Finally saw an Alligator: Tuesday through Sunday in Florida

What a FANTASTIC tour!!! Jen and I had a wonderful time and accomplished so many of our duo goals! On Tuesday we arrived in Tampa at the University of South Florida, Jen's undergraduate alma mater, where we were greeted by her teacher Scott Klucksdahl. USF recently built a new music building, and it is a great space! The hall is beautiful, and Jen and I loved how it brought out the best in our instruments.

While in Tampa we had wonderful hosts - thank you Oliver and Mikel!! Our Wednesday night concert at USF was a very rewarding experience, and the audience was so receptive. The USF concert staff even recorded it, so those of you who couldn't attend might get a little ear-full of the music anyway!

On Thursday, Jen and I had a relaxing morning of duo planning and did a team building exercise; we both took Myers Brigs personality tests. I am an ENFP and Jen is INFJ... turns out we are pretty compatible, but we already knew that! Later in the afternoon we held a panel discussion between us and the USF cellists. There were great questions like, "How do you find a great chamber music partner?" and "What made you interested in the kind of music you play?" We had a lot of fun answering them!

On Friday we went to Ocean Breeze Elementary school in Satellite Beach and did a program for 200 of their 4th-6th grade students. They were so receptive and had great questions! Then we zipped over to the Satellite High School Fine Arts Academy in Satellite Beach to do a high school version of our program for the 200 students in the fine arts academy. 400 students later, the tour was officially over so Jen FINALLY took me to the beach. I only had time to wade in to the ocean a bit as Jen had to sit with her cello in the air conditioned car because it was SO HOT. But, because Diagenesis is never done, we ran into some of the elementary school students at dinner later that evening! They were so excited to see us and even asked to get their picture taken with us! What a great day.

Jen had a beautiful bridal shower on Saturday, and on Sunday because Jen's Dad works at the Kennedy Space Center, I got to accompany Jen's family to see the space shuttle Endeavor for the last time before it's officially decommissioned. SO COOL. On the way home I FINALLY got to go SWIMMING in the Atlantic Ocean!!!! YAY!

And the moment we've all been waiting for: Sunday I saw an alligator in a retaining pond at Cape Canaveral. I would have been very disappointed if I hadn't seen one.

Thanks for following along on our Florida tour! Don't forget to check back soon to hear all about our next project!

-Heather