Monday, was spent in the UT gardens and Campus checking out the 'Beehive Library' and shopping for cake ingredients, where i wandered round waving an American Flag i 'acquired' from a Budweiser stand and indeed in Walmart i was the most patriotic one there! We also booked our trip to NYC!
Tuesday, Headed to Downtown Knoxville and had Lunch with Nancy in Market Square and i discovered Coffee&Chocolate Coffee Shop (I confused the girl in the shop as the British pronunciation of Mocha and Latte are 2 very different ways...)
Wednesday, the infamous 4th July was spent up in the Smoky Mountains, being brave from Bears and paddling in the Creek, after this we had Fred's famous Steaks and a cake made by me and MB and then watched The Muppets.
Thursday, experienced a bit of a storm which I thought was bad until we went to Florida.
Friday, me and MB went on our first date to see the Amazing Spiderman which really was amazing, MB practiced her web skills whilst driving home (Don't try this at home kids.) We had a lovely evening joined by Caro and Anne.
Saturday, involved sunbathing.
Sunday, the East Tennessee Museum where i got an absolute tone of information about my Dissertation, experienced more of the Coffee and Chocolate Cafe, made homemade pizzas and drooled over Captain America.
Tuesday saw us going to Big Cat Rescue in Tampa where Sharyn volunteers, the rescue centre has over 100 species of exotic cats ranging from Lions and Tigers to Leopards, the cats have come from all sorts of backgrounds from people having road side zoos and previous owners realizing that the cats are no longer tiny little kittens and will not make good house pets. One of the Tigers, Bella, had a cage so small that she only had just enough room to turn around in but even then that wasn't enough as each time she would scuff her nose which would make leave a permanent scar on her face. Sharyn was our delightful tour guide and had to battle through the thunder and lightening storm that forced the tour to be cut short, and one very hard to please grumpy little old lady. After the Big Cat Rescue was Dinner, at Chipotle, and then home to wait out for the horrible thunder and lightening to stop (it really is terrifying) watch Labrinyth (David Bowie's trousers are ridiculously tight) and then have a romantic evening swim with MB, as Brian had fitted the most amazing LED underwater light. MB also showed me that she cannot actually float and can walk/crawl on the bottom of any swimming pool, whereas myself equipped with my own flotation device can stay up without moving a muscle. Later on that night there were a few plumbing issues causing MB (probably helped by myself somehow) to flood the bathroom and bedroom- poor Brian's face when she informed him "I don't want to alarm you, but, i found a puddle.....".The next day we hit the Mall with Sharyn buying Make Up and Glasses for Hairspray, we had a lovely Thai meal for Dinner and then after helping do Sharyn's they ran off to rehearsal and my and MB enjoyed another swim, with the lights on romance was high- and then watched Ratatouille before bed. Thursday saw the arrival of Fred and Beth for Beth's birthday- we spent the morning walking Hannah in the sunshine and waiting for the plumber to come and fix those "puddles" MB had found! We spent the afternoon in the sunshine swimming and then had a wonderful Indian feast, and after the Brian and Sharyn headed off for the final rehearsal Beth joined us in the pool, the new Bionic hips are doing so well, and we took several mid air photos and using trying to do handstands in unison, that did take a while!
Friday, i think may have to be one of my favorite days that i have had here in the USA. We drove over to Clearwater Beach and discovered to park was just a mere $20 Fred nearly keeled over and died. After settling up we booked ourself onto a tour on a boat called Little Toot to go see some Dolphins! I was so so so excited, i even practiced my own Dolphin noises to make sure i could talk to them! Quick lunch stop at a lovely restaurant and then we were off! We pulled out of the marina and our guide gave us a Retail tour past Hulk Hogans house and the home of Scientology (Which is a very eerie place) and we found out that it used to be a very posh hotel and one night after being booed off stage the Rolling Stones stayed here and wrote the song "I Cant Get No Satisfaction". We spotted one Dolphin early on but he didn't want to play but shortly after that we found a larger dolphin with young who put on an amazing show for us, they began jumping and in and out the waves for us on one side of the boat then after 5minutes moved tot he other side as if to say You guys have had your turn now its the left side! hey were amazing to watch, and they are still my favorite animal of all time. After the Dolphins had enough just as we were heading back towards the marina along came Hulk Hogan cruising past us on his speedboat. Just your average day in the gulf of Mexico! After an Ice Cream and playing in the sea we headed back to the Beach Household to get ready for the opening night of Hairspray. I have never seen Hairspray so i was very excited, and after helping Sharyn do her hair in preparation for the wigs all week we were so intrigued to see the outcomes! It was amazing. I have never laughed so much, Brian was an excellent flasher and Father of Tracey, his duet with Edna was the most brilliant thing i have ever seen; the lyrics to "You're timeless to me" had the tears rolling down mine, MB's, Beth's and Fred's faces for hours afterwards. Sharyn, as Prudy was amazing the wig and the glasses were fantastic and I have never laughed so much at her exclaiming she could never tie her daughter up with Rope without the phone ringing, or describing a boy as a black cat. The two of them were absolutely brilliant and i hope the rest of the shows run as smoothly as opening night did. Back at he house we had our very own after show party, involving lots of wine and midnight swimming to celebrate the beautiful Beth's birthday!
I had such a wonderful week, Brian and Sharyn were the perfect hosts and i thank them so much for everything that week; especially after the flooding of bathrooms and bedrooms, and I'm so pleased the finally agreed to adopt me! Fingers crossed one day i will move to Florida and have my own place and swimming pool. Thank you Brian and Sharyn for the wonderful week and to Fred for driving us all the way back to Knoxville- once again!
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