Everglades National Park

Leaving behind Thomas A. Edison Museum in Fort Myers, we headed for the Everglades National Park in south Florida.

Where is the best place to visit in Florida? It's very difficult to answer.

But, if you like the nature, the most I want to recommend you to visit is the Everglades National Park.

Disney Resorts, SeaWorld and Universal Studios are, of course, very nice and worth visiting.
But, to watch and feel the wildlife by yourself is quite different from those theme parks or museums.

I uploaded two videos taken in the Everglades National Park. One is featured with wild dolphins and the other is with wild birds and alligators on May 3 and April 26.

Today, I've uploaded pictures of alligators living just next to the route US41. Those alligators always hear the sound of traffic.

Marine Day

Today is Marine Day or Ocean Day in Japan. It is a national holiday celebrated on the third Monday in July.

I did not go to any beach nor place which commands the ocean view today. What did I do today? I went to the mountain area in northern Tochigi to play tennis with my friends yesterday and came back today.

I can't remember when was the last time for me to go on an overnight trip for tennis. I'm sure it must have been more than fifteen years ago.

I enjoyed playing tennis in a country area and staying in a beautiful place.

I took following two pictures from the balcony of my hotel room.


Flowers were blooming nearby the tennis court. I don't know the name of the flower, do you?

Thomas A. Edison Museum

We went to Fort Myers on our trip in Florida. We cooked waffle with honey by ourselves for breakfast at the hotel we stayed. Hot waffles were really delicious.

Do you know who invented an electric waffle iron?

...

Yes, Thomas A. Edison did in 1910.

We went to Edison Museum or “Edison and Ford Winter Estates” in Fort Myers after finishing our breakfast.

There are three tours. The lab tour is 15 minutes and the estate tour is an hour and a half, and the gardens ...

We took the lab tour. After the tour, we watched a video about Edison and looked exhibitions carefully in the museum.

The upper left picture shows an original electric waffle iron.

There was the first banyan tree in the U.S. planted by Edison. The tree, it is said, originally only 4 feet (1.2 m) tall, covers 400 feet (120 m) now.

Some say that it is an overpriced exhibition, 20$ per person but I really enjoyed staying at the Estates.

Dunlop Tennis Tournament

I took part in "Dunlop Tochigi Preliminary Tennis Tournament" today with my company colleague, Mr. Ikeda.
It was my third time to participate in tennis tournaments with him.

As competitors' tennis skills were quite high, we were defeated at the first round match. Then, after that, we joined a consolation match and barely won the match thanks to the opponent's repeated miss shots. lol

It's in the middle of rainy season now in Japan.

We've been having rainy days and cloudy days half-and-half recently in Tochigi. I'm satisfied with having been able to play tennis today.

We can enjoy seeing hydrangeas here and there these days in Utunomiya.
I took these two pictures in Isoyama shrine in Kanuma city.

:-)

Take Me Out to the Tampa Bay Rays

We went to the Major League Baseball team Tampa Bay Rays' ballpark called Tropicana Field.
The ballpark is located in St. Petersburg, Florida.

For no baseball game was held on the day, we had nothing to do but walking around the stadium to see nearby area.
After walking about half around the ballpark, luckily we found one entrance gate was opening.

I asked one of the maintenance workers of the baseball field to let us come in to take a glance at the inside of the stadium.

The worker at first had said NO, but I asked again and again, then told us, “OK, come in but quick, very quick.”

We walked inside the playfield for a few minutes and took some pictures.

I thought I would someday watch a real major league baseball game in the States and sing a song 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame.'

"Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is a song which is the unofficial anthem of baseball. The song is traditionally sung between the halves of the seventh inning of a baseball game.

My wife Kiyono loves the song.

'Take Me Out to the Ballgame'

Take me out to the ball game

Take me out to the crowd

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack

I don't care if I never get back

Let me root, root, root

for the home team

If they don't win, it's a shame

For it's one, two, three strikes

You're out

At the old ball game.

WAL*MART and Panda Express

Visiting tourist spots and eating at luxurious restaurants must be fun to most tourists. Of course they are also great fun to me.

But, sometimes I want to go to local supermarkets or franchised food shops where I buy food and drink to eat at hotel.

Do you know why?

One of the reasons is that I’m the only driver in my family while traveling. So, I can’t drink as much beer as I want when I eat at a restaurant in the States. On the other hand, I feel very relaxed drinking beer at a hotel.

Another reason is that it’s fun for me to find differences of size of food and prices comparing to those in Japanese supermarkets.

No need to say, everything is cheaper and bigger in the States than in Japan.

Who eats that big size ice cream, and how?

Melons are far far cheaper in the States than in Japan. I guess that one melon costs approximately one tenth!

I’m a fun of Panda Express fast food shop. They sell delicious foods at low prices with lovely free fortune cookies. The Fortune Cookie is a thin, crisp cookie baked around a piece of paper with words of wisdom.

St. Petersburg in Florida

The next morning, leaving behind Disney Resort Orlando, we went to St. Petersburg. It took us about four hours' driving.

One of my favorite pleasures of traveling foreign countries is seeing wild animals which we could see only in a zoo, in Japan.

There were lots of wild pelicans flying, swimming and walking in St. Petersburg.

Rina is looking carefully at a pelican awhile.

We visited Salvador Dalí Museum. I thought Dalí was really a genius.

St. Petersburg is a very beautiful city. We walked around the pier area and went to the library of University of South Florida to get some information of Florida.

Disney Resort Epcot in Orlando

There are four different Disney theme parks and two water parks in, Florida.
* Magic Kingdom Park
* Epcot
* Disney's Animal Kingdom Park
* Disney's Hollywood Studios
* Disney's Blizzard Beach
* Disney's Typhoon Lagoon
After visiting to the Seaworld, we went to Disney Resort Epoct. That was our third day in Orlando. We couldn't ask for better weather from the morning Spaceship Earth to the night fireworks.

Wherever you may go, you can find Mickey's face in Epcot. We are having lunch in a restaurant. Even on the milk pack, Mickey is printed.

Spaceship Earth is the iconic and symbolic structure of Epcot. (Up Right)

We went to the Morocco Pavilion, part of the World Showcase in Epcot and drunk a cup of mint tea.
IllumiNations is a 12-minute show featuring fireworks, laser light effects , fountain water and a soundtrack.

Rainy Weekend / Nao Cup Tennis Tournament

I participated in a tennis tournament again today, with Ms. Tajima who is one of our tennis team Yuzu members and a mother of twin daughters.

We had barely been able to beat the opponent team at the first round and waited for the second round. Then, the staff of the tournament canceled the rest of all matches due to the bad weather.

I was disappointed that we couldn't play enough matches.
But, the tennis courts are located in the beautiful park in Utsunomiya city near Kinu river. I enjoyed taking pictures of poppies and the poppy field in the rain.

Mohka Tennis Tournament Is Canceled

I planned to take part in a tennis tournament last Sunday with my daughter Rina. But, it rained. As a result, the tournament was canceled. We were really sorry for not being able to play tennis with whom we were not familiar.

I'm a member of the tennis club "Yuzu." I play tennis two to three times a week with the club members. I know the members play style very well. So, I'm excited to have a chance to play tennis with unfamiliar players very much.

Though the tournament was canceled, the tennis association allowed the would-be-participants to play tennis there for fun. So, my club members and I played in the rain for a couple of hours.

SeaWorld in Orlando

I went to the SeaWorld in Orland with Chris, Kim and my family in the last trip to U.S.A.
There were a lot of attractions in the SeaWorld, not only killer whale show of which I uploaded a video a few weeks ago, but also roller coasters, aquariums, zoos, ...

I took rides in roller coasters with Rina, took pictures of animals, and played with a dolphin.
Every moment in the SeaWorld became wonderful memory to me.

The picture was taken just when my cap was flying off my head.
Luckily the guy behind me had swiftly caught it and gave it back to me.

Children's Day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUZYYdBCMcw

Children's Day is a Japanese national holiday which falls on May 5.
It is a day to respect children's personalities and to celebrate their happiness.
I went to Okamoto park and Jidayubori park in Setagaya, Tokyo on May 5. I lived in Setagaya early 1990s and frequently visited Okamoto park.
There are traditional Japanese houses in the park and the staff members of the park celebrate every national holiday in its traditional ways.
It was unfortunately rainy but I enjoyed wonderful day there.


Before Children's day, families with boys raise carp-shaped Koinobori streamers and traditional Japanese military helmet, Kabuto. The Kabuto are symbols of a strong and healthy boy.
A carp is said in the Chinese legend that it swims upstream to become a dragon.
And the way the streamers blow in the wind looks like they are swimming.