A Walk in My Shoes...

Jeremy and I traveled to Gainesville last weekend for a picnic with some of my fellow graduate students. We had a great time chatting with my classmates and professors at Gainesville's private lake, Lake Wauberg.

Afterwards, Jeremy and I went over to the university so he could show me around the parts of campus I have yet to traverse. 

Here we are in the music building:

UF has one of the largest pipe organs in the country. Here's Jeremy demonstrating its enormity: 

And here's the famous bell tower. It might look familiar if you remember the movie Parenthood. It's from the scene where Kevin Buckman goes on a shooting spree in Steve Martin's dream!

This is my home away from home: Weimer Hall. All of my classes are here, including the ones I teach. The other day, I never left the third floor in eight hours! Sad...

And this is the semi-new duck pond amphitheater. I haven't been around to see anything happening there, but I'm told it's pretty cool. 

By the way, in case you missed it, the Gators are 3-0 after our major triumph over Tennessee this weekend! GO GATORS!!!

Sweet (Fort) Caroline

Bar none, the best fake fort in Florida is Fort Caroline National Memorial, just east of Jacksonville. The French came here in the 1560s and said something to the effect of, "Hey, just in case someone builds Walt Disney World in Florida, let's put a fort here." And that's what they did. But the Spanish were all like, "You're not Catholic enough." So, they walked up from St. Augustine and routed them some French. It's all here.

The fort is long gone. But a new one was put up in roughly the same spot in the 1960s. A park ranger calls it "Fort Fak-ee." But it's right on the St. Johns. And there's a nice nature trail attached to it.

And dog-friendly. Here's Oscar and me chilling on a fake wall thing.

Nacho should probably not be this close to a cannon, even if it doesn't work.

Who knew that the 16th century French cared so much about lawn maintenance? 

Nice walk up and down some hills -- yes, actual hills in Florida. Check the motion blur. We were really moving.

And here's what Northeast Florida looks like. Not Mount Cheaha. Not the Everglades. A nice in-between.