Making Good Time

Last night we did arrive in Jacksonville - covering a hefty 600 miles on the road.

The Prince, with the help of some parental marketing, decided upon Hooters *family* restaurant for dinner.

Wow. Let's just say the staff in Florida was a lot more possessive of *qualities important to the superficial male* (credit Jerry Seinfeld) than the Hooters I went to in Philadelphia back in the mid-1990s.

The tank tops are fine, but the tiny shorts, the way they sit down at the table to take your order, and the flirting are a little over the top - not to mention the *hula hoops*! The waitresses there can be described as nothing short of *reluctant strippers*, IMO.

Why did we stop there?

I told y'all - because my son chose it!

Also, I recall faintly that their wings were pretty good - I had them years ago, the lightly-breaded variety.

But they weren't that good this time. And not-for-nuthin'....they have to start cutting off the freakin' wingtips.

FYI, if you are going to go to Hooters *family* restaurant, try to get the seat next to the kitchen window. That's where we were put. From that perch you'll have a perfect view of ALL of these reluctant stripper waitresses running(!) to pick-up their food orders.

We had a much, much better lunch in Smithfield, North Carolina.

I highly recommend stopping there, about 2-3 miles off I-95 for some terrific BBQ.

We thoroughly enjoyed every part of the Combination Platter - BBQ (that's *pulled pork*, yankees), fried chicken, slaw, potato salad, and fantabulous hush puppies. Also, their sweet tea is some of the best, if not the best I've ever had.

The kids behaved angelically considering we did 10 solid hours of driving. While my son did read for a bit and his sister was hard at work with her *art*....I did let them watch three movies on the DVD player - Narnia, Harry and the Hendersons, a SpongeBob video, and one other one that I can't remember. You see we have that DVD player built-in with the Tahoe that comes with headphones. Furthermore, it has *channels* so I can listen to the radio aloud while they listen to the movie (or CD) through their headphones.  This feature is nothing short of HUGE for long trips.

I'd say that I enjoyed yet another benefit of starving my kids of color TV. When they get a chance to watch something, anything, like they did yesterday....they become very excited. I'd imagine a kid who gets to watch that crap all the time might have started kicking my seat during a 10-hour drive.

We crashed at a $30/night Motel 6, where I'm typing this, that I must say is positively DISGUSTING. And for me to say that is really something. Thank God my wife isn't here as she'd have me pack up and find another place to stay!

For one thing, this *non-smoking* room smells like crap. Probably someone smoked in it (often the *help*!) and so they nuked it with some explosive, cheap air-freshener or something. One bed had burrs stuck on the covers and it had cigarette burn holes through it. There's no refrigerator (okay now because it's cold enough outside); there were only three pillows on two double beds; and they only left us half a roll of toilet tissue (1-ply smudger). You get the picture anyway. And believe me....I'm far from a snob in these matters.

That's got to be one of the most Moronic things I've EVER SEEN - a *no smoking* sign placed ON THE BOTTOM of an up-turned ashtray. Way to go Motel 6!

Short 2.333 hour ride today to Orlando - where we'll hang out with a displaced South Philly jabroni and his family.

Then on Wednesday we'll polish off the last four hours of the drive to Naples.

It's supposed to be 78 degrees then!