Back in October I wrote a travel essay on my 2025 vacation in Michigan. In that essay, I noted that I had been in Michigan only once before – when I changed planes in Detroit. This travel essay is a bit different in that regard. Per my count, I have visited Florida 23 times over the past twenty or so years. Per my calculations, I have spent roughly one half year of my life in Florida.
Twelve of those visits, like my last, were over the Christmas and New Year’s Day holidays, when my wife and I visited our youngest daughter and her family in the Tampa area. But over the years we have also explored most of Florida: from the panhandle to Key West, from St. Augustine to Ocala, from Daytona to the Everglades, from the glass-bottomed boats at Silver Springs State Park to the mermaids at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park.
While Jesus is the Reason for the Season, family was the reason for this year’s trip. We were able to see our granddaughter practice volleyball, open presents on Christmas morning with the Aliceas, and visit a niece that recently moved to the Tampa area. But each year, our daughter and her husband plan a few extra things (e.g., trips, events) to make our visits more memorable. I will focus on some of this year’s experiences herein:
Nutcracker: We attended a matinee performance of Nutcracker at the Straz Center in downtown Tampa. The ballet’s story begins in 1893, on Christmas Eve, with the Silberhaus family hosting a grand party in St. Petersburg, Russia. The festivities are interrupted when Clara’s uncle, a magician, gives Clara a Nutcracker doll. Late that night, Clara’s uncle, for some reason, calls forth gigantic mice, which the Nutcracker (also bigger and more lifelike) successfully battles. The Nutcracker later transforms into a charming prince who takes Clara on a magical sleigh ride to St. Petersburg Square where they are greeted by the Sugar Plum Fairy and a court of dancers. Clara awakes back in her home – was it just a dream? My only criticism of the performance was that the Nutcracker was not as gigantic as I had pictured in my mind.
As we left the Straz Center after the ballet, I glanced across the Hillsborough River at the gleaming minarets of Plant Hall on the campus of the University of Tampa. Those minarets were built (for the Tampa Bay Hotel) about the same time that Tchaikovsky wrote the Nutcracker in 1892. In my mind, they resembled the minarets of Russia – the minarets of St. Petersburg. That view, of the minarets, made the ballet even more memorable to me.
Midnight Mass: Over the last sixteen or so years I have spent most of my Christmas eves attending Midnight Mass at Espiritu Santo Catholic Church, in Safety Harbor. The service begins at about 11:15 PM with a choir singing a variety of traditional and non-traditional Christmas carols. The service is also filled with music, and the Very Reverend Father Len Piotrowski’s homilies never disappoint me. As a Midwesterner, I always find it memorable when I exit the church to warm temperatures, a flowing fountain, and palm trees. This year was even more memorable because my wife, daughter, and son-in-law attended this very late service with me. It was a holy night.
Selby Gardens: Our longest journey this year was to Selby Gardens in downtown Sarasota. Selby Gardens is memorable because it is home to the most diverse collection of living epiphytes (air plants) in the world. The garden also features massive banyans from tropical Asia and spectacular examples of trees from the fig genus, including the iconic Moreton Bay fig (Ficus macrophylla) from Australia. A temporary exhibit featured an immersive installation of preserved flowers by Rebecca Louise Law, a contemporary British artist. The flowers (more than two million) were individually sewn and suspended from the ceiling of the garden’s Display Conservatory. The Selby Gardens will be even more memorable when phase two of the master plan, which is now under construction, is completed.
Christmas Cruise: The image accompanying this essay commemorates our first “annual” cruise on the Hillsborough River. My son-in-law, Captain Jeff, launched his Hurricane SS 188 at the Davis Island public dock. He and his crew of eight then headed north through Hillsborough Bay – by the big bulk freighters – to downtown Tampa. We traveled east past the convention center on Garrison Channel, and then north past the Florida Aquarium on Ybor Channel. Then we backtracked to the west before heading north on the Hillsborough River to the Sulfur Springs Water Tower. We docked along the way for lunch at Ricks. It was a fun and memorable six-hour cruise. Thanks Captain Jeff!
As to the “Christmas Cruise” image, it was AI generated via two commands, during a ChatGPT demonstration, as we were rolling down Interstate-4 in Captain Jeff’s truck. The first command included the highlights of the cruise (e.g., Christmas, Hurricane SS 188, names). The second command requested the addition of the Tampa skyline. ChatGPT apparently added Santa’s sleigh because of the “Christmas” reference. I am not sure what happened to Santa’s sleigh and three of his reindeer. It looks like some kind of mid-air collision; maybe it was just another AI hallucination. Thankfully, it was not a bad omen for the cruise.
Van Gogh: We also viewed “Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” while in Tampa. The experience started with an overview of Van Gogh’s somewhat tragic life. The last exhibit did indeed immerse us in his work – 360 degrees of ever-changing art. The experience was made even more memorable when my wife selected an AI-generated portrait of herself, in a Van Gogh-style.
Tijon Perfumerie: For the ladies (my wife, daughter, and granddaughter) a visit to the Tijon Perfumerie was memorable. In a couple of hours, they created their own signature perfumes. Every whiff now brings forth a memory.
The Project: My son-in-law and I took advantage of the great Florida weather to turn a badly oxidized pink-flamingo-looking RV into a bright red RV deserving its name – “Clifford” (the Big Red Dog). Applying three coats of Meguiar’s 1-Step Compound and two rinses of Meguiar’s Hybrid Ceramic Wax provided us with a bonding memory.
The UNO Championship: Since 2007, the extended family has competed in UNO (the card game) to win a traveling trophy (a plexiglass star inscribed – UNO CHAMPION “Me”). Those in attendance play until someone scores 500 or more points. The winner gets the trophy. For a statistically baffling period, that trophy has been maintained by the Alicea family in Tampa. This trip was memorable in that I was the first to 500 and have returned the trophy to Omaha, where it will hopefully continue to reside for many years to come. I have not smiled like this in years.
It was indeed a memorable vacation!