What You Need To Know

Going down the elevator at the hotel this past week, a hotel employee accompanying Wendy and I down noticed my Disney "Animal Kingdom" t-shirt.

"Did you enjoy Animal Kingdom?" he asked smiling. I said I did.

"What did you learn?"

I felt my jaw drop. Did NOT expect that follow-up question. It was as if a teacher had called on me unprepared. Dumbfounded, I could not think of an answer, though later I thought I could have said something about the giant bats they have in Africa.

But c'mon! When traveling, I'm in "need to know" mode. Directions, price of hotels, destinations, remembering what to pack . . . that's all need to know stuff. What I learned at Animal Kingdom three years ago? No.

Good information is crucial to a tourist. Here are a few examples of "needed to know" information from this past week that either I or a fellow traveler didn't get on a timely basis:

Number One--Wendy and I drove to Honeymoon State Park on an island near Clearwater, Florida, hoping to get some hiking in on the nature trails there early one morning. We had no sooner paid our $5 admission and driven on about 50 yards when a sign prominently warned: Eastern Rattlesnakes are common on the island.

Augghhh! I don't like sharing space with ANY snake, let alone poisonous ones. Why couldn't we have had that information BEFORE we gave them our money. Wendy thought they should also have told us that rain had formed ponds on the trail so large that we were forced into the tall grasses to get by, where we were certainly prey for a rattlesnake ambush.

Number Two--We headed to Ponce Inlet near Daytona where they have a museum and lighthouse--179 steps to the top for a gorgeous view. After paying admission, an informational video spoke about all the calamities that had befallen this lighthouse and its crew: Indian attack, earthquake, lightning strikes and deadly storms.

But they left something out--on purpose, I think. Something a guy in his 50s nicknamed Big Dave would need to know. About halfway up the strenuous climb to the top of the lighthouse hung a memorial to a former lighthouse keeper who died of a heart attack climbing these same stairs. Again, something I could have been told AT THE BOTTOM. Or better yet, IN THE PARKING LOT.

Number Three--While walking around St. Augustine, we were approached by an elderly man looking stressed. Did we have four quarters for a dollar so he could feed a parking meter? He had been trying to change this dollar in this part of town with no luck, maybe because it was Sunday and businesses were slow to open. Or maybe because people were saving their quarters for church.

He said his wife was being "held hostage" at the meter by the fort, which is run by the national park service. Didn't know exactly what that meant, but it didn't sound good. Fortunately, Wendy had four quarters for him. Oh, was he grateful.

Later, we toured the fort ourselves. While in the gift shop, a clerk announced, "You don't need to feed the parking meters today. The meter readers don't work on Sunday."

That man could have used this information sooner. We could have too. We paid $7 to park in a private lot.