Florida

[elainegrey]

Bah, humidity.

I read Terry Pratchett on the plane, escaping the sardinitude of airline seating. I was appalled by the amount of onion on the salad i had picked up in the terminal. Surely they imagine folks carrying those into the little enclosed tubes. I hope it didn't annoy my seatmate.

In Florida i detoured from the route to the hotel to go to a Publix grocery store. This one, in it's far flung corner of Orlando was not the mouth-dropping temple to groceries i recalled from growing up, mainly because other stores have caught up with the initial standard. As i approached the tourist district of International Drive i passed another Publix that came up on my search. Oh, THAT ONE, that one must be a remarkable temple to groceries. Probably for the best i missed it.

I had enough time to drop my stuff and pack the fruits, veggies, salmon, and yogurt into the fridge when my aunt called to let me know she was downstairs. Then we were off to drive around the tourist district, where i tried to oblige in oohing and ahing at piles of tourist construction and lofty ride structures. Dinner at a tapas place, then off to Disney Springs, an outdoor mall with more tourist architecture. Dinner was delicious, the best part being a pineapple cider, and the walk pushed me over my step limits.

My parents and sister have all bemoaned my aunt & uncle's relationship, and i did pick up on some little jabs, but in general it was a pleasant visit.

***

The conference day passed with intensity, and i bailed out around 4:30 with the intent of catching up on things at the hotel. But first, i'd just read a little bit....

One novel later..... well, i must do my time card. All my plans about reading white papers went out the window.

Comments

Remarkable temples to groceries

[amaebi]

YES! I think periodically about the first good grocery in Southern Illinois, a Kroger, how now it would seem small and unremarkable. (It was also in the days when gourmet food meant cans-- just different cans.) And then I remember what normal grocery stores had been like. Wildly can-oriented. Kind of grimy.

[oakmouse]

I love the term "remarkable temple to groceries". Perfect.

I remember the Safeway store I grew up shopping in. It was a nice, neighborhood-sized store, and after the first Safeway superstore was built in my town we started calling ours "the little Safeway" to distinguish it from the monster. Then Safeway decided to tear down the little Safeway and build a superstore on the site. When it opened, wow, totally different world. Greeting cards and wine and drugstore sundries and office supplies and... actually less food. Also the bakery stopped making local favorites; their baked goods became a showcase of the average items that sold at every Safeway everywhere.

(If you read fantasy and SF, that was the Safeway store where David Eddings was the produce manager.)

(Edited to correct a few typos.)

[johnpalmer]

Good, absorbing reading is a *great* way to distract one's self from the torture that is air travel, and blessings on Pratchett (and his memory) for having so many options!