Southwest is the best airline ever for on-time arrivals!  We left Ft. Lauderdale on time and arrived in Tampa early.  We left Tampa on time and arrived in Birmingham early!  Chae and I drove by the office to check mail and phone messages because Josh and Harry were in Atlanta today.  They went to watch a shoulder surgery so they will have a better idea of exactly what our collaborating surgeon wants and needs.  I can’t wait to hear about it tomorrow – though I would NOT want to observe the surgery myself.  Good thing it doesn’t bother either of them.

I have spent all afternoon and evening doing laundry and catching up with our mail and newspapers.  Oh, and a nap!  Tomorrow morning, I am meeting Rashel and Max for breakfast, and Thursday, I have a much needed haircut scheduled.  That’s about the extent of this week’s excitement.  That and the fact that two of the GG’s are turning 60 this week.  How is that possible when we are all so young?

Charlotte

Karen

We were Key West tourists today.  We went down to Duval Street and walked around.  Parking is a really big issue in Key West, so we street-parked near a sign that said you had to pay.  But there were no meters.  We finally figured out that there was a pay post in the middle of the block, but it wouldn’t take our card because on Sundays you don’t pay until noon!  So we walked around, then went back and paid for a couple of hours.  Meanwhile, we toured the Fisher Museum.  Fisher was the guy who went after shipwreck booty and found all kinds of silver, gold, and things.  The museum was fun and very interesting.  We had to restrain ourselves from buying Ann lots of pirate gifts from the gift shop (ha ha).  We had lunch at a tiny little restaurant nearby.  We ate outside, and it was so windy that we had to hold our napkins and cups to keep them from blowing away.  Most of the little shops near Mallory Square are touristy, junky places, so it didn’t take us long to finish up there.  We came back to the hotel for reading and naps.  Finally, we ended the day at a local Mexican restaurant that was quite good.  We are in for the night now.  It is SO windy!!  I think we are getting the outer bands of Hurricane Ida.   The sustained winds are 30 mph!

Chae was in meetings until noon, then we hit the highway to drive north to Jupiter!  We passed Palm Beach Gardens where Ann was born (without the aid of a  too-late doctor, who charged us for his services anyway).  I kept waiting to see something that looked familiar, but it has changed so much in 30 years that everything was unrecognizable!  What was once a quiet little coastal town is now an overgrown, underplanned mess!  The coastal road that was nothing but beach and scrub growth is now non-stop condos.  Progress?  Maybe to some people, but I think it was better “back then.”

Tonight was the reception and dinner for the INGAA Foundation.  One of the men that I know from many previous meetings asked me how I was doing.  He seemed very surprised to even see me.  I said I was doing very well, then I realized that he must have expected me to look like someone who had just finished chemotherapy!  He kept saying, “Wow, that’s just great!”  Then he laughed and said that I looked better than Chae.  [Not sure that’s true, because Chae looks pretty awesome to me.]   I guess I’m doing well if people are surprised that I look OK.

Tomorrow, heading to Key West!  Our hotel is on the beach, and I got us a beach-front room.  We will be able to watch the sunset over the water.