Florida - Gainesville

Since Gainesville is only about an hour north of us, we decided to make a day trip so that we could see the University of Florida campus.

There was a lot of road construction but we were able to find our way to the bookstore and welcome center

We had noticed a pretty full parking garage and we could see why.

Some sort of new student orientation and/or tours was going on.  It appeared that at least some of the attendees were high school seniors with their parents.  Boy were we a fish out of water!

We found our way upstairs so we could see the retail portion of the book store.

Ron usually buys a hat from a university when we visit so he found his way over to the wall sporting a gazillion hats.

Not sure if it really is great to be a Florida Gator but I guess at that moment we needed to play along.  This guy must be happy to be a gator.

Ron picked out a hat and we stood in line with the visiting kids/parents and were out the door.  We drove around the campus a bit but with all of the road closures and detours, it was difficult.  But we did find the baseball stadium.

And then it was time for lunch so we stopped here.

The burger was one of the best we'd ever had so it was a success.  And Ron was able to sport his new hat!

And then the best part of the day!

I'm not kidding when I say this movie is FANTASTIC!  Run, don't walk, to the nearest theater and see it NOW!  And if you have the opportunity, be sure to see it in IMAX or RPX (Regal Cinema format).  The sound is incredible and the theater shakes as they are flying the fighter jets.  And even though it is an action movie, it brought a tear to my eye at the end.  

We got outside about 3 minutes too late as it had just started to pour.  Not sure you can see the rain drops in this picture but it was pouring!

We hung out for a bit under cover and when the storm slowed down, we made a bee line to the truck.  And by the time we were 10 minutes south, the sun was out.

It was a good day - did I mention the movie was fantastic?????

We're moving on soon after a month in Florida.  Stay tuned.