When Jake Became a Celebrity in Daytona Beach Florida

Jake's new teacher wanted a story about him - so I sent her this one and thought I'd share!

Four years ago, the family made it's first trip to Daytona Beach. Jake's grandparents stay for a month every year at Perry's Lodge, so the whole family was going to spend a week together. It is a big hotel with an indoor atrium, whirlpool, miniature golf and a pool. Perry's claim to fame is the donuts. The owners used to run a bakery in the Midwest, and when they moved to Daytona, they brought their donut skills with them.

On the morning they arrived, the whole group gathered in the dining hall for fresh donuts and coffee. During the trip down to Florida, they had listened to the details of the Columbia shuttle disaster, and that morning they were mezmerized by CNN while eating fresh donuts and drinking fresh squeezed orange juice. The kids had gone back and forth between the dining hall and the pool while the grown ups chatted away the morning.

After breakfast, Mom went to the grocery store to stock up and the kids headed out to explore the Atlantic Ocean. About twenty minutes into their walk, Jake decided to run back to the hotel. Now the hotels from the front look very distinct, but from the beach, all of the teal blue painted porches look the same. Jake walked up to the hotel, went into the lobby, used the restroom and then went in search of our room. After looking for a few minutes, he was sure something was wrong, so he went back to the lobby in search of the security guard.

At about that time, his sister realized he had not come back and got worried. She went back to the hotel and after finding that he had not stayed in the room, she alerted the hotel staff who then called the police. There was some speculation that Jake could be with his grandparents, who had run over to church after breakfast. Within minutes of the report to the police, an Amber Alert went out with his name and description on TV and over the radio. Grandma and Grandpa Loner were stopped on their way out of church by the Daytona Police who recognized the Indiana license plate and asked them if they were Jake's family. They were shocked, and remarked that it hadn't taken long for Daytona to get to know Jake!

Someone from the hotel came across the street to where Jake's mom was getting groceries - and she left her cart in the frozen food section of Piggly Wiggly to come find him.

About the same time as Jake's mom was crossing the street, Jake had found the security guard, and in classic Jake fashion, he asked the guard where they kept their donuts and coffee because he knew how to get to the room from there. When they reached the kitchen, Jake realized he was at the wrong hotel. The guard called the police, who said that there was an alert out for him. The guard and Jake came strolling across the walk - from the hotel next door - right as his mom got to door of the room.

And that is how Jake became famous - having caused an Amber Alert before he had been in Florida 24 hours