Road Trip With Eggshells

I'm back in Tampa this morning, and back at my Dunkin' Donuts. Once again, I showed up at 6:08 a.m., the lights were on and there were cars in the parking lot, but the door was locked. I stood out there like an idiot for several minutes, unable to see anyone inside. Finally a guy who looked like he was about to go bass fishing wandered up outside with a key, said "I got ya buddy," and opened the door.

I said, "I don't understand this place. They say they open at 5 a.m. but they never do."

He said, "I think they just forget to unlock the damn door."

We both came inside and he went behind the counter and appeared to have a little talk with some people back there as he got my coffee -- which he gave me free. I think he's the manager. I heard the others apologizing to him.

Anyway, all Dunkin' Drama aside, my trip back to Tampa was fine yesterday. I set out from my brother's pretty early, and drove down via Palatka and Interlachen, a different route from the one I took last week to get to Jacksonville. I stopped at a scenic riverfront park to take some pictures (top) before crossing the St. Johns River in Green Cove Springs. By Palatka I needed breakfast, so I stopped at the proverbial golden arches and ordered an Egg McMuffin, and got one with extra calcium -- the thing contained so much eggshell it crunched with every bite. (I know it was eggshell because I checked.)

I ate it anyway.

Some interesting roadside manifestations of religion I encountered:

This was outside Palatka, and it appeared to be a car wash. It wasn't until after I took my photos that I realized someone was asleep on that porch.

This little church is in Citra, near Ocala.

And so is this one. I remember when we used to drive north to my grandmother's every year, I always looked out for this beautiful little historic church.

When I got back to North Tampa after several hours of driving, I stopped off at a Goodwill near the Interstate. This place was packed with stuff, but I didn't see anything I wanted. (The bar is high, since anything I buy I'd have to lug back to England.) I was, however, tempted to buy this t-shirt for Dave:

I couldn't do it, not even for just $2.98, not even as a joke. I did, however, send him a picture.

This perfectly illustrates what's so perplexing about the Trump phenomenon. Have you ever seen any other presidential candidate depicted in such terms? How ridiculous would it be to have Richard Nixon or Bill Clinton astride a tank, holding an AR-15 with dollar bills fluttering carelessly from his pockets? I mean, it's ridiculous for Trump too, but I find it mystifying that he inspires that kind of imagery. (Pretty accurate in terms of how he manages money, though.)

Last night I met for dinner with my college friends John and Sue, and had a great time. We went to a little microbrewery near their house, and I brought them the ancient copy of the Miami Herald that someone donated to our library several months ago. Sue is from Miami and they're both journalists and well acquainted with the paper, so I knew they'd love it. John said they'd take it to work at the Tampa paper and show it around. I'm glad I found a home for it.

On the way home, I stopped for a delicious peanut butter shake at Bo's, a legendary drive-up ice cream place on Florida Avenue. Made my night!