Seek first to understand . . . or, drop a buck on number seven and win a T-Shirt. Florida's long tradition of nature as roadside attraction -- Gatorland, Gator Park, Gatorama, Alligator Farm -- is alive and well on Captiva, where a flashing marquee outside the 'Tween Waters Inn proclaimed: "Crab races!" Inside, a crab wrangler with a Sham-wow! headset hustled the crowd in a P.T. Barnum banter. Granted, racing hermit crabs wasn't exactly cock fighting, gator wrestling, or donkey diving, but surely those crabs weren't running to the edge of that table for exercise. I thought of the fire-juggling bagpipe player, the fire-juggling stilt walker, the fire juggling magician, the fire jugglings acrobat, and the fire juggling mime I'd seen a couple of days prior, at Mallory Square in Key West. I guess it's no accident that Ringling Brothers called Florida Home. I'm reminded of this today, because Florida's next governor may be Alex Sink, a descendant of Ong and Beng Seng, the famous Siamese Twins who came to fame, and a decent fortune, working for P.T. Barnum. The brothers married sisters and settled as farmers in Mount Airy, North Carolina, a city perhaps best known as the birthplace of actor Andy Griffith -- the real-life Mayberry.
The good stuff:
burnt sage
glassblowers
beer by the yard
cheap sunglasses
bakeries
free wi-fi
Hoover Dam
voting in primaries
dulcimers
newspaper cereal samples
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