We flew out on the 18th, arriving in Ft. Lauderdale shortly after 7pm. We picked up the rental car (a Mitsubishi Lancer - sigh) and headed out to our hotel room at the Delray Beach Marriott. If you're a regular reader of the update pages on this site you're already familiar with the great rental car/hotel room debate of 2004. I wanted to stay at a slightly less expensive hotel and go with a cool convertible for our cruising needs and my wife felt the beachfront Marriott resort and a less extrvagant car were a better choice. I lost.

The hotel ended up being very nice and certainly worthy of the inflated rates you'd find during spring break season. Our view was less than spectacular, but a oceanview room ran almost $100 more a night and that's where daddy draws the line.

On the 19th my wife and daughter attended the bridal luncheon while I took my son for his first walk on the beach since we left Jacksonville (he was only a month old then, so I guess he didn't really walk). Anyway - he hated it! He hated the sand. He hated the water. He hated the wind. It turned into daddy carrying a 30+ pound disgruntled child up and down the beach. I can respect (and even appreciate) the coastal hatred, but remind me never to put on another 30 pounds. I can't see lugging that extra weight with me on a regular basis.

The evening was covered by the rehersal dinner/celebration luau at a very nice park along the intercoastal waterway. Good food, meeting people we hadn't seen in years, kids playing. Just a nice evening.

The 20th was the day of the wedding. Early in the day and short and sweet - just like a good wedding should be. The ceremony couldn't have been more than 15 minutes and the rest of the afternoon was spent in celebration. By 6pm the newlyweds were off to Miami to catch their honeymoon flight to Costa Rica. We spent the evening hanging out with family and friends at the hotel.

Finally the 21st arrived and coasters were on the itinerary for the day. We headed out a little before noon for the Florida Swap Shop, home to Uncle Bernie's Amusement Park. I had learned of this place after talking to Duane at RCDB.com and I just had to check it out.

We made the roughly 25 mile drive down I-95 to Sunrise Blvd. The traffic entering the area was insane. The Swap Shop was clearly a huge deal and the fact that it was 80 and sunny on a Sunday just meant every last person in Florida was there. As we made our way into the parking lot across the street from the Swap Shop we noticed Uncle Bernie's nestled in right along the Boulevard. I wasn't expecting much at this point, but I knew that going in.

We made our way from the car, across the elevated walkway spanning the width of Sunrise Blvd and into the madness. The Swap Shop is discount insanity on Earth. As much as we were intrigued and wanted to look around, we made a beeline for Uncle Bernie's.

Much of what I had heard about the park included the fact that it's mostly deserted...not this day! We weaved through the crowds and made our way to a ticket booth. 20 tickets for $15 would be right up our alley as we were still going to Boomers and Uncle Bernie's is mostly (totally?) kiddie attractions.

The first stop was the Abandon Mine kiddie coaster. It would be credit #167 for me, #84 for my daughter and #2 for my son. It would also be a 9 lap credit. This thing just kept going! By the time lap 4 ended and we continued up the lift for 5, my daughter in the seat in front of us turned and gave that look like "WTF!?" By lap 7 if I could've clicked on her and read her thoughts like a little RCT peep she would have certainly been thinking "I want to get off Abandon Mine". We finally came to a stop at the end of lap 9. Average kiddie coaster fare - extended mix.

We let the kids use up most of the tickets on the selection of kiddie rides while I took some photos. Uncle Bernie's is campy with some odd low budget theme, but it was actually nicer than I expected and considering the location they're doing what they can. I'd be willing to bet they're making a killing based on what I saw that day.