active this morning than she was 59 weeks ago.
– She has a few tricks up her hairy sleeves.
– She knows sign language.
– She has the same amount of hair as you and me.
– Her hair is obviously longer and thicker than ours.
– She loves her veggies.
– My buddy King – the Western Lowland Gorilla – was up next.
– He’s 40-years-old now, and he seemed more active today too.
– He loves to watch TV and dance to old rock songs.
– He’s just like me.
– He likes to sleep in the shade.
– He doesn’t like to get wet in the rain.
– He enjoyed a previous life in the 1970s as part of a circus act.
– Once again – just like me !  (Just kidding.)
– I enjoyed my two-hour stay at the Jungle of the Monkeys.
– I’ll be back again next year.
– After there I went to Southland Mall.
– It’s the southernmost indoor shopping mall in the continental U.S.
– I walked around the mall for about a half an hour.
– I finally saw the award-winning box office smash “Slumdog Millionaire“.
– I nearly saw it last Christmas before anyone even knew much about it.
– It was a very good movie.
– It deserved all of its critical acclaim.
– After the movie I ate at the all-new Buffalo Wild Wings.
– Wings & Wedges dude – that’s what it’s all about !
– That’s what I did today in lieu of my trip to Key West.
– Be sure to stick around for an all-new ‘Saturday Night Retro’ !
– It’s comin’ up later tonight here on the big green blog.