Posts tagged Mexico
Good morning 2012. Here’s my AWESOME life so far. #NewYearsDay
0While watching the ball drop in Times Square last night, I got to thinking about the time Shannon and I went to see that happen in person years ago. This got me thinking about the remarkable life I’ve somehow lead over the past [insert obscure number to make my age seem insignificant] years.
So this morning I present: “the story so far.”
Shannon & I watched the ball drop in Time Square in New York City back in 2005.

Other notable things we’ve done in New York:
- Went to the top of the World Trade Center. (That’s where the photo above was taken.)
- Saw the Rockettes perform at Radio City Music Hall on Christmas Day.
- Got engaged on the top of the Empire State Building.
- Saw a couple of Broadway shows.
- Visited Central Park, the zoo, and a few museums.
We’ve driven cross country from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.

We do a lot of driving:
- We’ve driven as far north as New York (from Florida.)
- We’ve driven as far south as Key West (to the Southernmost Point.)
We once rode the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror by ourselves.

Theme parks we’ve found our way to:
- Magic Kingdom
- EPCOT
- Animal Kingdom
- The Hollywood (aka Disney/MGM) Studios
- Disneyland
- California Adventure
- Universal Studios Florida
- Universal Studios Hollywood
- Islands of Adventure
- Busch Gardens Tampa
We’ve been to the Alamo in Texas.

We’ve had beignets and coffee in the French Quarter in New Orleans

I’ve been to the Daytona 500 with my pal Joey Snackpants.

We’ve been twenty feet under the ocean in the Bahamas.

We saw the damn Hoover Dam in Arizona and Nevada.

We’ve dropped in on Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (and confirmed that it is almost just like most parts of Orlando, Florida.)

We’ve gone white water rafting on the Arkansas River in Colorado.

Other amazing things we’ve done in Colorado:
- Went white water rafting again the next year… in class five rapids.
- Drove to the top of Mount Evans (the highest paved road in the U.S.)
- Went tubing in Clear Creek near Golden, CO.
We ate crab cakes on the harbor in Baltimore, Maryland.

We’ve been surrounded by alligators on an airboat in the Everglades.

We’ve been to the top of the Washington Monument in D.C.

Other Washington D.C. adventures include:
- Did a tour of the White House during Christmas.
- Walked ALL of the Smithsonian Museums.
- Visited all the major monuments including the Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt.
We have been to the top of the sombrero at South of The Border (South Carolina.)

We’ve visited the Chichén Itzá pyramid and ruins in Mexico.

More Mexico zaniness that ensued:
- We went diving at Cenote Ik Kil Mexico (a giant sinkhole in the ground.)
- We ate tacos and drank beer and tequila.
- I went to a 24 hour Walmart with some friends. (Trust me; this counts as an adventure in Mexico.)
We’ve been to the Grand Canyon.

We’ve been to Las Vegas a number of times.

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but I can tell you this much:
- We once saw the Spice Girls perform at Mandalay Bay.
- We saw Holly Madison’s real fake boobies in Peepshow at Planet Hollywood.
- We saw the Beatles Cirque de Soleil show “Love.”

More important Chicago adventures included:
- Going to the top of the Willis (Sears) Tower.
- Eating pizza (at Gino’s East.)
- Visiting that Art Institute and other local museums.
We’ve been to Indianapolis, Indiana a couple of times.

I’ve visited Los Angeles, California a couple of times now.

Some highlights:
- Joey Snackpants and I crashed the Occupy Los Angeles protest and grabbed food in Chinatown.
- Shannon and I drove down the Pacific Coast Highway and saw the sights.
- Phoenix, Arizona. It was really boring both times I’ve been. Sorry.
- San Diego, California. We didn’t have much time there, but it seemed nice enough!
- Biloxi, Mississippi. Shannon won money in the casinos there. She still hasn’t let me forget that.
- Miami, Florida. More times than we can count. Food, fun, concerts and more.
- St. Louis, Missouri. I went there one business trip and saw the Cardinals play in series game while there.
My wife’s @HardRock Cafe Teddy Bear collection (with pics!)
0Last Monday I wrote a post about the spoils from my travels over the past few years: my Starbucks mug collection. Today, though, is the collection in our house over ten years in the making… Shannon’s Hard Rock Cafe Teddy Bear collection.
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (NOTE: This location is now closed.)

La Jolla, California (NOTE: This location is now closed.)

BONUS BEAR! This is an angel bear we bought from the Hard Rock Hotel in Orlando before starting our cross country drive in 2007.

Flickr Friday: Sometimes name brands don’t translate very well.
1The lovely ladies seem confused in Cancun, Mexico.
I occasionally update new photos (and old ones that I scan) on my Flickr account. In doing so, I get to revisit a lot of photos I’ve taken while travelling. Each Friday, I plan on posting a photo that I think is interesting. Maybe you’ll think so, too.
My Boring Ass Life Last Year: 2010 In Review
0- Ate a giant burger at The Vortex in Atlanta, Georgia. This was the beginning of my Man v. Food pilgrimage that would take me to eight different restaurants!
- Saw snow again for the first time in years.
- Blogged about bad service and got the attention of Ford Motor Company.
- Showed up on Fox 35 News in Orlando, Florida.
- Started watching Doctor Who for the first time in my life. (I figured I should go in order and should be “current” by 2014 at this rate!)
- Pissed off a bunch of BotCon (aka “BotFAIL”) fans.
- Saw a giant pyramid in Cancun, Mexico.
- Visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (before the grand opening.)
- Met Peter Cullen – the voice of Optimus Prime.
- Pissed off a bunch of BotCon (aka “BotFAIL”) fans… again.
- Made it to the top of Mount Evans in Colorado.
- Showed up in a silly webcomic.
- Saw Weird Al Yankovic in concert.
- Attended Gen Con and visited Indianapolis, Indiana for the first time.
- Got the greatest Battlestar Galactica dinner story of all time at Dragon*Con.
- Got heavily involved in social media and wound up the local newspaper.
- Attended Anime Weekend Atlanta again. Zaniness ensued.
- Started to digitally archive a bunch of old photos which (thus far) have resulted in some classic geek photos and some very Presidential ones.
- Attended NeonCon in Las Vegas, Nevada.
- Saw the Grand Canyon… and almost died.
- Went to Dinosaur World. EPIC.
I read a lot of books, went a lot of places, and did a lot of things. Life, in my humble opinion, is meant to be lived like a video game. Each level should be more exciting than the last – so I’m looking forward to what crazy shit I pull off in 2011. InvaderCON is already going to be amazing. The Florida Anime Experience is already on deck to be epic (keep watching; we’re still making stuff “official”). Shannon and I are already discussing where to go for our annual anniversary trip in November.
My geek life will hopefully cart me off to some pretty amazing locales for some blog-worthy experiences.
This will be my ninth year writing about my life online for the world to read about me. If you’re still with me, thanks for taking the time to read about my boring ass life. I write to stay sane and to maek sure my grammmar skills stai intact. Hopefully the writing is entertaining enough to keep all five (ten?) of you still reading.
Have a wonderful and eventful 2011!
Flickr Friday: Can you see the pyramid from here?
0Shannon checking out Chichén Itzá in Mexico.
I occasionally update new photos (and old ones that I scan) on my Flickr account. In doing so, I get to revisit a lot of photos I’ve taken while travelling. Each Friday, I plan on posting a photo that I think is interesting. Maybe you’ll think so, too.
Cancun Day Six: Time to Go Home
1Our final day in Cancun was bittersweet. It was hard to say goodbye to the blue beaches and AWESOME tacos, but many of us were ready to return home to our own beds and safe drinking water. That morning, though, we went down to the beach one more time. Here are some of my other favorite photos I took during the trip…
A great view of the resort’s beach at sunset (taken from the water)

Did I mention how blue the water was?

A bunch of crazy drunks after that night at Carlos & Charlie’s

My balls being eaten by the alligator outside of the Rainforest Cafe

Cancun Day Five, Part 2: Cenote Ik Kil
2From Wikipedia:
A cenote is a sinkhole with exposed rocky edges containing groundwater. It is typically found in the Yucatán Peninsula and some nearby Caribbean islands. The term is derived from a word used by the low-land Yucatec Maya to refer to any location where groundwater is accessible.
After leaving Chichén Itzá, the tour bus took us to a local cenote called Cenote Ik Kil. The weekend before, it was the site of a Red Bull diving competition and the location is breathtaking to behold. Though we didn’t have a ninety foot platform to dive off of, the stairs still took us up a good thirty or so feet high to jump into the water. Here’s a video of Chris, Angie(!), Scott, Troy and I taking the plunge:
The water has oxygen pumped into it making it a clear blue. You can see the fish (and there are plenty of them) swimming around as you wade in the cool water. The pool itself goes down over a hundred feed. Oddly enough (as you can see in the photo above) most people didn’t get in the water. Me? I couldn’t stay out of it. Here’s me performing that graceful diving form known as “the cannonball”:





































