Are You Smarter Than A Flying Gator? (11 page)

“Quincy!
Quincy is a small town once known as the richest small town in the United States because it had so many millionaires. It's named after John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States. In the 1920's, a local banker here told some of the people in the town to invest in a little company that soon became a HUGE company. The people that listened to him became rich. What company did they invest in? Was it A, Coca-Cola; B, Hershey's chocolate; or C, Mattel toys?

“The answer is A, Coca-Cola!

“This is
Venice!
Venice was the winter quarters of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus from 1960 until 1992. There was even a famous clown college here. Venice is now known for something else. In fact, it's known as the capital of the world for what particular thing? Is it A, clown paintings; B, purple sea shells; or C, sharks' teeth?

“The correct answer is C, sharks' teeth. Millions of these fossilized teeth wash up on the beaches near Venice. They even have a Shark's Tooth Festival in the spring.

“Zephyrhills!
Zephyrhills is best known for what? Is it A, gold jewelry; B, water; or C, the jelly
bean museum?

“The correct answer is B, water. The man who picked this place to build a town after the Civil War chose it because of its good water.”

Gretchen said, “That should catch us up with the 16 locations Gator Mikey has visited so far, beginning with Gainesville. When Gator Mikey left Zephyrhills 45 minutes ago and began flying northwest, he gave this clue:
the county seat of the county whose name spelled backwards has a Christmas theme.”

Steve said, “I know where he's headed. I already checked the 67 county names.”

“Good for you,” said Brian. “But right now it's our pleasure to go live on board Air Force One. Hello, everyone!”

“Good morning!” everybody replied enthusiastically. They were all standing close together in the Main Conference Room on board Air Force One.

“Mr. President, this is Gretchen Johansson. Maybe we could start with you. How much fun is this for you?”

“I actually feel like a kid again just being around
these young people with all their enthusiasm. Sharing the Gator Mikey experience with all of them last night was fantastic! The light show the flying gator put on must have been one of the most incredible things ever witnessed on Planet Earth!”

Gretchen asked, “Governor Trust, how has this experience been for you?”

“I would have to agree with the President. How much better can it be than this? I also like the fact that the whole world's focused on Florida for such a fun thing, and I get to fly on Air Force One.”

“Prez, this is Steve Goocy. I know you got your name because you want to be President someday. This must be extra special for you.”

“No doubt. This is significantly better than my wildest dreams!”

“Kevin, this is Alisyn Cantaloopa. We understand some of you have figured out a possible pattern to the places Gator Mikey's visited so far. You've even predicted the places he's going to visit today.”

“I think we might have figured out a possible pattern, but Gator Mikey probably has lots of surprises in store for us.”

“Do you want to share anything you figured out?” Alisyn asked.

“It's probably more fun if you figure things out yourself,” said Kevin.

“KT, this is Brian. What's been your highlight so far?”

“Hi, Brian. Everything has been a highlight for me, but being here on Air Force One with the President and Governor Trust is hard to beat!”

Brian said, “Well, we want to invite all of you to New York City to be on our show when this is all over. Hopefully, you can bring Gator Mikey along.”

“That would be great!”

“Thank-you!”

Alisyn said, “We hope to talk to you again next hour. Right now, it looks like Gator Mikey and you are approaching the capital city of Florida, Tallahassee!”

Gator Mikey approached Florida's two Capitol buildings. He swooped down to an altitude of less than 50 yards above the newer, taller building as tens of thousands of people cheered on the ground below him. Seconds later, the crowd waved and applauded loudly when they saw Air Force One approach from the southeast.

“Capitol buildings!”
Gator Mikey called. “I'm flying over the two Capitol buildings here in Tallahassee! The smaller building is the old Capitol. It was completed in 1845, and two wings and a dome were added after that as the state grew in population. The other building is the newer, 22 story Capitol, which was finished in 1977. My next question: Which state has the tallest Capitol building? Is it A, Louisiana; B, Florida; or C, Nebraska?

“Of course, I'll repeat the question and give you ten more seconds to think about it after that.”

Gator Mikey repeated the question and sang the beginning of Florida's brand new state song for ten seconds. After that he said, “The correct answer is A, Louisiana. Their Capitol is 34 stories high, a total of 450 feet. That's still not as high as the doors were back at the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center. Now you know exactly what to say if you got this question right! Say it
NOW!”

“I'm smarter than a flying gator!”

“Very good!” Gator Mikey cried out. “Now, I'll be staying here for half an hour or so, and you'll never guess where I'm flying next. I'll give you a hint:
Geronimo!”

“This is Shonda Knight from WCTV Channel 6 in Tallahassee. I'm here in Capitol Square this morning with Professor Tim Leno, a history professor from nearby Florida State University. Professor Leno knows a great deal about our local and state history. Professor, right now we're in the midst of a huge crowd, watching a magnificent colorful alligator flying over us. He's singing the Florida State Song in his beautiful Elvis voice. We've got Air Force One with the President and Governor Trust and Sarabiskota on board and all those jets and helicopters in the air nearby. As you watch this all take place, are you reminded of any other big historical events that may
have occurred here in the past?”

“Yes, Shonda, but certainly nothing as spectacular as this. Of course, just seeing a blue and orange gator flying over our city reminds us all of the many great football games between our beloved Florida State Seminoles and those annoying Gators from Gainesville.”

Shonda giggled. “That's for sure.”

“Other than that,” Professor Leno continued, “the first Christmas ever celebrated in North America was celebrated about a mile southeast of where we're standing right now. That took place at a campsite of the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1539.”

“Really? That's interesting. Anything else?”

“Sure. When Tallahassee became a United States territory in 1821, the territory's first nonmilitary governor was William Duval. He actually succeeded Andrew Jackson, who was the military governor for just a short time. Anyway, Duval had a beautiful daughter named Elizabeth, who liked to flirt with the young men who lived around here. Two of those guys fought a duel with pistols over Elizabeth right here in Capitol Square.”

“What happened?”

“Well, fortunately neither of the men were very good shots and they weren't hurt seriously. It turned out Elizabeth really didn't care for either of them much. She just liked the attention.”

“Fascinating, Professor. Do you have any more?”

“Sure. Way back in 1826, we had a big royal wedding right here in Tallahassee. George Washington's great grandniece married a prince, Prince Murat. The prince just happened to be the nephew of a pretty famous historical character, Napoleon Bonaparte, the Emperor of France.”

“Thanks, Professor Leno. I have to admit I never liked history, but this has been very interesting—Wow! Gator Mikey just flew right over us!” Shonda had to yell to be heard. “Professor Leno, do you have one more as Gator Mikey flies away from us?”

“Sure. None of us will ever forget the whole presidential election of 2000 that played out right here in Tallahassee. For several weeks, we weren't sure whether it would be Bush or Gore as our next President of the United States. Tallahassee was a pretty crazy place back then, but there were no flying gators.”

“Speaking of that flying gator, he's now singing
a Beach Boys favorite of mine.”

Gator Mikey was singing “I Get Around” as everyone was dancing and singing to the music.

“This song would make an excellent theme song for Gator Mikey!” Professor Leno yelled over all the loud singing. “He definitely gets around.”

“Good one, Professor!” said Shonda. “Well, this is Shonda Knight singing and dancing along with Gator Mikey and thousands of others in Tallahassee!”

A few blocks away, on the campus of Florida State University, head football coach Bobby Boodeen was humming the Beach Boys' song as he watched his television. Coach Boodeen was in his office, but he wasn't working on new football plays.

His old blackboard was filled with Gator Mikey clues, Gator Mikey questions and answers, and the names of the places Gator Mikey had visited. He walked over and looked out his window as Gator Mikey approached. “Daw-gum it!” he yelled. “Couldn't those Sarabiskota kids have built a flying tomahawk or something!”

When Gator Mikey was out of sight, Coach Boodeen walked back over to his old blackboard. He picked up a piece of chalk and wrote the word
Geronimo
on the board. He also added the word
Capitol
to his list of places Gator Mikey had stopped and asked questions. Just for the fun of it, he circled the first letter of each of the seventeen place names—beginning with Gainesville and ending with
Capitol.

“Wait a second!” Coach Boodeen exclaimed. “It can't be this simple! Gator Mikey's playing some sort of alphabet game with me. He hasn't used any letter of the alphabet more than once! Hmmm, I wonder if there's a pattern here? I may not be smarter than a daw-gum flying gator, but I'm not that dumb either!”