Theme park, schmeme park, as long as you're having fun

The Orlando Doubletree Universal, our home for the June 27-July1 NMA reunion, is, of course, located adjacent to the Unviversal Studios resort. I won't likely be visiting that attraction; I managed Memphis without a trip to Elvis's mansion, and I think I'll come home from a get-together with my shipmates with no regrets over having missed out on Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster and the Green Eggs and Ham Cafe.

Disney World is also close by. Eleven miles, actually. I've never been there, and I don't see how it could measure up to my visit to the Tokyo Disney Land with the 7th Fleet Band, an excruciating afternoon of hidden speakers blaring a non-stop version of "It's a Smarr Word After Oar."

I suspect that, among jam sessions, band rehearsals,concerts, meetings, dinners and dances, I'll have plenty to do right at the Doubletree.

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11 miles from Doubletree (upper right) to Disney World (lower left).

Less than 3 weeks 'til NMA reunion

Good grief. I wake up, look at the calendar and see that only 19 days remain until the NMA reunion. So much to do before I leave for Orlando:

-- Provide world leaders with contingency plans to be implemented in cases of emergency during my absence.

-- Find clothes that fit. I've slendered down a bit, and a lot of my trousers won't stay up unless I tie them over my shoulders with clothesline. Okay, it's not really that severe, but still, I don't want my pants falling down during "The Girl from Ipanema.:

-- Figure out how to use new video camera. It doesn't have buttons or knobs. It has a touch-screen, like an I-Pad or I-Pod or Kindling Wood or  TweetleDee or whatever those things are.

So much to do.

Walk to restaurants in Orlando

While at the Orlando Doubletree Universal for the NMA reunion, you'll, no doubt, enjoy the hotel's restaurant. Those those seeking variety will find that Orlando has a million other eateries.

But if you're looking for a meal without driving in traffic, the neighborhood provides alternatives within walking distance. The following restaurants are all about a quarter-mile or less from the hotel.

• T.G.I. Friday's. Food and beer, not necessarily in that order.
• Tabla Bar and Grill. Indian food. Try the paneer tikka masala. If you don't like it: back to T.G.I. Friday's. 
• Kobe Japanese Steak House. Any questions?
• Miller''s Ale House. Part of a widespread chain of restaurant/taverns that claim to have the warm ambiance of your bar back home. I hope they're not referring to the Shipwreck Lounge.
• Starbucks. Duh.
• Golden Corral. Duh with chicken.

Okay, so one or two of them may be three-tenths of a mile. In the barracks at NAVSUPPACT San Francisco, I walked further than that to go to the head.