Crazy_Mainer,
Absynthe does have a licorice-like taste (think Jager), however, the most prominent aspect taste-wise is its extreme bitterness. Hence the sugar cubes. The licorice taste, unless I’m mistaken, comes from the anise (annise?). Last I checked, it was pretty damn hard to buy a bottle of real absynthe, complete w/ wormwood (the hallucinogenic ingredient). The last time I had any it was just very foul-tasting, very strong, liquor.

Anyway, great article Matt, good to have you back. Procrastination will be fun again…

Ghosted by Ryan @ 06/14/2007 3:26 AM EDT

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As a very paranoid human being who is also somewhat of an environmentalist, the idea of chlorine in that region makes me wince. Who knows though.

Bill – I’m definitely more inclined to pay a bit more for convenience or extra flash, so your advice will be taken to heart. Or I’ll just move to Florida, burn like a lobster, and live without tax.
Manimal – Thanks for all the advice. We hadn’t considered October before, but my husband’s birthday is right in the beginning, that would be kind of awesome. By some miracle he hasn’t used any of his vacation time this year (4 weeks worth!) so maybe October is doable.

Ghosted by Jessica Marie @ 06/14/2007 9:52 AM EDT

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about the lovebugs, back in ‘97 me and my family went to Florida and those bugs were absolutly everywhere, but you’re right…once we got within the DisneyWorld resort…zero..

Our flight out was super early in the morning so we were driving out of the resort at like 5am and we saw these trucks driving all around the resort spraying what looked like some sort of pecticide into the air, we wondered if that had something to do with it, someone call Al Gore!!!

Great article!

Ghosted by Gweff @ 06/14/2007 11:31 AM EDT

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Some tribes these days don’t have chiefs, per se. More like elected officials. But, if you do some quick research, you might just luck out with at least the dude in charge of the casino money. It’d be a start. Just doing my bit to help Mystie get lucky with my fellow Native Americans.

Ghosted by kingklash isn't a chief @ 06/14/2007 11:55 AM EDT

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Mary Mary and Bill,

You asked for it. Click my name

Ghosted by The Manimal @ 06/14/2007 12:35 PM EDT

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I’m by no means a doctor, but I seriously doubt you’re going to have any long lasting negative effects from having sex in the ocean. The vagina is a very efficient self cleaning organ. Most vaginal/uterine infections are caused by toying with the natural, healthy chemical balance; over-cleaning, especially with unnecessary antibiotics or douche, is a major cause of infection. The environment of a human vagina is a hell of a lot different than a oceanic salt water environment, chemically speaking. Unless you’re swimming in the middle of an off-shore sewer/storm drain outlet, you ladies are more likely to get something from the guy you’re having sex with or from any after-sex cleansing you may go through than you are from the ocean itself.

Please note that I’m talking about the ocean here. I don’t know about pools, and I can’t think of anything more filthy than hot tubs, so those could be risky for all I know. Natural freshwater bodies are KNOWN to carry hazardous organisms, so I’d think twice about getting your groove on in a lake or pond, especially if there are fish or aquatic mammals present. Although rare, there have been reports of severe Edwardsiella tarda vaginal infections which can lead to death if left untreated or misdiagnosed.

Ghosted by Chris @ 06/14/2007 2:16 PM EDT

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I’ve been afraid of natural water sex after watching that stuff about people pissing underwater and those “things” (not sure what they are) follow your piss stream up and into your tally whacker.

Ghosted by fistpittingnork @ 06/14/2007 2:21 PM EDT

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Mary, seacows shouldn’t effect the mood too bad. They just like to watch. You know, they are known as “the voyeurs of the sea.”

Chris: You put the sci in the sci-fi guys.

Ghosted by Bill @ 06/14/2007 3:00 PM EDT

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See, Manimal knows about Thunder Mountain…something I guess us Floridian’s know about since we’ve gone a gazillion times. Im also with him about the hotels….Ive only once as a tiny lad stayed in one of the fancy Disney ones, but being a native we just stayed in a small hotel in Kissimmee cause it was cheap…at first I was going to recommend the same, but if you’ve never been and its actually a big deal cause you dont live around the corner, I change my mind and say go for the Disney Hotel. Make the whole trip an experience!

Ghosted by meepy @ 06/14/2007 3:12 PM EDT

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And skip Seaworld and go to Islands of Adventure.

Ghosted by meepy @ 06/14/2007 3:16 PM EDT

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Space sex would rule. Imagine a whole new Kama Sutra with chapters named after us. The Mystie-mash. The 69-line. The Matt-sterpiece. The K- gravity. (Get it? Minus gravity? Hello?) The possibilities are endless. Now I realized what caused the sudden “computer failure” on the ISS.

Ghosted by 9-Line @ 06/14/2007 3:36 PM EDT

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Nonononono, Meepy don’t tell me to skip Sea World. Is it really bad? I have such good memories of the Ohio version.

Ghosted by Jessica Marie subscribes to Cephalopodcast @ 06/14/2007 3:54 PM EDT

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Jessica: If you’re into fish, stick with Sea World! It’s just that it can’t compare on excitement-per-minute to any of the other parks. Sorry if you’ve mentioned this, but how many nights are you planning to go for? That’s a factor.

Ghosted by Matt @ 06/14/2007 3:57 PM EDT

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Like Matt said, length of stay is a factor in deciding where to go.

With Disney World being broken into 4 or 5 parks now, Universal Studies having Islands of Adventure which is seperate, and Sea World, you need 1 day per park to visit them all and there will still be stuff you won’t be able to do.

***Disney World Spoiler***

Maybe it was just the time I went, but did anybody else feel ripped off that Mickey, Goofy, and the gang don’t openly walk around the parks waving at people, surprising them from behind, and tossing out hugs like candy in a parade?

I guess it makes sense so they’re not getting ambushed by screaming fat kids with melted bomb pops on their hands, but it still took away from the whole magical experience like Hollywood makes it seem to be.

***End of spoiler***

Ghosted by fistpittingnork @ 06/14/2007 4:15 PM EDT

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I’m heading to Disney World the second week of October for my honeymoon. We’re staying at the Wilderness Lodge for a whole week. And it’s all your fault! After I read the ‘X-E goes to WDW’ article last year, I realized I just had to go, and my honeymoon would be the only time I could justify the expense (I don’t normally spend that much money on a vacation). And I’m going to using the article as a to-do list, especially the ‘Drinking around the World’ part…

Ghosted by Big McLargehuge @ 06/14/2007 4:48 PM EDT

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Awesome, Big M! October is a nice time to be there. Lots of Halloween themes throughout. And not as much kill-you-dead weather.

Remember, go to the RIGHT when you enter Epcot’s nations. You want to start off drinking beer from yardstick glasses and end on sugared-down margaritas, not the other way around.

Ghosted by Matt @ 06/14/2007 4:53 PM EDT

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We’re thinking of staying for 6 or 7 nights. Since we both work from home we can hopefully go right back to work with fewer side effects. Is a week a decent amount of time? I want it to be long enough to enjoy and short enough that I’m not sick of it by the end.
Big Mc – Congratulations on the wedding! Getting married is what the cool kids do after all.
purplegirl – Thanks for the input about hurricane season – we’ll *definitely* do February. I’m glad there are so many experienced Disney people/Floridians here.

Ghosted by Jessica Marie @ 06/14/2007 5:22 PM EDT

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Loved it!

Ghosted by Kyjlm @ 06/14/2007 6:20 PM EDT

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Yes, but the margaritas in Epcot…I wouldn’t call them liquor!

Ghosted by Matt @ 06/14/2007 6:26 PM EDT

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“Im not going to eat you crab, Im going to be your father.” HA! Classic! Matt, glad you and the “special lady” had a good time. Cant wait to make-out by the ocean and “smoke” with the locals myself. )

Ghosted by citygirl @ 06/14/2007 7:35 PM EDT

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Pillow People = creepy.
Cigarette pillow-people = ?

Ghosted by Jessica Marie @ 06/14/2007 10:46 PM EDT

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I have nothing to say about Disney, I have been to both and did minimal amounts at both. Mostly cause I was younger. BUT I was just packing up my apartment and found my mexican Kool-Aid and was wondering if the Kool-Aid series is done or can we expect more?

Ghosted by kb @ 06/14/2007 11:58 PM EDT

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I’m also late to the party. Let’s just say I’ve had a long week.

Despite growing up in several New Jersey resorts and my biological father being a cruise ship captain for as long as I can remember, I’ve never been on a cruise ship myself. They’re just too damn expensive for someone who can barely afford the bus ride to New England in July. My mom had a brochure for Carnival cruises in the 80s and early 90s I looked at whenever I felt like I needed something more exotic than New Jersey in my life. I remember how glamorous and exciting the cruise ships looked in the pictures, admittedly more than Matt’s Not-So-Good-Ship-Norwegian Spirit.

The closest I’ve gotten to being on a cruise ship is trips across the Delware Bay on the Cape May-Lewes Ferries. The ferries were initially a sitting area, game room, food area, decks, car parking, and not much else. Some of them still are, but a few were remodeled in the 90s to include an upper-deck bar, larger and more elaborate game rooms, more comfortable seating, and actual lobbies with panneled walls.

My mom and stepdad took my sisters and I on the ferries in the 80s on the way to visit my aunt in the Washington DC suburbs, or to the outlet malls in Rehoboth Beach. When I got into my teens and we moved into North Cape May, a mere five minutes from the docks, I’d take the ferry (and sometimes a friend or two) to Lewes, a historic town on the edge of Delaware that’s similar to Cape May, but quieter and far less touristy.

Ghosted by starwenn @ 06/15/2007 12:49 AM EDT

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I noticed the ‘Man vs. Wild’ ad on the main page. Bear Grylls is totally on my list of people to have with me on the plane when it crashes, replacing that chubby guy from ‘Suvivorman’….

I’m gonna make a list of ‘5 people I want on the plane if it crashes’(or ‘if the boat gets shipwrecked’ to keep it on topic ); that may come up in conversation one day….

Any suggestions?

Ghosted by Shuanfu @ 06/15/2007 1:15 AM EDT

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Thanks for the article, Matt! I always love reading about your vacations, and I envy you for being able to sneak your absinthe on board. Glad you had a good time!

Ghosted by Megan @ 06/15/2007 2:23 AM EDT

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