A self-described armchair archeologist, Alexander Sprout has had dreams of leaving Krollville for a tropical climate ever since he was a little boy.

The death of Alexander's father, the original, and medically certified, Dr. Benny Sprout kept the young man in Krollville, serving his deceased father's patients with the medical know-how that had been passed on to him, usually over dinner, throughout his youth and adolescence.

Doctor Sprout met his wife, Mrs. Sprout, six months after he was forced to remain in town. The beautiful young woman had come to Krollville from across the sea to nurse her dying grandmother to a comfortable death. The two remained in Krollville, living and working out of Alexander's childhood home, while dreaming of a permanent move to South America.