Timing is Everything

Several months back, my friend Andrew Monroe approached me about going to a pair of Spring Training games in March. After a few preliminary plans, we purchased tickets for the Red Sox outings vs. the Marlins and Dodgers, the latter taking place in Dodgertown (Vero Beach, Fla.). The plans took yet another step in a positive direction two weeks ago outside Anders in Auburn when Andrew suggested us going to Islands of Adventure on Friday since we would both have the day off work.

After weeks and months of great anticipation, THE WEEKEND was upon us. Approximately 4:45 p.m. Thursday, I was heading to my truck en route for Valdosta, Ga. After a quick (that turned into not-so-quick) stop in Auburn for dinner with Andy Shores and his father, I rolled into southern Georgia around 2:30 a.m. EST.

DAY ONE

Friday started rather early, especially for myself on the refreshing two-plus hours of sleep. I awoke to Andrew hovering in the doorway of their guest bedroom and the patter of raindrops on the window pane. He asked if I still wanted to head to Islands of Adventure, and I jumped in the shower while he checked the weather forecast for the Orlando area. Early diagnosis stated that we'd miss most of the storm in the morning and may have a few thunderstorms pop up in the afternoon. It was a risk worth taking.

Amazingly, I stayed awake for the car ride down despite plans to sleep. I guess the conversation was that good, but I digress. Andrew's mom called as we passed through Gainesville alerting us to tornado activity in the Gainesville/Jacksonville area. God was looking out for us, though, as we only suffered heavy rains en route to the best theme park in the country. I had also missed a call from my mom (isn't it weird that they have that telepathy thing down pat?), by the way.

We knew the day would be special since we arrived roughly an hour after the park opened and we were still able to park on the lowest level of the parking deck - an unprecedented feat for both of us. I also marveled at the fact that throughout my friendship with Robert, Jennifer and Andrew, this was my first rendezvous at a theme park despite our unhidden love for thrill rides and coasters. Tickets were purchased, and it was straight to the Hulk.

I'm not going to give a play-by-play of the entire day's activities. Andrew's facebook photo gallery can do the justice there. A quick recap:

- four times on The Hulk
- four times on Dueling Dragons
- twice on Dr. Doom (the first of which I was completely unprepared for and provided much amusement for Andrew throughout the course of the afternoon)
- once on Jurassic Park's River Adventure (I hate, hate, HATE water rides, by the way. Luckily, Andrew got soaked while I was able to just suffer a couple of droplets thanks to my rain coat)
- once on Spiderman
- once on Dr. Seuss' Cat in the Hat
- once on The Mummy (Universal Studios)
- once in Men in Black's Alien Attack (Universal Studios)

We ate lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and were able to be seated right away. It is the first time I've ever been able to go straight to seating and ordering food at a HRC. Just part of the perfect timing we had the entire day. After one last ride on The Hulk, we meandered over to Margaritaville for a couple of Cheeseburgers in Paradise (mine a hamburger) and good tunes in an unbelievable atmosphere before returning to the car to head towards Josh and Katie's in Bradenton.

The ride to Josh (aka "Pissface") and Katie's was nerve wracking with the storm finally catching up to us. Constant heavy rain and lightning littered the evening sky as we moved southbound on I-75. We made a very quick stop at a gas station on Pissface's exit to fill up the car and get a couple of supplies. We arrived at the apartment around 10 p.m. and visited a little with the happy couple before retiring for the night.

DAY TWO

Alarms started going off at 8:30 a.m. as day two of THE WEEKEND was upon us. Today, the Red Sox vs. Marlins was on the agenda in Fort Myers. Plans initially called for us to depart Bradenton by 10 a.m. A long wait at McDonald's for breakfast foiled those, but it did not crush our spirits. Lots of sharing of good times gone by and fun times to be had was captured on the drive to Fort Myers. When we were pulling into the city limits, Andrew realized he had forgotten our tickets in Bradenton. While this would have derailed a trip in the past, we used the vacation motto and didn't let it affect anything - besides the wallet.

Andrew found four box seats behind home plate soon after arriving at the stadium and parking, and we were headed inside for my first spring training experience. Josh and I made the first drink run and went to the souvenir shop so I could get a hat before the players headed back to the dugouts for game preparations. Andrew left with Josh after we returned to the seats for him to also go to the souvenir store. Katie and I caught up, shared some laughs and soon it was time for first pitch.

Josh highlighted the afternoon at the ball park by cracking on a spring training invitee in the top of the ninth, who proceeded to smash a line drive beyond the outfield wall to stretch the Marlins' lead to 5-0. Jacoby Ellsbury blasted a homer to right in the home half of the final frame, securing the final score of 5-2. But, it was just a spring training game, and we had an awesome time just watching the big leaguers having fun out on the diamond.

We went back to the apartment and decided to hold off for a little while before going to Lee Roy Selmon's for dinner. Katie and I were flipping through the TV guide when it happened. Let me preface things by saying Andrew had told us of a great show on CMT (yes, THAT CMT...we thought he was crazy as well) called My Big Redneck Wedding. An episode was on, so we decided to check it out. Nearly two and a half hours later, all four of us were hurting from laughter. Words cannot provide this reality show justice, especially John and Gail's episode.

We decided if we didn't stop watching the show and go to dinner at 8 p.m., it was not going to happen. This helped us to keep the theme of perfect timing as we missed the dinner rush. After waiting for a few minutes, we went straight to being seated and served. The food was great, and the company made it even better. I can't remember the last time I laughed as hard as Saturday. An early morning awaited all of us on Sunday, so we watched John and Gail's episode once more in addition to a gem provided by a couple from Lithia, Fla., before calling it a night.

DAY THREE

Andrew and I wanted to get on the road to Vero Beach by 9 a.m., and we hit the target despite losing an hour to moving the clocks ahead. Josh and Katie had planned on kayaking and also needed to get on the road. After the goodbyes, we were off. A stop at Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast was all that stood between us and Dodgertown - well, that and about three hours of nothing with the exception of YeeHaw Junction.

Christa McElyea interned with me at UF during my sports information days, and she now works for the Dodgers' minor league club in Vero Beach. She had reserved our seats months ago, so we were anxious to see what kind of rockstar treatment we'd receive. As we defied the GPS and took a couple of backroads to get to the park, we parked for free and walked through to the front of the complex known as Dodgertown - this the final season LA would be training at the Vero complex. It was cool to be able to say we attended a game here.

When we got to the ticket booth, Tommy Lasorda nearly knocked us over on a golf cart. Ron Sainto walked right by us on his way to the field to throw out a ceremonial first pitch. We made it to our seats - fifth row behind the Dodgers' on-deck circle - and awed at how Christa had come through for us. Almost immediately after taking our seats, Christa belted out the national anthem and suddenly Larry King (yep, the one from CNN) was introducing the two voices of the Dodgers, who came out and shared stories and thanks with the crowd. "He sounds exactly like Vin Scully should sound." - Andrew...not sure what that means looking back on it, but it sounded profound Sunday in the sun-basked glory of baseball and vacation.

The game, for the most part, was exactly what you would expect from a spring training game. We were able to see Mike Lowell and Manny Ramirez, which we did not on Saturday in Fort Myers. Dice-K threw four innings, breaking Andruw Jones' knees on a gyro called third strike in the third inning. In the fifth inning, Andrew took a break from taking pictures and asked me if I recognized someone else in the crowd. I turned back to where he was talking and sure enough, James Van Der Beek (yep, Dawson) was sitting two rows behind us and a section over. Apparently, he's a big Dodger fan. Who knew?

We headed out of our section at the end of the eighth inning to avoid the autograph traffic and stopped to say thank you one last time to Christa for the seats. Just beyond the first base sections of chairback seats, we watched LA put the finishing touches on a 4-0 victory over Boston. After a couple of minutes of chit-chat with Christa, we made it to the souvenir shop, where I bought a t-shirt, and headed back to the car. First, we took some pictures in front of the Dodgertown signs knowing that this would be our last opportunity to ever do so. It was an accomplished afternoon.

We ate on the beach at a restaurant named Mulligan's. The fish was awesome, and the atmosphere was exactly what you would expect from a shop that not only met your nutritional needs but also sold chapstick, sun screen and beach towels. As all good things must do, it was time for an end and the drive back.

We cursed the GPS for sending us back through Orlando on the turnpike, but it was too late before we realized what it was doing. However, it did not kill our spirit. Lots of laughter was had looking back on the last couple of days before returning to reality in Valdosta. We shared our pictures and it was time for bed.

All in all, it was one of the best weekends of my life. I wish Taylor had joined us, which would be my only regret. I hope everyone enjoys reading this recap.

Until next time, War Eagle.

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