Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Davis: Making the dream happen worth it

What do a Duck Dynasty mug, a Despicable Me Minions mug, a wand cast of resin, a Donald Duck hat, and a key to the Haunted Hotel have in common?

link Clyde Davis

They all relocated from various locations in the Southeast, primarily at Disneyworld or Universal Studios theme park, courtesy of an 11 year old girl, as mementos of what was, arguably, the greatest vacation of her life. This may be one of a relatively few children whose idea of a fine souvenir is a special mug for cold beverages (or hot, but in her case usually cold).

On the other hand, that's an eminently practical souvenir, and she seldom lacks for a container to carry her drinking water for school. Next year, she'll have two more options.

Non-stop activity characterized the Davis family vacation this year, and 1 a.m. was an early bed time; most nights we were up later than that and as those of you who have done the theme park thing know, when one spends that kind of money for a good time, you milk it for all it is worth. The light parade and fireworks are an essential. Mikayla milked it for all it was worth, which is not surprising since her general approach to life is permeated with enthusiasm.

There was, as well, an amazing couple of days spent on the Florida Panhandle Gulf beaches, as we worked our way down toward Orlando. Destin and Fort Walton are probably the most amazing beaches I have ever seen, except for possibly Sanabel Island, and though I haven't seen every beach in our country, I have to say I have seen quite a few.

That reminds me of the other trophy which the aforementioned young lady brought back from her travels. All of the previously mentioned items together take up less room in the car — or in her room — than the boogie board. Like anything related to water and water sports, she seemed to take to boarding like a duck to water. It's cheaper to buy a board than to rent one more than once.

Speaking of ducks, at age 11, she is still young enough to get excited about the character breakfast which we attended, affording her the opportunity to meet and greet her favorite Disney character, an impatient duck who was born (hatched, as we discovered) in 1934. Both Donald and Daisy were in attendance.

Personally, I loved the two parks because, except for a few rides such as The Hulk or The Haunted Hotel, the rides at the two parks are tame enough for those of us who, to put it delicately, have aged out of the mind-blowing thrill ride stage.

We chose to drive for financial reasons, but the side benefit was seeing some very worthwhile slices of life between here and Florida.

We were able to pay our respects to the fallen at the Civil War battle site, Vicksburg, Mississippi, and in all honesty, yes we did stop in West Monroe , Louisiana, at the Duck Commander store.

Most of the time, this column focuses on vacation destinations both inexpensive and close to home. Every so often though, you have to do what's available to make a little girl's dream come true, before she's too old to dream those dreams any more.

I'm glad we did it this year.

Clyde Davis is a Presbyterian pastor and teacher at Clovis High School. He can be contacted at:

[email protected]