Page 31 - Demo

Kendallville Mental School25gracious smiles. One of the things we liked best was St. Augustine%u2019s old cemetery, particularly the graves with large trees growing up through them %u2014 nice living tributes. The solitude, stonework, and statuary were a welcome contrast to the trashy tourist traps. Finding lunch on Christmas Day proved a bit difficult. A cold drizzle had been falling all morning, and it wasn%u2019t until 1:30 that we finally spotted a diner that was open. The windows were steamed up, and every car in the parking lot had northern license plates. Inside, booths were packed with worn-out parents and fidgety children. The adults all looked like they could use a drink, and the kids definitely needed Ritalin. After 30 minutes, a pair of stools opened up at the counter. There were three waitresses. The one in her forties was well seasoned to both waitressing and tourists. Her white uniform had a few miles on it, the pencil behind her ear looked like it had grown there, and she kept a cigarette going in an ashtray near the kitchen. She sauntered up to us, totally unperturbed by the hectic day, put pencil to pad, and asked, %u201cWaddayawant?%u201d Lynn opted for the chewy Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes from a box, and overcooked green beans. I had a rectangle of fish, gluey macaroni and cheese, and runny coleslaw. The cook was busy, at ease, and well organized %u2014 like he%u2019d been at it for years, perhaps as a cook in the army. As we ate, Lynn picked up a plastic cow and absentmindedly turned it over to look at the bottom. The waitress wasn%u2019t a bit happy about the cream pouring from the miniature bovine%u2019s mouth onto her counter. Disney World was a major disappointment. It had only been open for a year, and we parked in the very last row of the parking lot %u2014 which should have been a harbinger of large crowds. We found long lines everywhere %u2014 winding well beyond the 1-hour-wait-fromthis-point signs. We ate standing up, because most of the tables were being reserved by one family member while the rest of the brood stood in the food line. With a bladder about to burst, Lynn held a restroom door open for a lady in a wheelchair, then a maintenance woman shoved a %u201cclosed for cleaning%u201d sign in her face and barred her entrance. By the end of the afternoon, the crowds had thinned, but we were wiped out. After walking around all day, we%u2019d