The Girl and the Seal

I just found this wonderful video on someone else's blog. It is too god not to share.

Seal meets girl. Seal falls in love with girl. The end. from Bob Dobalina on Vimeo.

Enjoy and check out the penguins checking it out.

Back to the Road Trip

Now let's see, where did I leave us on the road. Ah yes, Georgia. But first, a word about the promised photos. They are trapped in my phone. I don't know how to extricate them. I now have a microSD card in the phone and new photos are stored there, but the ones that are in the camera's memory, are viewable on the phone but not movable to the SD. Bah, they are really nice too. Oh well, but I digress.

Many restaurant chains are available near us. One that isn't is - - -


We always look forward to lunch at Waffle House.

From the land of peaches, pecans and cotton we entered Florida on I75, a handy road that goes down the peninsula and meets The Florida Turnpike that cuts diagonally across the state to the coast and our first goal of Palm Beach and Gene's high school reunion. On the way, we drove through one of the worst rain storms I've ever driven in, minimum visibility and maximum splash. We arrived safely and compared notes with everyone else who experienced it.


THE GRAHAM ECKES REUNION

First there was a lavish cocktail party at the grand home of one of his classmates. It was wonderful to be able to spend the evening on the water-front patio while handsome young waiters plied me with drinks and tasty bits. One could get used to it. The next day we had reunion part 2, brunch at the Sailfish Club.



Gene at the Sailfish Club, Palm Beach Florida, with blue sky, pleasant breezes and balmy weather.

The brunch was a leisure, friendly affair, with a spectacular buffet and great drinks. It was nice to see Gene's classmates again and catch up on what is new. I'm looking forward to the next one.

A good time was had by all.

VALENTINE'S MEDICAL REPORT

I'm interrupting this travelogue to bring you a medical alert.

Here's the history...
2008 @ Valentine's Day, Gene had a triple bypass. Everything went well.
2009 @ Valentine's time, he needed more surgery to repair his sternum which had failed to heal correctly.
2010 @ Valentine's time he must have had something else to do.
2011 @ Valentines's Day he had a chest pain and off to the emergency room he went. The blood tests showed that there had not been a heart attack. He had the full routine, many EKGs, a stress test, an echo-cardiogram, and an angiogram. Nothing tragic was found. After many conferences with and among his doctors, it was decided to change his meds.

Gene is home again after a two night stay at Northwestern Memorial. He is feeling fine and thanks everyone for their kind thoughts. I wonder what he has planned for next Valentine's Day.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program...

Road Trip - January, 2011

Once again, we took a road trip to join Gene’s high school reunion in Palm Beach.

When we left Chicago, the temperature was in the 20s, there was snow on the ground and a cold wave was on the way. I had no regrets leaving.

An uneventful drive brought us to our first stop in Columbus, Indiana. It is an interesting city, a Mecca of inventive architecture and design. Even the bridge at the highway exit is well designed.

There was still some snow, mostly the remains of clearing streets and parking lots.

The next day we crossed the Ohio river and went through a piece of Kentucky and into Tennessee and stopped in Normandy, TN, near Tullahoma, at the George Dickel distillery. The memory of their wonderful whisky brought us back to their company store. If you are ever able to taste their wares, do so. I’m sure that you will enjoy the smoooooth quality of their golden nectar.

When you are in Georgia and it is not peach season, you have to indulge in pecan treats. That brought us back to Ellis Bros. Pecans in Vienna GA. Their address was in our GPS from the last time we drove to Florida, for a very good reason. Their many variations on pecans are wonderful. Roasted and salted, praline crunch, coffee coated, spiced, pralines, chocolate (light or dark), you get the idea. You can even get them plain, just in the shell.

TO BE CONTINUED and PHOTOS ADDED

Back so soon . . .

Tonight was the celebration of the 100th year of Phi Alpha Delta, Gene's law fraternity. It was held at the InterContinental Hotel on Michigan Avenue. Cocktails, short welcoming speeches, salad, some awards and acknowledgments, chicken, some sort of soufflé, veggies, more awards, Gene (and our friend Garnet Fay) get acknowledged for their work with PAD, chocolate mousse, coffee, thanks and good-byes. In by 6, out by 10, not bad.

My How Time Flies....

It has been a while since last I posted.

Things continue to continue. I won't try to play catch-up, but will try to stay current.

Okay, here's a little recent history.

New Year's Eve was a Greek Fest and Games at Abe's. It was both tasty and fun.

It is Chicago and it is winter. It is cold and there is snow. No big deal, nothing like the east coast or even northern Indiana.

I continue to knit and to make jewelry, even knit some jewelry. I participated in a Christmas bazaar and sold several items.

Gene is still busy being a lawyer. He is well and thriving.

Our house is much quieter now that Squerky, our Nanday Conure, died. It is interesting that you can get so attached to an unfriendly, neurotic, feather-challenged bird.