Through the Windshield Episode 2: Rapid Fire, Snow Birds, and Local Life

     As I mentioned in last week's blog, this week we'll be covering more of spring break 2017. In the first blog we talked about everything from Nazis to drunk frat boys.  This week we'll be covering a large variety of topics including the 'snow bird' lifestyle, and a rapid fire section covering my first impressions of each state I traveled to, among other things. 

Rapid Fire

• Florida: Old people...old people everywhere.  I dropped the median age by 20 years or more in every room I walked into. 
• Alabama: Like an old run down Wisconsin, but with less teeth.  
• Tennessee: Guns, whiskey, and country music.  Basically...'Murica.
• Kentucky: Tennessee's annoying copy-cat little brother that tries to do everything Tennessee does, but does none of it as well.  
• Illinois: Home.
• It's never, I repeat, NEVER, fun to drive in Nashville, especially not when you're in a 40 foot RV.  
• Old people like to talk so shut up and listen, you'll learn something.  
• Everyone has better roads and rest stops than Illinois.  
• There's bears in Florida.  Which means bear crossing signs.  Who knew?
• Snow birds either flaunt their money or hardly open their wallet.  There's really no in between.
• People in Florida love their cars (this goes back to the previous rapid fire point) 

Snow Birds

     If you're not familiar with the term snow birds, a snow bird is a retiree or otherwise old person who spends their winters in Florida but then lives the rest of the year elsewhere (generally a miserable, frozen state, like Illinois).  They generally live in RV/trailer communities consisting of mostly or all snowbirds and retirees.
     The first thing I learned about snow birds is that they know how to party.  Over the four days that I was there we played bocce, went to a movie at the RV park, went to a concert and that was all before the weekend hit full swing.  Saturday they had live music, raffles, giveaways,  and food trucks.  FOOD TRUCKS! Right at the RV Park! One of them was an ice cream truck, I was all set.  All this and it wasn't their 'spring break', this was just 'Saturday'.  I was being offered free food, free beverages (both adult and otherwise), asked to dance-old people don't hold back on the floor by the way, and I'm pretty sure I was hit on at least a few times...
     The second thing I learned about snow birds is that they like to keep busy.  We were up around 6am every day and didn't slow down once.  I didn't partake in all the activities at the park but just to name a select few there was multiple pools, a wood shop, a pottery/craft shop, billiards, bocce (found out I'm pretty good at this), horseshoes, movies, a church, tennis courts, pickle courts - it's basically tiny tennis, boat docks, fishing, dog walks, and tons of other stuff.  My point is, snow birds don't stop.  I was exhausted by the end of the week just from trying all the new things, meeting all the new people, and having tons of fun doing it.  I had a theory on why they all tried to keep busy so I talked to my grandpa about this and he confirmed it, most of the snow birds are widows and widowers so they're missing a big chunk of their life.  They no longer have that companionship that played such a key role for the past 30, 40, 50, or more years.  So their best option is to keep the mind busy and make as many friends as possible.  I did meet one couple that had been married for 66 years now who were celebrating their anniversary that weekend.  They were more in love than most people could even dream of being.  Just one more thing you can learn from old people - pick the right companion and love only gets better with age.  Going along with that, if you have a grandparent who has lost their spouse: go hang out with them, call them, text them or message them on Facebook(snow birds are getting more and more tech savvy and people over the age of 60 are one of the fastest growing social media demographics), and offer up your time to show them they're loved and they're not alone. 

Local Life

     Whenever I travel I try to make it a point to experience as much of the local life as possible.  This means food, attractions, hangouts, and sometimes local landmarks.  Some of these are tourist destinations, but most aren't, and I like it that way.  I really think that experiencing local life is the best way to travel and I highly recommend it.  Ask a local where the best place to grab lunch is, look up local historic sites, and know what the locals do for fun.
     On this trip I got the opportunity to see some of the most expensive cars I've ever seen drive around the Sebring International Raceway, a world famous race track not 10 minutes outside of town that if you didn't ask about it or if you aren't already a fan you wouldn't even know it existed.  I got to eat at a diner straight out of the 1950's with literally the best breakfast I've had in years.

Seriously, straight out of the 50's. 

     We took in a Twins/Rays baseball game.  I ate at the world's first tiki bar, which was recommended  to us by a local by the way.  But by far the best experience of my trip was being able to stop at the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Ft. Pierce, FL.  This is a place full of unique historical artifacts and stories.  Since I'm a military history nerd this was basically heaven for me.  I sat in a blackhawk helicopter from the battle of Mogadishu, saw the lifeboat that Captain Philips was rescued from, saw a brick from Osama Bin Laden's compound, and saw some amazing boats, weapons, drones, and other artifacts.  I could have geeked out here for days, and if you know me, you know that isn't an exaggeration.  But I wouldn't have known the place even existed had we not gotten the inside scoop from someone.

I think I need this boat from the SEAL museum.  Don't you?

When it comes to traveling, there's always more to see.  But the important part is making the most of what you do see and who you're seeing it with.  So enjoy your time looking through the windshield.  But more importantly, make as many memories as possible with the person in the passenger seat.