A friend of mine got married in Florida yesterday, the right way (on a boat). Wish more than anything that I could have been there, as it was a reunion of sorts of people I started to meet about ten years ago. I was 20-something, some were still in high school, and we all hung out at amusement parks and drove all over the damn place to visit them. I suspect a lot of us met via CoasterBuzz or Guide to The Point. Regardless, it was a pretty neat time in my life, when you could run into those folks all over the place.
Naturally, I'm completely bummed out that I couldn't be there. My excuse is a combination of fiscal responsibility (something I certainly didn't have ten years ago) and parenthood, as it would not have been practical or fair to go by myself. It still blows, because one of the reasons I wanted to move back east was to not be so disconnected.
The follow up is that IAAPA, the big amusement industry trade show, is also this week in Orlando. That's another circle of friends that I built up over the years. It started as useful networking for club events and news for the Web site, but before too long ended up as another social circle. Friends grew up to build roller coasters and be marketing directors for parks. It's kind of wild to think about. Fortunately, I got to see a great many of them, by coincidence of timing, at our Holiday World event, as many were there for an awards program. Again, would have been fun to see them this week.
Of course, being in Central Florida would have a certain negative impact as well. Being that close to Disney World and not going there would be a bummer. It has been two years for us, and even if Simon wouldn't remember a thing, I'd love to bring him.
I'm sure we'll get down there sooner than later, but this week was really a missed opportunity.
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