The Short Bus Post

Friday night Bruce and I headed out to Cocoa Beach to hang out with Henry for his birthday. Henry has a condo right on the beachfront that overlooks the ocean, and has a lovely view. We met up with him and his buddy Red, the bouncer for the Cricketer’s Arm’s pub and good friend of Henry. After presenting Henry with his various alcohol-themed birthday gifts we headed off to get some grub at Hooters. Planning on avoiding driving all that night we called up a cab- to our surprise we where greeted by a mini-school bus instead of the standard cab. It felt like we where getting on the dreaded ‘short-bus’ and was a little embarrassing clambering off the thing when we got to where we where going, but the novelty of having our own ‘tour bus’ was pretty funny. We got the guy’s name and number and called him up throughout the night as we bounced from various different bars, clubs and establishments. Red is a character for sure- and not to discount Henry and Bruce, who are pretty charismatic drinkers too- but this guy was a definite treat to go drinking with.

If I had to describe Red I’d say he’s half Mr. Clean, the other half Mr. T. He’s a huge guy draped in gold with a lit cigar behind his ear at all times; tattoos all the way up his arms and a voice that can best be described as Darth Vader with a New York accent. He told me he drank 86 beers in a 24 hour period once. Which I scoffed at (‘I’m pretty sure that you’d be 50% alcohol at that point and very dead’- was my response) but he seemed VERY serious about that fact and not happy that anyone would second guess him. Needless to say I didn’t contradict him for the rest of the night. Climbing off a short bus following him was pretty amusing, and I got some funny looks from people waiting outside the clubs as our rag-tag group stumbled from place to place. The guy was a machine though. I ended up face planting my bed a good few hours before the rest of the guys did, but even then I went to bed around 2. They stayed up till 5 apparently. We where all woken up at 6:30 by Red who demanded breakfast. I couldn’t believe it, but didn’t want to argue- so I crumbled into some clothes and we drove over to a little diner for some breakfast. I was a bit of a mess and had a throbbing hangover- my shirt was inside out which I realized half way through my omelet and my hair looked like I had been electrocuted. Pretty sure I didn’t smell too great either.

After breakfast we headed down to the beach where Red immediately started pounding Heinekens. The mere sight of which made me feel lightheaded. Bruce and I where in disbelief that these guys actually wanted to be awake, but bumbled down to the beach regardless. Henry (who apparently wakes up at 6:00 no matter what) taught me how to surf-fish in the ocean which was pretty cool. He caught a fair few feeder fish, but I unfortunately didn’t catch anything. Lazing about in the water and in the sun definitely helped get over the hangover a bit, but unfortunately the damn thing wouldn’t leave me properly until 4 o’clock-ish. After hanging out for a bit Bruce and I headed back to Orlando. Fun night out with friends for sure, if not a very taxing one. Needless to say I slept very well the following night.

The Night Rocket Post

Hit Cape Canaveral last night to watch the Atlas Rocket launch. It was an 8:30 launch window so it was night once the rocket blasted off. Very cool seeing the rocket from so close, and event cooler against the night sky. We got all the way down to the park that overlooks the cape this time which was much closer than pas far as we got for the shuttle earlier in the year. The rumble was incredible and the sheer brilliance of the light it gives off is crazy. Took a video but its too big for YouTubing and will require some compression. I’ll get to that. After the launch we killed some time at some of the local Cocoa establishments and then headed back to Orlando. Unfortunately being right on the water made me mosquito fodder, which I am fully appreciating today. Shouldn’t have worn shorts!

The Lillard Visit Post

It seems that Florida is being invaded by Virginians this past month. Last week I had visits from Naomi and Dean, the Wantulas and most recently my buddy Brent form GMU. He was down on a business trip to close a deal with Lockheed Martin and opted to stay in town for a while to chill and hang out chez Jamie. While I was off at work for the majority of his trip, he kept himself occupied at the local skate park and bars and got to sample some of the awesome stuff there is to do around here. Each night we went out to someplace different and had a blast. Hit Church Street downtown one night and partied at Mako’s and Latitudes as well as got some killer food from this new restaurant that happened to be opening up that night; Urban Flats. Had a gorgeous seared tuna flatbread that I will definitely go back for. We made a trip out to Cocoa Beach and hung out at Coconuts and a few other places on the shoreline. We stopped by Fairvilla Megastore to see if we couldn’t snag a few pictures with Jenna Haze (who was advertised as being there) but after getting in line we found that polaroid’s where 20 odd bucks and no digital cameras were allowed… so we passed. Hit up the Blue Martini a couple of times as well, which we were both pretty impressed with. I think I’ll go back sometime soon, apparently Thursday nights are their prime time according to Bruce. It was good to see Brent again and just hang out and shoot the shit like we did back in college. From the sounds of things he’ll be coming back relatively frequently in the future on similar trips, which I look forward to.

The Shuttle Launch Post

Friday was the shuttle launch for Atlantis. Or was it Atlantic? Or Atlas? While I could look it up I’ll just leave it open ended and live in the mystery. Bruce and I headed to Cocoa Beach to watch the blast off right after work. I have seen one other launch in person but I was too young and bratty to appreciate seeing it when my parents took my years back. Caught the show from the bridge to Cape Canaveral, and it was pretty impressive. We checked out a camera from the tech department and caught it all on tape for later posting. The after shock from the launch was pretty loud and the jets were incredibly bright, though I gotta say the smell was the most influential experience (think clouds of rotten eggs and you’re getting close). The effects on the sky after the launch were pretty impressive, especially when the sun started setting. After the launch we headed to downtown Cocoa to chill at Coconuts and a few other places, and get some food. Traffic was nuts so we opted to stick out the night and wait for all the other shuttle watchers to leave town.

The Gambling Cruise Post

This weekend, in celebration of Sue’s birthday, Buck, Laura and I joined the Wolfgang’s in Cocoa Beach for a gambling cruise. I headed down Saturday mid-day and met up with Buck and Laura at the hotel we’d booked last week. Small place, nothing crazy, but right on the beach which was awesome. Had the whole section of the beach to ourselves for most of the day. Once Sue and Arnold arrived we headed to the port and got onboard. The cruise was late to leave which had some of the more serious gamblers (Kim) irritated. I find the whole idea of sailing out to international waters so you can gamble a little silly, and don’t quite understand why people have to go to such great lengths to do so… but whatever. The ship was pretty massive and had loads of money eating machines and games tables set up. I promptly lost the measly stack of bills I had allocated for the trip and hung out with the rest of our group for the majority of the trip. Sue and Arnold’s sisters were there as well as Kim from the office, so there where a fair few of us onboard. I had a good time, partially due to the free drinks Sue was flagging down from the cocktail waitress for me while she and Arnold played craps. (If you are gambling the drinks come to you and are free). So in the end I walked away with an empty wallet, but I made out like a bandit with the drinks so I feel like a winner.

After the boat came back at 1:00 we headed back to the hotel, via McDonalds and called it a night. Next day I headed to Ron Jon’s to see what allot eh billboards were about. Turns out the store is exactly like the Ron Jon’s in Orlando so no big deal. But I wanted to check it out to say that I’d been there if anything (and bought the t-shirt). Sue’s family came back down and joined us on the beach with Hayden for a while which was nice. Then I headed back.

Oh and a word for the wise… don’t take pictures in a casino. Yeah they don’t like that. Turned a few heads with the employees there (as captured in an amusing little video). Lesson learned I suppose. I have some footage of the beach and the Cruise which I’ll post as soon as Premier decides to actually work.. till then here are a few shots.