Ave Maria

Since this is Gary's birthday weekend, I decided to take him on a little trip.  About a month ago I found a Living Social coupon for Orange Jeep Tours.  The deal included a 90 minute tour in a jeep that went off road into the wetlands and tropics of Florida.  We were able to see gators, turtles, lots of birds, really dirty water where gators live, butterflies, hawks, vultures, just lots of native animals and plants to Florida.  Our guide was great even tho he sometimes forgot he was driving a jeep while he was talking and got a little too close to the water full of gators for me. 

Church really is standing up in middle of town, not laying on side.

But I loved it and thought it was well worth the trip out to Ave Maria which is where the jeep tour started.  This little town is brand new to Florida.  Apparently the guy who owned Dominos Pizza had too much money so he dreamt up this completely Catholic town in the middle of nowhere complete with its very own Catholic university. 

The town was started in 2005 and you have to drive about a mile off the main highway to get to the center of town which is where the big church is located.  So its Saturday and Gary and I are headed to church.  What's wrong with this picture?    The church is in the town square which is surrounded by new buildings which include stores and restaurants and above all that are brand new condos.  There are new homes around the town square and the university sits about 3 blocks from the downtown area.  Very nice, everything is so new and clean.  All it was missing was people. 



Happy Birthday Gary!!!

We both noticed it as we drove into the town, there were no people anywhere.  It was like driving into the middle of a Twilight Zone episode.  When we finally got on our jeep tour we asked our guide about the town and he filled us in with all the good stuff.  I asked him when school started and he proudly said it already had.  Gary and I looked at each other.  Where are all the kids?  We had colleges next to us in Minnesota and when school starts, you can't help but trip over all the kids that come out from under their dorm beds sometime in the middle of the day to find food and beer.  But that's the thing.  No beer, liquor, porn or condoms are sold anywhere in town.  Now we were really wondering, why would any kid want to come here? 

So, check it out on the internet when you have a chance.  Who knew we had our own little cult less than an hour away.  Just remember to bring your veils and rosaries.   Margaret