December 23, 1993: Cypress Gardens

Went to Cypress Gardens with Grandma and Mom.  Mom drove Grandma's car.   A semi almost hit us on the busy I-4 highway.  Watched a ski show, took a boat ride through jungle, and went into this greenhouse full of butterflies flying all around us.  It was so neat.    It was like we were in some real jungle.    Looked at all of the beautiful flowers.  Ate lunch and birds were bugging us around our table. Another couple sat down and were swamped birds.  We saw the most gorgeous poinsettia display.  They were displayed in shapes of Christmas trees around water.  When I showed my pictures of Cypress Gardens to Cindy Chancellor at Plumbs, she said they must have a lot of weeding to do.  She loved my pictures of the flowers.   Anyway, Grandma's steering wheel locked and we had trouble getting it unlocked.  Finally, a man told us what to do and we were on our way.

December 22, 1993: Epcot Center

Ate with Grandma, Mom, and Grandma's neighbor, Vera (from Canada) at "The Kettle".    Went on our Grayline tour to Epcot Center.  Signs on the road on the Disney property were purple with red letters.  It was so neat looking.  Saw all of the different countries that were represented.   Mexico's was cute and so was Canada's.    Had a delicious dessert in France.   Looked at the giant 'golf ball' that was a symbol of Epcot Center.   Spike and Edna (Grandma's friends) and Grandma picked us up after Grayline dropped us off at the Budgetel Hotel across from the Florida State Fair.

December 21, 1993: Big Top Flea Market and Dade City

Grandma took us to the Big Top Flea Market and to the University of Southern Florida mall.  My favorite store there was Burdines of Florida.  When we got home, Uncle George called to talk to everyone.  The weather down here was gorgeous.   Back home, a snow storm had just begun.   Grandma and I watched our favorite soap opera, "Young and the Restless.".   At night, Grandma took us into Dade City to see Church street.  On this street, there were Christmas lights and singing from church to church. It was beautiful.   We also visited the hospital that Grandpa went to when he died.   In the front of the hospital, there were Christmas trees decorated for each state.  Each state was decorated with things they were known for.  When we got home, we watched "Roseanne.".  

Decemer 20, 1993: Florida

Charlene drove my mom and I to the Kent County airport for our flight to Tampa, Florida.    We flew Northwest to Detroit and then into Tampa.   Our flight in Grand Rapids was delayed 45 minutes due to mechanical problems. When we got to Detroit, we had 5 minutes in order to catch our next flight to Tampa.  We've never run so fast, so far, in our entire lives.   We made it just in time.   We sat in the last row in the plane boy and was it noisy.   We arrived in Tampa at 11:20 a.m.   Grandma Gonyo and her friends, Hoagie and Millie Hogan, were there at the gate to greet us.  The airport here was so gorgeous.  Hoagie drove Grandma's car to Zephyrhills.  We all had a bite to eat at Hardees.  Grandma's trailer was in Betmar Park at 5244 Betmar Drive.   It was really big.  The living room was twice the size of ours at home. The main reason that we visited here at Christmas was that Grandpa Gonyo had passed away on November 11th and we thought that we should be with Grandma during the Christmas holiday. 

December 7, 1993: Jesse Kuhn

I swear I must have been crazy about every guy who work at the Plumb's grocery store that was my age.   When I look back, I think it was so funny.  Anyway,  I liked Jesse Kuhn.     I met Jesse at Russ's for lunch.    He was born in Chicago.  He was about 6'5.   He said his dad could've got a job in the Somoa Islands, but decided on a job in Muskegon.   He was surprised at all of the places I had traveled to.    He went to Catholic Central with Bill Daugherty.     He drove a 1988 Beretta with 90,000 miles on it.   

Tim Allen, an actor on the show "Home Improvement", used to come to Muskegon to visit his brother. I had found out that Tim Allen came to our Plumbs store one time.    Yes, I was in love with Tim Allen, too.     Jesse didn't know that Tim Allen had come to our store.    

December 3, 1993: Chicago Shopping Trip

It has been a tradition of my mom and I to go on a one day shopping trip to Chicago around Christmas.   This year, we took the trip through West Shore Travelers to Chicago.    We had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe.   We visited Chicago Place, which was a new shopping center that opened in September.   We loved shopping at Petite Sophisticates.        

November 23, 1993: Michigan State

I went to visit Sue Arnouts at Michigan State University. She lived in Akers Hall.   We went down to visit Chad Lawver who was living in the same hall, but in Room 117.   It was nice to chat with him and meet his roommate.

Ashley was crawling all over. She was so cute.