SB06 Journal

I recently discovered a journal that I had kept during a trip to Spring Break in February 2006. The attendees of this trip were Big Willy Style, Tugboat, Brown, The Beer Guy, Admiral Bonesaw, and Roy. We stayed at a timeshare in Panama City Beach. This was during the period that we didn't really drink so it was a much tamer week than if we'd gone later in life. My writing style was a bit more unpolished in this era as well so try as you might to make sense of these ramblings. Enjoy!

Friday/Saturday

We started our journey at around 6pm EST and ended it around 1pm CST the next day. That adds up to around 19 hours with stops. We crossed the border at Windsor and headed through Michigan. We tried to get some sleep but it was hard to come by. The next state was Ohio. We made our first gas stop and got a taste of the locals. The next state was Kentucky and then Tennessee. We were on I75 that whole time. It was a couple of hours per state. More like three hours. Next came Georgia. I slept through most of Tennessee and Georgia. We stopped in Atlanta for breakfast around seven on Saturday morning at an IHOP. It was loaded with police, fire fighters and paramedics so we figured it would be safe. Alabama was the next state. It can be described as a desolate rural swamp. Most of the towns were badly run down. It seemed to drag on for a very long time too. Then we entered Florida and we cracked the windows for the first time in hours. We were greeted by warm, moist air. The rest of the day was surreal. The awesome scenery and the architecture and everything was overwhelming. Just like you would picture it based on what you see on TV and more. We got settled then toured and got some groceries. We all were asleep fairly early that night. Exhausted from the marathon car trip.

Sunday.

The morning was spent playing mindless games such as shuffleboard, outdoor pool, ping pong and basketball. Roy and I tied at shuffleboard. I destroyed Beer Guy at our modified version of nine ball. The eight, six and seven balls were all missing. We used all the high balls and replaced the nine with the four balls as the finale. It worked well for us only having one cue with no tip. The shuffleboard was good fun. We'll probably play that everyday. We've had several huge barn burner series of ping pong also. The Beer Guy has a tendency of barely beating me at the last moment. We only played basketball the once. We had a four man game of HORSE. Beer Guy took me to the wire but I prevailed. He was running his mouth so I challenged him to a game of one on one, first to three. I beat him. It was not close but we were both winded at its conclusion.

After a morning of good times we decided that we should get out and see some sights. We drove along the beach and also drove the strip of the city. Upon the completion of this adventure, we parked and walked along the beach. Soon found a spot to toss the football around. Some other guys approached us to ask for a game. Turned out they also went to Guelph. As we were organizing the match, more and more guys came running out of nowhere to play. We ended up with an eight on eight match. There was a skirmish involving a drunk and the white-suited Brown. It ended well. We lost terribly which wasn't so bad since most of their team were members of our school's varisty team. After the game, which was very enjoyable, we went to the beach side Hooters for supper. Delicious food, surprisingly. After a nap and a change of clothes we headed off to the largest night club in the USA, La Vela. It was pretty tame because it was the first night. We ran into the football guys again and spent most night listening to the live band. We headed for home around one and hit the hay to get ready for the next day's adventure.

Monday.

We slept in pretty long on Monday. After killing some time with TV, we had our breakfast and showers and proceeded to the outside world. While outside, we dabbled in the parlour games again. We had a huge match of doubles shuffleboard. Brown and the Beer Guy made a voyage to Winn-Dixie Marketplace to procure some delicious foodstuffs. After which, Big Willy and Roy took another crack at the beach. We lounged around all day and had some of the cheap pizza that had been purchased. The evening entertainment included watching the Punisher with Tom Jane. Good action film, good mindless action. After the completion of the film we laughed it up and put a few pictures on Brown's computer. Soon after that we went our separate ways to watch TV, read books or what have you. Sleep followed.

Tuesday.

Tuesday started early with a sweet breakfast. We had a feast of bacon, eggs and toast. It was very, very delicious. After breakfast and showers, we played some more spa games and had a hot tub and swim. After a quick lunch of soup and hammers we headed back to the beach. We set up our base camp and started a game of catch with the frisbee and football. Some people were trying to get a game of volleyball going so we joined in. It was good times. Roy and Brown stayed back at the base camp to take in the sights and sounds of the ocean and crowds. When we reconvened, we decided to bury the Beer Guy in the sand. We used the frisbee to dung out a good hole and the game was a foot. We started with just breasts and testicles. That drew the attention of a passing girl who thought her breasts were larger, after comparing, it was close. She posed for some pictures with our art. After that we started work on arms and legs and other parts. The video of the Beer Guy escaping his sand prison is quite humourous. Once free, Beer Guy wanted to take a hike down the beach, everyone else but me agreed. I laid down and tried to accomplish a goal by falling asleep on the beach. I did it! I was awoken by a John Deere 7820 tractor carrying a hut though. The driver dropped the hut mere feet from me. I was nervous he'd drop it on me but I didn't outwardly flinch. When the gang returned we headed over to Club La Vela for the afternoon festivities. These were to include four hours of free food, free drinks and three contests. This all came free once the $25 cover charge was paid. It turned out to be well worth it. The first contest was the male hard body thing for the ladies. This time was spent scouting out the free food and drink. With our bellies full, we got spots up front for the rest of the show. The next contest was the bikini contest. It was awesome. There were 18 girls entered and pairs dancing was common. Flash photography was encouraged and we had three cameras working overtime. The next part of the show kept the cameras busy as well, the world famous, Wet 'n Wild International Wet T-Shirt contest. Wow. That is all I will say about that. When that was done, we headed back to the hotel to prepare for dinner. Those that needed to shower did so while the others put pictures and video on the computer. We had a viewing party and then headed to Dirty Dick's Crabhouse. Good food, good service. I got a hat and I shirt. Upon returning “home” we had a hot tub and then hit the hay. It was a long and tiring day, the sun must have drained our energy.

Wednesday.

This was to be our last good weather day as forecasted by the news. We decided that we should get all our outdoor activities done and then do other things like shopping when it was raining. Brown and I got a package of hot dogs and headed for the communal BBQ while the others applied ointments to their sun burnt skin. After lunch we decided to hit up the beach and then some out door fun. The sun was clouded out and the air was warm and misty when we arrived. We tossed the football and frisbee around and played in the ocean before striking off. Most of the other spring breakers were at their respective hotels for guests only pool parties. The beach crowd was admittedly sparse. We headed for the strip with a few things in mind. We were going to go on a pirate cruise but we were a week too soon as it didn't open until March 1. Only a couple of us wanted to try parasailing so we decided to play mini-golf and go-carts. The place we ended up only had golf so that is what we did. Big Willy pulled off a huge come from behind win. Next we tried some Dippin' Dots, the ice cream of the future. This lead us “home”. We killed a couple of hours in our room before supper. Supper, as it turned out was an unforgettable experience. We went to Casa de Fogo, a Brazilian spot. It was like a buffer but not. All the salads and sides were setup like a buffet but the main course was unique. Workers came around with huge skewers of meats and things (12 meats total) and offer you some if your card is flipped to green. If it is red then they skip over you. Towards the end of the meal, after turkey, pork tenderloin, bacon wrapped chicken, garlic steak, sirloin, prime rib, sausage, and grilled pineapple I hit up the bathroom to make more room. No, I didn't puke. It was a bit expensive at $19.99 but it was a steal of a deal for us. Brown and Big Willy ate the most, both with pants undone by the end. We all sluggishly headed back for a lengthy lie down. Later in the evening, four of us (not Big Willy or Admiral Bonesaw) headed for the spa. It was wickedly hot and devastatingly painful on sun burns. The pain subsided after a short time. We got the football out and tossed it around the pool before calling it a night.

Thursday.

There were some consequences to the big feed that we had. Some members of the group had a hard time getting moving. In fact, Big Willy didn't manage to stir until after 4pm! He just laid in bed watching films. Brown spent the day between his bed and the toilet. In his defense, he was reading the whole time, in both locations. He has read two large novels in the past few days, usually in the hot tub. The rest of us went about our now seemingly daily routine of pool football, hot tub and sporadic meals. Pool was also played along with ping pong. It rained all morning and most of the afternoon which made the hot tub all the more relaxing. We got soaked but loved it. Around mid afternoon we headed to the Wal-mart Supercenter. They aren't kidding about the name. It's probably the biggest Wal-mart or even department store I ever could have imagined. There was full grocery store an a liquor store inside. This along with all the regular Wal-mart departments including a large tire and lube express. I add these details only because I worked at a Canadian Wal-mart and the differences are massive. It was very interesting to say the least. We all bought some tourist stuff and some food to finish out the week. We'll likely be leaving very early on Saturday so we can get home in decent time which in an advantage for me to finish my paper I've been working on. I'm about half done it. Back to the story though. After Wal-mart, we came back to the hotel and made pasta – 2 pounds of it, for four guys! This is a lot in case you're wondering. After yet another post meal recovery period we headed down to the exercise room. Admiral Bonesaw, the Beer Guy and I shot some hoops and then the Admiral bogged off for a jog. After we put the balls back we hit the spa again. Some laughing it up ensued. When we got back to our room a poker game erupted. I, of course, won the whole thing. And Admiral Bonesaw, of course, was the first one out, HIYO! The Beer Guy, Big Willy and Roy partook of some booze during this time. Sleep followed around midnight. Only one “full” day of paradise remained!