February 22, 2011 Busch-league in Tampa and our 3rd GPS of the trip...

I’m not the type that would ever have suggested going to Busch Gardens, but it was buried in our caravan fee so off we went.

We have a good time but Busch Gardens (owned by Sea World) could learn a lot from Disney. We ride a rollercoaster but the wait is close to three-quarters of an hour, the line curling in a building so we greatly underestimate the wait. No sign indicating the wait from a certain point. Later we take the train around the park, stopping in three stations. Each time the engineer cajoles people to squeeze together so more can board. More frequent trains would have been a better solution, or the use of a more orderly way of boarding passengers. At each stop we have to listen to the same loud PA dialogue as we pull out: “Now say goodbye to Tami your station attendant!”—“Good Bye, Tami!”—“You can be louder, say it again!” “GOOODBYE, TAAAMI!!!” as we unhappily proceed to the next stop.

An unusual way to view the tigers.

Vertical drop.

Busch, for those that haven’t been there in 45 years, has a wild animal area, shows, and rides. I only ride (aside from the transportation train) the traditional wooden rollercoaster, partly because of time issues and mostly because I refuse to go on rides that invert me in a cork-screw spiral and then drop me straight down to an abrupt stop. I would never do these, but now I can easily claim the excuse of senior status, heart meds, lose my glasses, my lunch, etc. But I have to concede that Larry and Bob, both only 1-3 years younger, did do those rides and gloat fairly with satisfaction. Huzzah.

Mike, Jane, John & Marcia are ready and dry.

We go to a 4D Sesame Street show. A 4D show at Busch means wearing 3D glasses and having Big Bird briefly turn a fire hose on you. This, or an equivalent set-up situation, leads to several sprayings through the 25-minute program. We know it is coming – we can see the nozzles pointing our way from the backs of the next row of seats – but they still get us. John and I are drenched, others get off somewhat better.

We miss the acrobat show and understand it was outstanding. We do see one of those family entertainment animal shows where the humans engage in unlikely dialogue and body language while interacting with dogs, cats, birds, mice, and exotic species. The show is great, we don’t get wet or pooped-on, and we do not know how they get cats to do those things.

Busched with Mike and Jane.

For two-nights-running Marcia needs to be taken to TJMaxx and Marshalls, this time with Jane. Mike has his equivalent needs and I accompany him on a hunt for a new GPS, he disgusted with the one built-in to his Ford (“Jane complains because it won’t tell her to the nearest Starbucks.”). We both end up buying Garmen Nuvi 1390 units with lifetime map and traffic updates.

This is the same unit I bought in November that died near Houston and was replaced with a TomTom. We don’t know which unit we will keep – we are having a bake-off, both running simultaneously, one with a male voice and the other a female voice. This is not easy on the driver, and often Marcia adds a third layer with her interpretation of where we really should turn. This situation needs to resolve itself quickly.