13 observations from 9 days on the road in Florida

by EzekielDiet.com
Posted on Jun 30, 2026

Ezekiel Diet Note: I just got back from 9 days on the road in Florida and I have several observations of the state of people, obesity, tattoos, economy, surveillance, drones, hotels, SeaWorld, Warm Mineral Springs, and number of Amazon Prime tractor trailers verses Walmart tractor trailers.

I estimate I ended up in several hours of business and state surveillance video every day while in Florida. I would be curious how many terabytes of data were used to video me take a vacation. Imagine if every Florida vacationer requires up to a 100 terabytes of filmed surveillance, how many servers that takes.

1) Obesity

The average American is fatter than ever.

2) Tattoos

The permanent tattoo fad is out of control in every age category now. Most flaunt them like trophies, but for the Boomer generation they still carry a prison or gang-related connotation when graffiti is added all over the human body. It ruins the symmetry of the body. My dad had a large American eagle over the globe tattoo on his left bicep from WW II in France. But very few people ever saw that tattoo because of clothing. That was the extent of the phenomenon. Today even grandma is getting tattooed. I grimace at the sight of a beautiful woman who has heavily tattooed her body. And it defies logic for a huge woman to tattoo and draw attention to extra-large arms and legs. And how does that tattoo work when the person loses a lot or weight? Wouldn’t that be like drawing a picture on a balloon? A tattoo of Madonna shrinks to something that looks like a weird Pee Wee Herman? : )

3) Hotel Booking Review Scams

I break long road trips up with stays in new or almost new mid-range 5 to 6 story hotels like La Quinta, Holiday Inn Express, Fairfield by Marriott, etc. You can no longer trust 4+ or 5 star reviews on all the major hotel review and purchase sites. It’s very obvious that foreigner owned mid-range hotel franchisees can purchase spammed reviews to overwhelm the low star reviews from actual customers. Always review the patterns in 1 star reviews for the truth. Read the 5 star reviews for odd praising of specific employees who are probably writing the review. Spend an extra few minutes reading the reviews, or spend a night or two in a filthy, broken Patel-Motel-Hell that was rated 4.5 stars with hundreds of reviews praising cleanliness.

4) Florida Highway Surveillance

Florida government has installed Flock-type crotch cameras that can look down into your cars windshield and side windows. I’m sure additional cameras in these pods watch traffic flow, backups, and speed and maybe even image tags. They were on the major highways I traveled (I-75, I-4). They’re on 30 to 40 foot concrete poles every mile or two with an occasional camera at the driver’s face level. Also on these poles are odd looking radar-like scanning devices. It’s my opinion you are surveilled and I believe occupants scanned (possibly vax or phone MAC addresses, phone IMEI or IMSI identifiers, and even charge card & license magnetic strips) and photographed from one end of Florida to the other.

5) Orlando Pay By Mail Tolls

Orlando on I-4 has mail-by-tag toll fees + an administrative fee that takes a picture of you entering and leaving toll photo racks of cameras suspended over traffic. No toll booths; you don’t even have to slow down. Just a photo coming and going from above and an invoice in the mail. I’ll be interested if they were able to read my tag and mail me multiple toll invoices. Here too you may be scanned for MAC and IMEI and license magnetic strips for cross reference.

6) Huge Drone 50 feet over I-75

I witnessed what looked like a huge yellow drone flying south just 50 foot over northbound traffic that was the size of a Cesna 2 seat small plane. It’s surprising this type of stunt doesn’t cause accidents as it appears this is a plane in distress trying to land on I-75. God only knows what they were scanning for or imaging.

7) Amazon Prime verses Walmart

I witnessed 20 Amazon Prime tractor trailers on I-75 traveling north and south for every 1 Walmart tractor trailer. Amazon must be kicking Walmart’s butt. Buy what you can from Walmart or that competition will go away and Amazon will start raising prices.

8) Expensive Top-Brand Orlando Malls

Huge malls with the premium top brands in Orlando are full of people. But only a small percent are actually carrying bags of purchased goods. A lot of people eating in food courts and rummaging through deep discount sale items. But no stupid expensive overpriced top-brand product bags seen anywhere. While the parking lots for TJ Max, Ross, Marshals, etc. discount brands are packed with everybody buying. I think people go to the malls to see what’s in style then go to the discount brand stores to duplicate.

9) Resort Gotcha Fees

Resort Hotels have added so many gotcha fees like parking, wifi, resort fees, $25 movies, $30 breakfast, water, tips, and resort taxes plus the room charge that you can get a better deal on a 1,500+ square foot house with a kitchen and pool. Also, in every resort hotel (and cruise ships) you’re under constant filmed surveillance and room card tracking everywhere you go. Compare next time.

10) Orlando Waymo Driver-less Cars and Vans

I witnessed my first driver-less vehicle in traffic in Orlando that was a strange experience. Every time it got close to me I sped up or tried to avoid it. It seemed to always catch up like a 5,000 pound robot from hell tailing me. Again filming and surveilling me while around it. I thought I heard it say in a creepy HAL voice, “no, Dave, I’m going to follow you until you run out of gas, then I’m going to run over you.” The driving style would be ‘slow granny.’

A thought, when you get into an Uber driver’s car, they have some skin in the game, like their investment in the car and their life. This is a strong deterrent to taking a car full speed into a tree or wall. This was the plot in the movie Welcome to Upload. Someone overrides and takes control of a driver-less taxi to murder the occupant in a high speed accident because of a pending business deal. A mini Titanic style execution.

11) SeaWorld’s 2026 Fire and Ice Expedition Odyssey Flying Theater

We went to SeaWorld in 95 degree F / 96% humidity weather (never again) mainly to experience the 2026 Expedition Odyssey ride in the video below. The video doesn’t do justice to the 3D flying experience. Heading straight into a cavern with the seat pointing down makes for a wild ride. Flying over and almost into an erupting volcano was wild. When you go through clouds you get a light mist of water sprayed on you. It’s an amazing experience. Upgrade to avoid the one plus hour line to ride.

This is not my video below, I found it on YouTube. I don’t believe you’re supposed to film this theater experience. But, a plug for the ride and SeaWorld; the video is a 1 and the actual ride is a 10. So buy a ticket and experience it yourself.

Business Idea, this could be a great business idea in a busy mall with a failing movie theater. Each theater could only seat 15 people at a time so flights would have to be limited to a maximum 30 minutes or people may start heaving from motion sickness. The seats move with the film slanting left, right, forward, and backward so it’s a very real experience. Retrofitting old movie theaters into flying theaters using AI produced 3D HD movies that changes weekly. Fly over the fake moon, fake Mars, fly through the Andes, Grand Canyon, visit Europe by air, undersea adventures, and mountains in the fall. A lot of these films could be made with drone HD footage.

12) SeaWorld Clientele and Tattoos

An interesting observation in SeaWorld is there were no professional looking, upper middle class, or blue bloods at the park. Except for the occasional European travelers. And no tattoos on foreign travelers which I thought was interesting. Of course, the average American gets the lifelong vaccine and fluoride mind melt, so it makes sense that they would choose to look like prison or gang members because Hollyweird and NutFlix programmed them to believe this was cool.

13) Warm Mineral Springs in North Port, Florida

Warm Mineral Springs in North Port, Florida is just below Sarasota/Bradenton and is a one-of-a-kind 51-mineral spring that maintains a constant 85 degrees F. It’s claimed Ponce De Leon dubbed it the Fountain of Youth. If you want a week of relaxed mind and body similar to a mild narcotic, then spend as much time as possible in this spring. There’s a 5 star $700 million resort (like a cruise ship on land) just 30 minutes south of this spring we stay at: Sunseeker Resort – book for $179 a night on deep discount promotions, but with parking, resort fees, wifi, taxes, movie, meals,and incidentals will run $350+ a night. Sign up for their promotional emails to get the best rates, Or, only 5 minutes from Warm Mineral Springs is a fairly new Hampton Inn and Suites by Hilton rated 9.4 and only $125 a night with free parking. There’s also a lot of new commercial development in this area with Outlet Stores, TJ Max, Ross, Marshals and better restaurants like First Watch, Panera, Sushi. However, there are 10 rated, 1,500 sq ft, 4 bedroom homes in the area for $100 a night. The Warm Mineral Springs park was hit hard by Hurricane Ian in September 2022 that trashed the original buildings that are still fenced off and condemned. It’s controlled by Sarasota/North Port bureaucracy not doing a good job of managing the property. Look past this incompetence and visually disturbing condition of this historic site and focus on the health benefits of the spring itself. This property has attracted up to 150,000 visitors a year; I don’t see those numbers now, or anything close to it. Today it’s like a portal into Russia as almost all the patrons are Russian; indicating they’re smarter than the average Floridian. This is why I believe Sunseeker Resort could attract business from all over the world. Europeans seek out these types of spa vacations. Especially for people with arthritis and skin conditions, or anyone who wants to experience the narcotic affect of extreme mineral intake.

There’s a planned Marriott hotel and subdivisions on 62 acres of the 80+ acre park with 21 acres dedicated to the Spring. The park is limping along financially as one report indicates Sarasota/North Port spent $1.4 million maintaining the park last year. They recently raised admission rates, to the anger of local residents who’ve lost all the park’s amenities like cafe, massages, gift shops, etc., and now pay more for regular visits. They have a $9 million budget for developing the area; but all proposals are coming in double that. There’s also a concern about adding this much infrastructure on top of a underground Spring and next to a 225 foot deep sinkhole. Imagine sleeping on the first floor of a Marriott hotel that disappears in a sinkhole. That could be a great movie. I think I’ll start traveling in Florida with a tool to break thick glass. : )

It’s my personal opinion that the ailing $700 million Sunseeker Resort that just sold to Blackstone Real Estate for $250 million ($450 million loss) should collaborate with Sarasota/North Port bureaucrats for a long term lease, maybe property tax advantages, to tear down the old Springs buildings and add a new bright white modern Sunseeker facade over a 10,000 sq ft metal building with restaurant/cafe, cafe patio, screen patio, gift shop, massage rooms, health products and minerals, restrooms, changing rooms, sidewalks, cabanas, better lounge and seating, algae skimmers at night, better landscaping. Add 2 airport style small buses back and forth all day from Sunseeker.

It’s also my opinion if the original developer, Allegiant Air that lost $450 million on the property, had recognized this potential 150,000 visitor a year historic attraction and collaborated with the Springs controllers before construction, they may still be the owners.

This is just one of dozens of YouTube videos on the springs. I have no idea who shot this video. It just ties some of the history and health benefits into a short video.

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