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Tuesday, 10 November 2009

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

Monday, 09 November 2009

We left Key West around 9 AM and drove to Everglades National Park. Yes, my national-park-collecting husband added another one to his collection. We saw some amazing birds, 2 alligators, and an American crocodile! Chae was very excited about that one. It was the first time he had ever seen one (and, of course, my first crocodile, too). They are an endangered species. We were looking around a quiet marina area because we were told that some manatees had been sited there. We were looking over a bridge, and a German tourist asked if we had spotted any manatees. Chae said no. The man asked if we had seen the crocodile and pointed toward the bank. There was a huge (probably 8-9 feet long) crocodile sunning on a pile of sand bags. Photos as soon as Chae gets home!

Sunday, 08 November 2009

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!

Saturday, 07 November 2009

What a day! Chae’s meeting was over at noon, and we headed south. Chae “collects” national parks, so we decided to take a short detour to Biscayne National Park. About 90% of the park is underwater – it is sort of a marine sanctuary, so you need to take boats, kayaks, or whatever to see most of it. However, we were having very brisk winds today, and the boats were out of commission. It was blowing so hard at one point that I was worried that my earrings were going to blow out of my ears! They are the kind that just hook through the ear lobe then dangle down – and I really thought they were going to blow out! Some crazy guys were out on sailboards, and it looked like they were going about 50 miles an hour. My hair, needless to say, was a tangled mess by the time we got back to the car. But it was one of the neatest national parks we have been to. Photos when Chae has time to download them.

Finally, we were driving to Key West. This was an adventure all in itself. The speed limit goes from 45 MPH to 55 MPH depending on how populated an area is. Then it slows down when you drive through the Key Deer habitat area, with big road signs that say “Speed Kills Our Key Deer. “ Well maybe they shouldn’t be using drugs then….ha ha.. (that was just stupid and bad). Our hotel room faces the beach, and the view will be really nice in the morning. It was nearly dark when we got here.

On the way down the highway, I was “watching” the scores of the Alabama/LSU football game on my PDA, and Ann was texting me scores. Before the game when everyone was tailgating, I got a text message from Ann asking me if Rebecca was there near the Episcopal Church. Then I got a text message from Rebecca asking if Ann was there near the Episcopal Church. They don’t know each other very well, having met each other only once. They were tailgating right next to each other, and they finally got together for a few minutes. We got here in time to watch the last quarter, which turned out to be the good quarter. Alabama won by 9 points, just as the bookies predicted.

We just got back to our room from dinner at Mangia-Mangia, a family run Italian restaurant (all homemade pasta) that my friend Wanda recommended. Chae got seafood and I got pasta with wonderful marinara. It was all delicious. Now we are stuffed and settled back in our room, on a Saturday night in Key West, and it is only 9:30 PM. We are such old f*rts.

Friday, 06 November 2009

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.