For Reals – A Can’t Miss Event

So I’ve heard of the “Can’t Miss Event” of the year, but this is the real deal. No One should miss this.

Why would you NOT attend this?

I mean seriously.  The 38,202 of you NOT attending this are so gonna get eaten.  You know this right?

what reminds you about your soul?

I think it’s easy to forget what should be the obvious connection between our physical and spiritual bodies.  Turn on any TV or hop on any website and there are plenty of self-proclaimed experts on the topics of physical fitness, from the latest diet, to that brand new home gym that even Chuck Norris uses.  The same can be said for spiritual “gurus.”  Every day we’re inundated with books, thoughts and dvd sets that tout the latest in visualizing everything we want, new methods of realizing our potential or simple steps to achieving perfect balance.

No one ever puts it all together.  I know, it can all be explained scientifically.  Endorphins stimulate the pleasure center of the brain.  Those same endorphins are triggered by exercise, therefore creating the same feeling of happiness/euphoria that sex, drugs and rock and roll can cause.

I understand that.  It clicks with me.  But man, I’m here to tell you, if you accept that this is all there is to it, you’re missin’ so much of the good stuff.  Example:  I ran in the Tarheel 10-Miler this week in Chapel Hill.  I joined 2199 other runners to take to the streets of this small town and enjoy a morning run.  Chapel Hill is called Chapel Hill for a reason.  It ain’t flat. And 10 miles is plenty long.  I saw a lot of cool things during the race: the guy fighting his way up Laurel Hill in a wheelchair, so many good friends and complete strangers competing in their first race, kids, seniors, fat guys, skinny guys, tall, short and everything in between.  But the one thing that stands out in my mind are the smiles on everyone’s faces as they ran.  It was UNBELIEVABLE.

Here we were, fighting age, gravity and our own monkey minds and having such a good time.  And I mean these smiles were the huge, smile-till-your-face-hurts, what-is-that-guy-smiling-about kind of smiles.  It’s like, do you remember you were a kid and you would just run – wide open, nonstop, maybe even barefoot and it was like running and laughing went together – you would run and run until you started giggling, then you’d be laughing, then you couldn’t breathe anymore because you’d be laughing so hard so you’d just fall over?  That’s the kind of smiling that was going on.  We are built to run, and not just on a physical level.  The act of running, or doing something physical, connects to us on a deep, spiritual level and reminds us that we have this great gift of a physical body.  For me, running reminds me I have a soul.

You may say that you hate running.  And that’s cool.  I would never attempt to speak for you or anyone else when it comes to announcing what makes you happy.  I guess my point is, you gotta hold on to what you do that makes your heart feel good.  And if you’re doing something that doesn’t make your heart feel good, just for the sake of making your body healthy – for God’s sake, stop it (I’m not condoning that you stop medication or activities prescribed by your doctor) and find something that’s good for your body and your soul.  Do one or the other and you’re really missing what makes it all so perfect.  Because really, what’s the point in living longer if your soul isn’t there to experience it all.

Come to think of it, couldn’t you say this of a lot of things?  If you’re working in a job that pays the bills (or makes you rich) and doesn’t make your heart happy, stop.  If you’re in a relationship that doesn’t feed your soul, then go and find your soul mate, or at least find yourself.  If what you’re doing right now doesn’t make you smile right now, why are you doing it?

It’s 2010 – I’m amazed each day at the new types of exercises that are being created/discovered/made up/done in the middle of nowhere.  So I guess what I’m saying is, there’s gotta be something you like to do, not just because it feels good physically, but because you smile when you do it, because before it’s over, you’ll be giggling or because It reminds you that you’ve got a soul. I know I do – that’s why I run.

What about you?  What reminds you that you’re still alive?  What do you love to do more than anything?

The Do Over

I suppose there’s a part of an endurance athlete that has to forget.  Forget the pain, the toughest moments, those parts of the race that make you ask why you do this thing.  Because, if you only remember those moments, no matter how fleeting they are, you’d stop doing this right now, and never do it again.  We’re conditioned to remember everything else – pace, breathing, distance, what it feels like at mile 10, at mile 15, at 20, where our thoughts are, all of it.  And thank God we do.  Because its those things that get us through each race, each test.

Most of you who know me and keep up with me know that this race was not the race I had planned on running.  My original marathon this spring was supposed to be at Myrtle Beach on February 16. Without going into too much detail ( I will over a beer if you want sometime), that race was cancelled and I had to scramble to find a spring race.  Cue the Shamrock marathon.  It seemed like a good fit because (a) I had run it before, (b) It was a beach marathon, with a similar flat course to Myrtle Beach and (3) it was only 4 weeks later.  I’d like to add an asterisk to that last one, because at the time, 4 weeks didn’t seem like such a big deal.  So this marathon was my Do Over.

So tired, but the finish line is right there...

I don’t consider myself a marathon veteran per se, as I’ve only now done two, so adding another month of training to my already 16 weeks immediately became incredibly daunting.  I wasn’t sure what to do, so I just repeated the final four weeks of training I’d just done.  Sounds simple enough, right?

Physically, I don’t think it took too much of a toll on me, but mentally and spiritually I was probably past ready for a race.  I mostly chalk that up to the process of getting my mind in the right place for it.  I will always think that I was totally ready mentally for the Myrtle Beach race, so it was tough for me to get my thoughts together for VA Beach.  But I digress..

Virginia Beach was much different from last year in more than one way.  09 was a cool day – with lows at race start in the upper 30s and temps when I finished in the upper 50s.  Yesterday it was 54 when I woke up and around 73 when I finished. Given the choice, I’d take the cooler day.  54 is great to start, but 71 after 20+ miles is hot.  Secondly, and maybe because of the much warmer weather, the town was abuzz with people this year.  Last year, it almost seemed like a sleepy little beach town and for the most part, was populated only by runners and their support.  This year, we shared the beach with spring breakers, families and even some bikers.  All the more festive I suppose.

Here's what I spend the night before a race doing...

We had pre-race dinner at Gorden Biersch, which I highly recommend.  Good food and great beer. Back to the hotel for my prerace ritual of laying out my clothes, shoes and Gu.  I tend to get to start lines early, which lends to nerves, pacing, bouncing and multiple glances at my watch.  I made it to the start line by about 7:30 for an 8 am start.  From there things moved right into the race.  I remember…

Overhearing the 3:40 pacer.. “yeah, it was a late night, but I’ll be fine as long as I can get hydrated.” -oh to be young again…

Up over the bridge on the south loop where we passed the slowest wheelchair racers going up, and they passed us coming back down.

Watching the elite athletes come back past us at the first turnaround.  Seeing those amazing men and women really motivated me…so much so that I had to remind myself to slow down.

The troops at Camp Pendleton in uniform cheering us on.  So so cool.  It’s like a mini-marine corps cheering section.

Swinging back into town near halfway and seeing Cindy – her smile keeping me moving.

The halfway point and being dead on for pace.  1:50 exactly. I clearly remember smiling at the clock.

The tent at about mile 15 offering beer instead of water and Gatorade.  No, I did not take them up.

Miles 20-23.  This is where things got tough.  It was a loop that left the beach.  That left me with no breeze, no shade and pretty much no crowd support.  At this point, my legs really started to get stiff and tired.  And as I continued to run, the stiffness(?) moved up my legs into my back and neck – and eventually my jaw.  I was good the entire race from a cardiovascular and breathing standpoint, but tightening up was tough.  Very tough.  This is the part I had worked to get to and through.  This was the part that I don’t want to remember for too long.

The last few miles, coming back into the crowd support – including the high school group all dressed as super heros (corny super heros, but heros still) cheering us on.

Making the turn onto the boardwalk and seeing King Neptune and the finish line 1/4 of a mile away.

I finished the race at 3:44, five full minutes faster than last year.  I’m pleased with my finish.

As always, Cindy was able to get my attention near the finish even above the screams of the hundreds of others cheering.  I live for seeing her at the end of a race.

I did try a couple of things differently this year:  1) I doubled my gel intake this year, with 4 total gels over the course and 2) I crushed the water/Gatorade stops.  I only skipped one, maybe two the entire race.   I think both stratagies helped.

Kissing the Shamrock postrace

All in all, a good time, with what I still consider a great post race party, including Irish stew and all the Yuengling you can drink, under a tent right on the beach with live music.  So what’s next? Well, immediately, a few days off.  Then – The Tarheel 10-Miler.  As for later, I, along with thousands of others, keep checking my inbox for any word on my lottery entry into the NY Marathon.  Outside of that, I’m planning on registering for Marine Corps for the fall.  Then again, that’s because the tough stuff, the pain – I’m already starting to forget it.

-see you on the road.

Thank you Jimmy Fallon

One thing that drives Cindy crazy about me.  I am overly nostalgic.  I mean – I’m that guy that would go back to the mid 80s to mid 90s in a minute.  I would love to just live there forever.  It doesn’t take much to get me hooked.  One of my favorite games to play is to turn on the 80s channel on XM and play name the song, name the artist and what movie is it from.  One of the things I really like about Jimmy Fallon is that I think he’s the same way.  He’s nearly the same age as us genXers.  For the better part of a year, Fallon’s been trying to reunite the cast of, what is in my opinion, the single greatest TV show of all time – Saved By The Bell.  He was even able to get Zack Morris for an interview (Hilarrrrious!).  It seems a couple of the SBTB cast members resisted and the Bayside Reunion died.

Not one to be held down, Jimmy came through with something that might even be better.  I’d say better for two reasons.  1: It’s a show we all watched but it just isn’t on in syndication like Saved by the Bell, so I’d bet it’s been forever since you’ve seen it.  2: It has what might be the greatest theme song ever written.  I’m referring to California Dreams.  I’ve now watched the clip below like 10 times and everytime I do, I smile.  I mean I smile from somewhere inside me. I think it actually brings me joy.  And then I go looking for other old shows to watch.  Thank you Jimmy.

P.S. Yes I did just order Season 1 & 2 on DVD.  And I ordered the first two seasons of Blossom for Cindy.

because of adversity, not in spite of it

There’s so much to say about this video.

Aimee Mullins was born with fibular hemimilia (missing fibula bones) and, as a result, had both of her legs amputated below the knee when she was a year old.  While attending Georgetown University she competed against non-disabled athletes in NCAA Division I track and field events. She competed in the Paralympics in 1996, where she ran the 100-meter dash in 17.01 seconds and jumped 3.14 meters in the long-jump.

There’s two points Aimee makes that I really like:

1. The words we use in describing people, in labeling them have a profound affect on them.  And it’s more than just the words, but the values behind the words and how we construct those values.  Our languages affects our thinking and how we view other people.  She uses the thesaurus entry for “Disabled” as a brilliant illustration.

2. We don’t overcome adversity.  The idea of overcoming adversity would suggest that we come out of “the other side of adveristy” unscathed, untouched by the experience.  Quite the contrary, adversity changes us, marks us, and, as Aimee suggests, makes us who we are.

So enjoy the video, think about your adversity, and today, instead of asking for less of it, relish it, jump in there and get it all over you.  It’ll make you better, make you stronger, and make you who more of who you are.

What we could learn from dogs

Most of you know I’m a dog lover.  I ran across this in an email recently, and had to share it.  Truer words were never spoken:

Remember, if a dog was the teacher you would learn things like:

When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.

Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.

Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure Ecstasy.

Take naps.

Stretch before rising.

Run, romp, and play daily.

Thrive on attention and let people touch you.

Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.

On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.

On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.

When you’re happy, dance around and wag your entire body.

Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.

Be loyal.

Never pretend to be something you’re not.

If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it..

When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them gently.

we are the heroes of our own stories

today I’m having one of those days where my mind is in a thousand different places, dipping into and out of alternately happy moods and melancholy ones.  Work continues to be a challenge for me, mostly because I’ve had such a difficult time filling one pivotal position on my team.  What that means to me:  I’ve got to do that job in addition to mine, which in turn leads to my primary job responsibilities taking longer.  It’s not that I don’t have support at work.  My coworkers, for the most part, are great – but each of them has his or her jobs to do as well.  So that brings it back to me.

Whenever I find myself in this sort of mood, it doesn’t take long for me to begin searching for some sort of inspiration, at least momentarily, in a song, or a quote or some other form to lift me through to the next upswing.  I’ve got this bank of songs in iTunes that I can always count on for a pick-me-up, and I keep a book of quotes that resonate with me in my office.

But today, after 9+ hours of staring at a computer screen, no amount of Ben Taylor or Amos Lee or Ari Hest seemed to be the ladder out of the doldrums and I decided to just work through it.

Thing is, after all’s said and done, I discover, over and over, that looking outwardly for inspiration is completely in the wrong direction.  Even though I seem to forget this just as quickly, we all have the inspiration we need right inside of us.  Or, as I saw it written once, we are the heroes of our own story.

I’ve spent the past few years trying to hone the skill of doing this – of gaining inspiration through my own strength, history, inner-thoughts, whatever you want to call it.  For a long time, figuring out how to do this, or if it was even possible for me, seemed to be a struggle.

Luckily for me, I’ve had a few great teachers and companions to go along the path with me.  I’ve also had the good fortune of discovering something that I can do whenever I want, and that clears my mind and uses my body so that I can take time to go wherever I need to go and find that lift I need in that moment, at that time.  Running has, for me, opened the door to the space I need to be strong when I need to be.

But it’s also given me a clearer vision to see things happening around me for what they really are.  Now it doesn’t always work, and sometimes people get to me.  Sometimes it’s a customer interaction at work.  Sometimes it’s getting cut off on the road.  It might even  be someone in front of me at the grocery store line.  Not too long ago, I would have gotten pretty upset or angry at that stuff, and let myself really take it personally or even lashed out at someone over it.  That still happens occasionally, but more often than not, I’m able to stop, see the situation, and accept it.

I guess one thing I’m learning more and more is acceptance.  For me, that doesn’t mean that I have to be “OK” with any particular situation, but it’s important to accept the situation “is what it is.”  I think that working so hard at trying to “correct” or “make sense” of situations really contributes to frustration, anger, desperation (you name your -ation).  For me, striving to be accepting of each situation and working to be nonjudging of each makes each situation easier to experience, and eases the intensity of my reactions to each, with the hope that, eventually, the reaction goes away.

So, here I am again, at the end of a day, realizing that there will be a situation at some point tomorrow that may push me, bring me down, or tie me up in knots.  And here I am in this moment, knowing that I have the tools to deal with that situation.  And all I have to do is remember to: breathe, think, accept, and not judge.  Seems simple enough right?  We’ll see.

2 vans, 12 runners, 28 hours, 208 miles, and lived to….

What a great running weekend.  For the second year in a row, I got to participate in the Blue Ridge Relay this past Friday & Saturday.  The race is a unique relay that starts in the Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia and ends in Downtown Asheville, NC.  Teams range from 6 people to 12 and it usually takes 24 – 34 hours.  This year, I was a member of Triple M.A.D Punch for the second year in a row and had so much fun!

At the end of my first leg, with sunscreen in my eyes. ouch.

Ours is a 12-person team.  We’re split into two teams and have two vans that get us from leg to leg of the race.  I drove van 2 this year so we started on Friday around lunch.  I was running leg 10.  My first leg was an 8.2 mile leg that covered about a 2600 ft. elevation gain.  I’d spent the last 6 weeks or so doing some pretty gnarly hill training with Eric, a friend and fellow member of the team, so I felt pretty good about the run.  But dude, it was hot and about half way into it, the heat got to me.  The scenery is always awesome on this run and I really enjoy it.  As usual, a couple of dogs ran along with me for part of the leg.   I passed on to my partner and finished the leg in 1:10.39 at an 8:24 average pace.  Whew.

We finished our first set of legs and got to have dinner in Blowing Rock, which is a cool town.  I recommend it to anyone who’s ever in the NC Mountains.  It was cool and the food at the restaurant was good.  Glidewell’s has great sweet potato fries and the servers were really accommodating.

We got to our next exchange point and expected to get a few hours nap before Van 1 arrived to hand back off to us.  We knew we were running a bit ahead of our expected pace, but we weren’t sure if the evening would bring a slow down.  I got about a half hour nap before we were being woken up.  Van 1 had smoked it!

Eric prepping for his night leg. Yes - it is that cool.

My leg two was scheduled to be run at about 1 am.  Yep – 1 am.  There is nothing in the world like strapping a headlamp on, attaching blinking LEDs to your body and barreling off into the darkness in the middle of nowhere in the mountains. Frankly, the beginning of the night leg is always quite creepy, but once I settle in, there’s not many experiences like it. Every sound is amplified, both external and internal. You feel your breathe more succinctly and even in the perfect darkness, your vision sharpens. Leg two was a 6-miler that I finished at a 7:53 pace.

After we finished our second leg, we turned it back over to Van 1 and headed to the final exchange zone to try to catch more than 1/2 of sleep.  It took about 45 minutes to get to the church where we would camp, but I was so glad to find it.  We got there around 2:30 am and we actually got to sleep for about 4 hours.  Most everyone camped out under the stars.  I slept in the van.

Jess crushing it on her first leg - and that's with almost no training!

My last leg was a short one, 4.2 miles, fairly flat till the end, with a little uphill, but it kicked my butt!  I guess being cramped in a van for 24 hours before, eating mostly all snacks (lots of peanut butter, power bars, gummy bears and almonds) plus two longer runs in the previous time had its affect on me.  Finished it in 33 minutes, 7:53 pace.

This event is so much fun, but there is no feeling like finishing your last leg and handing the bracelet off to your partner for the last time.  That is a GREAT feeling.  Eric brought it home, running down the mountain and into Asheville just before noon.  All-in-all, we finished in 27 hours, 54 minutes, 24th out of about 100 teams, over an hour faster than last year, which is awesome – except that it sets us up for higher expectations in 2010.

Triple M.A.D. Punch - Postrace and happy, 27 hours later!

The celebratory lunch at the Mellow Mushroom was awesome and everyone was in great spirits, which is more than I can say at some points in the run, especially during those big climbs.  For my money, this is a great run.  It’s well organized for the most part, the volunteers are super-friendly, and the churches and fire departments that host the exchange zones are so hard-working and nice.  If you’re looking for something different, something fun and a new challenge, check out the Blue Ridge Relay.

It’s like slowly focusing the lens until it all becomes clear

So four weeks back into running after yet another stress fracture and the miles are coming back, and i’m finding new challenges in my runs, and most importantly, i’m beginning to discover the joy in each run again.  Now that’s despite the hottest temperatures of the summer over the past two weeks and some seriously crazy runs leading up to the blue ridge relay in just under 3 weeks.  For the last two Saturdays, Eric and I have gone out and done some ridiculous hill training runs, averaging around 10 miles and a total cumulative elevation gain of a few thousand feet.  oof.

I’m fascinated by how important actual events have become in my running life, and in turn, in the focus i’m available to maintain in other aspects of my life.  I suppose this goes back to my belief that the process is as important, if not more important, than the race is to me.  For so long, I’ve never considered myself a very disciplined person.  I have a tendency to bounce from project to project, to switch topics several times in conversation, pick up three to four books at a time…you get the picture.

My mind is almost always racing.  It’s often that I feel like I wake up, everything is a blur, then it’s time to go to bed.  Now the last race I was in was the Philosopher’s Way Trail Run in May.  No wonder it’s been a blur of a summer.

As I get back on the road, and begin to train again, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised to begin to feel more focused overall again.  It’s as if I’m looking at life through a camera lens – like slowly focusing the lens until it all becomes clear.  I really look forward to the days to come, the renewed spirit that running brings and the added benefits of training for the next 26.2.  I’m sure there’ll be so much more to share.

Top 10 Things I DO NOT Miss about living in O-Town

Totally Late, no excuses, but here they are, my Top 10 Things I DO NOT miss about Orlando.

#10 – I4. Seriously. Who in the hell came up with this plan? First of all, the road runs North and South, so why is it marked East & West. Stupid. Second, for like 30 years now, there have been a gazillion people a day in that town, so why is the road still designed to hold like a dozen at best? I can clearly remember parking my car on I4 in traffic and reading a book while sitting on the hood. And it doesn’t seem to have changed much.

#9 – Timeshare sales people. These people are telemarketers who can’t get work. Ugh. They are the worst. If you think you are fooling anyone by standing behind a “Welcome Center” desk, I have a bridge to sell you. If you think you are fooling anyone by changing your name to “Vacation Ownership,” you’ve lost your mind. Personally I’d rather have my fingernails yanked out than to have to listen to your spew. Stay Away From Me.

#8 – Ridiculously large spoilers on piece of crap cars – There isn’t much more to say about this, except that they’re stupid. What are they for? It’s a Dodge Neon for Christ’s sake. It tops out at like 70 mph. You are in no way getting fast enough to get any lift. You made the spoiler yourself in your garage. And by the way, it’s a Dodge Neon.

#spoilerfail

#7 – People who lock up their brakes on the interstate to pull over (on the interstate!) to take a photo of the Sea World sign. Seriously dude. Do you do this in your hometown? What would possess you to just stop in the middle of a 4-Lane to take a photo of a gaudy digital sign with me trying to get home behind you? Get off the damn exit. Look in the rearview before you lock the brakes up. Just think man. Damn.

#6 – AM Heat, PM Rain, Followed by PM Heat, Then do it again. – Every freakin day, count on rain at 3 pm. Only it’s not a cool, refreshing rain. It’s a hot, steamy, the ground is like a sponge full of sweltering dishwater rain, that leaves you heaving to breath in the thick afternoon haze. And it’s every day. And it’s even in the winter. And before you say it would be great to have heat through the winter instead of snow, you should try to get the Christmas spirit when it’s 85, 97% humidity and by the way, it’ll be raining at 3.

#5 – Lovebugs. – You may not know the name but if you’ve been to Central Florida you’ve experienced love bugs. These tiny critters appear to be small black flies or gnats but are actually TWO bugs attached in a seemingly permanent lustful dance. It’s magical really. Especially the way they cluster in the thousands and once they make impact with your car they become a permanent reminder that Florida is subtropical and there are some really weird animals down here. So you get to spend the next few hours scrubbing double bug guts off of your car. Thinking you’ll be lazy and let it slide for the day? The bonus is that If you don’t clean it off in time, whatever makes up the innards of these little shits will actually EAT THE PAINT RIGHT OFF OF YOUR CAR.

#4 Tour Groups – Now in an earlier post I talked about how great it was to have such easy access to tons of outlet shopping and the like in Orlando. It’s true. The same can be said of the entertainment options and dining. But there’s one thing that can always put the brakes on any fun being had by you. Tour Groups. As with many of these items, if you’ve lived in Orlando, you know exactly what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, they you have no idea. I distinctly remember exactly how I felt every time I was in a public setting and saw that familiar sight. Around the corner came a tour leader, dressed in flourescent green, fannypack strapped on and carring a tiny green flag on a dowel. No doubt to keep the group together, the flag may as well been the flag of a miniature army who’s mission it was to destroy any hope you had of accomplishing your errands at any point this week. From out of nowhere comes an army of bright green clad, short-shorts and knee-high socks wearing, portugese speaking footsoldiers. In an instant they’ve spread to every corner of the store/restaurant/attraction you’re at and just like that, it’s over. You’re waving your grocery list like a white flag and looking for somewhere to huddle and cry.

#3 – Come & Go.  Of all the places I’ve lived, Orlando is by far the most transient town I’ve been in.  It seems to me that it’s the type of town that for many goes like this:  You finish college (or don’t) or you come down to spend a semester in the Disney College Program and have so much fun meeting people from all over the world, going out with friends, partying and having a good time, that you decide to stay for a while.  There are plenty of jobs in resorts or at restaurants or bars, plus you can get a roommate and things are fine.  Things are fine for a couple of years, but the “new/fun” begins to wear off and you realize that even though it’s fun, you probably need to finish school/get on back home/find a real job in your major/be closer to family so you decide it’s time to head on home.  The tough part about it is that, save for a few, I always found it hard to connect to people and really make friends, because I never knew how long they’d be around.

2 – PlasticTown USA- This became my pet name for Orlando after living there for a few years.  I think I’d gone on vacation somewhere else and upon arriving back and surveying the town, I realized that Orlando has ZERO cultural or historical facets.  Everything is shiny, bigger-than-life, new, better than before and fake.  Now for sheer tourist dollars, this still seems to work, even after all this time.  But for me, once you peel back the layers of “stuff” that brings someone down for a visit, there’s got to be some substance there for people to live.  I never found that.  In New Orleans, it’s the French Quarter on a Sunday morning after the party, exploring old antique stores and discovering Jackson Square.  On the NC beaches, it’s taking a walk around Fort Macon after a day on the sand and discovering how it played a part in the Civil War.  As for Orlando, I’m still looking for that part, and I’ve yet to find it.  It’s too bad too, because it could be a key to making Orlando so much more interesting.

#1 – Did I mention the heat?