FLORIDA: It's a wrap!!!

Tour de Central Florida is finally over and I am now back in Atlanta. I hit so many spot during my trek through the Sunshine State. Here’s my recap: First, I spent a day and a half with my best friend Willie, who has made his humble abode in Tallahassee. Outside of FAMU and FSU, there’s not much to the small town. Willie has done well for himself. He's been there only two year and already has a new home and car. He's also working with the music department of a progressive church ministry pastored by a graduate of my school, ITC. Not bad! There wasn’t much to do in the city. We hit a Buffalo Wild Wings, which was extremely hood. I was not prepared for the plethora of gold teeth and chains. BW3’s was like the club on a Tuesday night. I had to remind myself that 25 cent wings draw all kinds of people, and it's damn hard to escape the workings of ghettoism. It’s practically everywhere. So, we later hit a coffee shop and just chilled since I had to catch a bus in the early A.M. Luckily, I didn’t have to sit next to any weirdoes. The person who sat next to me was a beautiful girl named Amber who said she played soccer for Arizona State. She told me she was in Tallahassee visiting a boyfriend who plays football at FSU. Although I couldn’t find her stats online, she gave good convo and made the ride easy considering there were love bugs mating in the window the entire trek.
My next stop was Cocoa Beach. Sounds fun, right? It was good times with my mentors and friends, Dr. Hood and E. Smith. The ocean was the best. We all just spent time on the beach just catching up on school and life. I got some much deserved rest. I also received a call about an internship for the summer. The news came in perfect timing because I was uncertain about what I was exactly going to do for the summer. Let’s just say God worked it out. Once home I was to start at St. Luke Episcopal Church’s Urban Ministry in downtown Atlanta. Basically, I will be providing pastoral care and services to the city’s homeless and low income residents who daily seek food, clothing and shelter. It’s a change for me that I know will be very rewarding. So, the beach was good.
(I have to send thanks to my sister for warning me ahead of time that hurricane season started that weekend. Please believe that I felt the affects.) I was a little disappointed that there weren’t many people of color in the area. I’ve been spoiled. ATL's diversity has become commonplace for me. There just wasn’t much to see in Cocao Beach. My trip became most interesting when I made my way to Orlando. There, the Church of God in Christ was having its annual women’s convention. Approximately 18,000 bible totting, big hat, sequin dress wearing women filled the city. I believe I even saw a silhouette of Minnie Mouse decked in COGIC attire while there. I had a chance to catch up with Pastor Sheryl Randolph of Living Word Ministries from my hometown, her mother and my good friend Sparka. The weather began to turn bad because of Tropical Storm Barry. However, I did go out once in Orlando and made a day trip to Tampa with my homeboy Morris. Central Florida’s night spots pale in comparison to ATL. My peeps made it all worthwhile though. I had the greatest time. Yet, I was still so ready to come back to familiar surroundings. The bus ride back to ATL was 11 hours due to a horrible wreck on the expressway compliments of Barry. He’s also the reason I was drenched the entire ride from leakage on the bus. Plus, the bus was crazy for the fact I was surrounding by old COGIC women who wore big hats for the ride home. Did I mention there was a dog traveling with a drifter on board? Yeah. Old COGIC women and a Labrador made for an interesting combination. Soon as I returned, as usual, I had friends in town. Candy and Shanel were here to catch a flight to Minnesota. So, we went to a couple of my spots before I had to get up the next morning for the internship. We were out until like 2 a.m. Now that’s why I love ATL. There’s always something to do.

Check out the pics