TUESDAY, JULY 29, 2014
I think the quick pace of traveling was starting to lay heavy on us. It was not that we lacked excitement. The turnaround was taking its toll on us physically. If I remember correctly, I was so tired and delirious the night before that after getting ice, I returned to the wrong room and wondered why I couldn’t get in. I really hope there was no one in there. I know the last thing I would want to hear while trying to sleep is someone trying to get into my room repeatedly. We left the hotel and got breakfast at a nearby Waffle House. Chocolate chip waffles are now my friends but it is not a good relationship (thanks Thomas). I ate too much. Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park was open. The friendly park assistant stated that the key and envelope were left outside and she wondered why. Now it made sense to her. Thomas mentions that if we knew that the key was out there, we could have climbed over the fence and gotten the key. Oh well. Note to self: scaling fences is an option, but perhaps the better option is lesson 3, check the check in rules…
It made sense immediately why there was a fence that closed at night. This did not appear to be your regular state park filled with hiking trails, water and squirrels. The name of this park is so long because there is that much stuff going on. Imagine a mix of a park and historical site with interesting buildings around every bend nestled between large oak trees draped in spanish moss. “Is this our cabin? Is this really our cabin?” Down the long walkway from the parking space marked for our cabin, there was a huge screened in porch that enclosed two sides of the four sided grey cabin hugged by trees. I was felt dejected knowing that I was reason why we did not stay there last night. As wonderful as the hotel was, it didn’t have a double rocking chair and a porch swing.
This is quite the cabin. Perhaps I am a sucker for yet another fireplace, but this place was impressive. Heck, I could have stayed on the porch and been happy, which by the way also had two entrances to the two-bedroom cabin. Every need was accounted for including a recycling bin and there was even a guest book like the one in the cabin at Lake Catherine. I took some time to read some of the entries. Much like Lake Catherine State Park, either the guests had been there before and have made it a repeat destination, or they lucked up and took a chance, or unique to this location, they were there for a conference. We took some time to unpack and settle in, debrief and discuss our agenda…
*Disclaimer: when I originally began finalizing this first leg of the trip, I had a bit of a debacle. I was in the middle of a personal affair that I thought would be resolved before this trip. It ended up not to be the case and I would need to return to Baltimore at this point, which was why I planned on being in Florida for the two nights. I would fly home and return the following day. That also ended up not being the case; the entire thing was rescheduled for the end of the year and here I was with additional time in Florida. So what does one do while in Florida with extra time and close to the end of an amazing and successful shoot feeling like they are a rock-star and have garnered major kudos? You relax - kinda. Since we were there at the cabin working for a while, we weren’t ready to leave until later in the afternoon. The skies were looking ominous when we were ready to check out some things. In preparation for our venture, I brought my “rain jacket” and the poncho for Thomas. Sure enough, not too soon after we were on the road, the skies opened up. It poured with this torrential, blinding rain. You couldn’t see anything. Even I as the passenger was trying to see as much as I could out of the windshield hoping my extra vision was going to help Thomas see just that much more. As most people know that have been to Florida, it can rain like this and end in minutes. Needless to say it didn’t stop until the evening so it put a damper on the rest of the day. Oh and by the way, my “rain coat” was in fact not a raincoat. I would say it was more of a windbreaker.
Later in the evening we ate dinner at Unos and pizza and salad never tasted so delicious. It was late when we got back to Stephen Foster. What a difference it makes when you have the code to get in after hours. No need to scale a fence.