Book Review- Tom Cooper's Florida Man

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group for providing me with a copy of Tom Cooper’s novel Florida Man, in exchange for an honest review.

Spanning several decades, Florida Man is the story Reed Crowe and Henry Yahchilane, who form an unlikely friendship while living on a small island. Struggling from the loss of his child, affectionately nicknamed Otter, Crowe finds himself divorced and the proprietor of a struggling roadside attraction. Yahchilane, a Seminole native, and the older of the two men is a mystery. He is quiet with a tough exterior and rumors fly regarding his criminal inclinations. A skeleton and a sink hole bring Crowe and Yahchilane together, sealing their connection and changing the course of their lives.

Florida Man is a quirky and delightful ride. I read it over two separate trips to central Florida during the summer of 2020, which included an airboat swamp tour, putting me in the mood. The twists in Florida Man are impossible to anticipate, but even more impossible to predict was the emotional impact of the story. I was sobbing while reading the last chapters. I was caught off-guard by how much I grew to care about both Crowe and Yahchilane and even more, how much I related to them. On the surface, it would seem that I shouldn’t be able to relate to these men; I am a forty-three year old white woman living in the suburbs, yet I definitely connected with Crowe and Yahchilane’s lone-wolf, living their lives by their own terms attitude.

I understood how they felt connected to their island, Crowe even refusing to leave it to be with his ex-wife Heidi. Crowe has relationships with other women, but he will always love Heidi. When their daughter dies, Crowe becomes planted on the island, as Heidi leaves to travel the world, dealing with their grief in separate ways.

The first two-thirds of the story are primarily a tension-filled, roller coaster ride. When Crowe becomes involved with helping a Cuban refugee family, he discovers that his childhood friend is a pedophile, putting a young girl from the family he is helping, in danger. Crowe struggles with figuring out the best way to deal with his former friend, a man who shows no signs of remorse.

Crowe’s life is in danger, when an old enemy comes back to haunt him. Hector Morales, nicknamed “Catface” for his disfiguring scars, was left in the swamp when many years earlier, Crowe found his body near a plane crash. Crowe thought he was dead and left Morales, but not before taking a fortune’s worth of marijuana from the downed plane. Morales survived and never forgot Crowe’s face, vowing to track him down.

Morales is a first-rate villain, reminding me of the character Anton Chigurh from Cormac McCarthy’s novel, No Country for Old Men. Similar to Chigurh, Morales is terrifying due to his calm demeanor and unpredictable violence. We stay with Morales as he is on the hunt for Crowe and watch as he interacts with many side characters while on his mission. The reader never knows if Morales will brutally kill someone that crosses his path or simply wish him a good day. The tension is high.

Florida, with its sandy beaches, muggy weather, and thick swamps is a character in Florida Man. Beyond Cooper’s novel, the term “Florida Man” is often used to describe dumb criminals and drug addicts who make the news in the sunshine state for a variety of outrageous antics. Florida is often mocked and taken less seriously than other states. I’m a Los Angeles native, and we are also often dismissed as “La La Land” or a place where “Fake” people live. In some ways, Crowe and Yahchilane embrace their “Florida Man” reputations, but in just as many ways, they defy it. They are simply ordinary men who love their land. I relate. I often bristle when I hear Los Angeles stereotypes. I can see the nuggets of truth in the stereotypes, but I also see so much more that only someone who loves their city, loves their state, can truly understand. Yahchilane and Crowe are insiders and their Florida is different from the Florida people mock. Their version of a “Florida Man” has much more depth than haters could ever realize.

Cooper’s Florida Man is a wild ride and some of the most beautiful, affecting writing that I have ever read. It’s truly a unique literary experience that I highly recommend.

Summer 2020: Pikes Peak Bike Tours

Dan has been getting into cycling and for his birthday, I signed us up for a an excursion with Pikes Peak Bike Tours. Pikes Peak is one of the tallest mountains in Colorado. Named after explorer Zebulon Pike, Pikes Peak has an elevation of 14,115 feet, and is full of steep grades and sharp curves.

The idea to bike it came last year, when we met a family on vacation from Ohio who had gone on the excursion. They were not fit or young, but they raved about the experience. We thought, if they can do it, surely we can do it. This didn’t mean that I wasn’t apprehensive or on the verge of bailing right up to the last minute.

Dan is great on bikes, but I’m not a confident biker. Sure, I had a bike as a child, in fact, a BMX that I won during an elementary school candy sale. However, I was always more interested in roller skating or skate boarding…or books! Last Spring, Dan bought us bikes, and we have been practicing in our neighborhood, which has plenty of hills, so I’ve building my skills.

We arrived at Pikes Peak Bike Tours at 7am, where we checked-in and got fitted for bikes. We rode around the parking lot for a bit and got used to the gears. The tour operator also had a small buffet of snack items and cereal set out. We showed up hungry and picked a few things off of the buffet. it was kind of awkward, especially as we were trying to social distance from other guests. If I did this again, I would definitely have eaten breakfast prior to arriving. Many people in our group complained about the “continental breakfast.”

It took about an hour to get everyone settled and all of the bikes loaded on the two vans. Due to covid, masks were required in the vans. At this point, this was the riskiest behavior that we had done during the pandemic. It definitely felt uncomfortable to be in close proximity to strangers, and I have to say, that the mask wearing by the employees was spotty.

Covid precautions aside, I felt like the company really pushed safety on the ride. We have since learned that there have been some recent bike accidents on Pikes Peak. Certainly, there are risks involved with this activity. We were going fast down the mountain. It is steep and there are many sheer drops. However, the company constantly reinforced safety, including instructions for using the bikes, and specific tips for each leg of the ride. They had one van leading to prevent anyone from riding too fast and one van in the back to prevent other cars from entering our space. We were reminded to stay within our comfort zone and offered a ride in the van, if it became too much. I genuinely felt that Pikes Peak Bike Tours was watching out for our safety.

The actual bike ride is twenty miles and took about two hours with several breaks. The ride to the top of the mountain took forty-five minutes and it was slow going with traffic. Pikes Peak is a busy place, and if you plan on visiting, definitely arrive early in the morning.

Here are some pictures from the ride up. The brown cabin is about half-way up the mountain and it was originally a lodge for people who would make the trek back when it would take days. Currently, it is a pit stop with a bathroom and a store. We stopped here going up and coming down. On the way down, the tour operators inspected our bikes, and Dan’s break pads needed to be swapped out!

Here’s a shot of the winding roads. We biked that!

And here is a serious cyclist, not someone from our group! I have to admit that it was intimidating to see athletes cycling both up and down the mountain. I felt really nervous and unprepared for this excursion.

At the Summit we had a brief opportunity to take pictures, visit the gift shop, and buy the famous high-altitude donuts. Apparently it is very difficult to cook donuts at a high altitude. A bit of a gimmick, but they were tasty!

in the past, the tour would begin at the summit, but due to the construction of a new visitors center, we had to load back into the vans, and start our tour about half a mile from the summit.

It was cold at the top, and I was happy to have dressed in layers ( tee-shirt, long-sleeve shirt, and a fleece) and to have brought gloves. We brought jackets, but didn’t need them. As we dropped in altitude, we shed layers.

The first leg of the ride was harrowing. I was at the back of the group, and luckily one of the tour guides stayed with me to make sure that I was okay. I truly didn’t feel comfortable until about half-way through the descent.

Here we are at the first of several stops. My heart wouldn’t stop racing and I was shaking. We were told that we needed to keep a minimum speed of about 10 mph and no faster than 20 mph, but Dan and I were both confident that we were going faster than 20. We based this vibe on the knowledge of our speed around our housing estate.

A shot of the Cannondale bikes that we used. We also ride Cannondales at home, so it felt somewhat familiar. Note the souvenir water bottles that we were given.

One of the prettiest stops was near the bottom of the mountain, where we rested in a field with stunning views of the Pikes Peak. We rode down that!!!

At the end of the tour we were dropped off for lunch at a local restaurant. We were able to choose between two restaurants and our meals were preordered. We chose Alchemy and had their BLT sandwiches with thick cut fries. It was quite a find, as the bacon in the sandwiches were British style and we noticed that they served Scotch Eggs. Dan absolutely loves Scotch Eggs, but unfortunately they had sold out of them. We will have to return.

I’m proud of myself for completing the Pikes Peak ride without quitting, although I was certainly out of my comfort zone. Dan enjoyed his birthday present and it feels like another Colorado activity that we can check-off of our bucket list. I don’t think this is a tour for someone who is uncomfortable on a bike or who hasn’t ridden recently, as it can be dangerous, but if you feel that you can handle it, it’s quite a thrill.

Summer 2020: Ghost Town Wild West Museum

When you see a beat-up roadside billboard for a “Ghost Town” museum, only to discover that it’s located in a strip mall parking lot…you park and head on inside! My expectations were low, yet my curiosity was piqued.

This recognition is awfully specific. I also love the quotes around “Ghost Town.”

I appreciated that their deer was following Governor Polis’ mask mandate!

Admission was only 7.50 each, which in hindsight was a bargain for the experience. The Ghost Town Wild West Museum is an indoor experience, comprised of genuine artifacts and preserved buildings from Colorado’s gold rush era in the 1850’s.

The museum was very strict on Covid safety, providing plenty of hand sanitizer, limiting the capacity, and adding directional arrows on the floor to control the flow of traffic. For a majority of our visit ( it takes about 45-60 minutes to tour), we were alone with the exhibits.

We were immediately “wowed” as we entered the museum, surprised to find ourselves in the middle of a town. It was like being on the backlot of a movie studio.

We were able to enter most of the buildings, which were filled with antiques representing the nature of the business. The first stop was the general store. I love all of the old logos and packaging, some from companies that are still in business.

There are many interactive exhibits requiring quarters. If we had realized this we would have brought about ten dollars worth of quarters to check it all out. I scrounged around in the bottom of my purse and we had enough for the player piano.

The livery had some creepy mannequins and I love creepy mannequins!

The most fascinating shop was the apothecary. Medicine has come a long way and this is one of the biggest reasons that i’m grateful to be living in modern times!

Every town, especially a gold rush town, needs a bank.

and a barbers/dentist.

A boarding house, aka the precursor to AirBnB.

If we were living in the old west, Dan and I would likely have spent a lot of time at the town saloon!

In the saloon we found another player piano, a fortune teller, and several Mutoscope machines, some with scandalous movies. We ran out of quarters, otherwise we definitely would have been checking out “Gorgeous Girls Galore-Banned in Chicago.” What a tease!

The museum had several modes of transportation, including stage coaches and a turn-of-the-century Cadillac.

There was a nod to Colorado’s ranching history. We just moved to Colorado last year, and I had no idea that Colorado has such a deep history with cattle. As proud residents of our new state, we attending the Great Western Stock Show in January, taking in this apparent local tradition. We also have cows that occasionally graze in the field at the end of our street. It’s delightful.

One of my favorite exhibits was the old circus posters. I know that circus’ are mostly a thing of a bygone era and for good reason, but I have fond memories of childhood circus trips in the 80’s, when Ringling Brothers would come to Los Angeles every August. In particular, I remember being very excited to see the “Unicorn” that they heavily advertised, only to get to the show and find a sheep with a horn stuck on its head. My childhood ended that day.

The museum takes a dark twist with a separate section called the “Old Home.” We were on a mini-vacation to celebrate Dan’s birthday, so he took exception to the idea that I was taking him to an “Old Home.”

Kidding aside, the “Old Home” was a bit unsettling. It’s a glimpse into a home of the 1800’s, complete with very, very eerie mannequins and old photographs. Even being there during the daytime was an unsettling experience. Seriously, take a close look at these pictures for the stuff of horror films.

The Ghost Town Wild West Museum is both an educational and entertaining experience. I highly recommend adding it to your Colorado Springs itinerary and don’t forget to bring quarters!