We’re through with Wednesday here at the beach, and rapidly approaching the midway point of our little vacation. It’s been a fun ride so far.

We checked in Sunday and had time to unpack and take a quick walk down to the water. Travis set foot on the beach for his first time and absolutely loved it. We took lots of pictures of him and Hallie playing together in the sand. After that we got them to bed and then promptly did the same, as we were quite exhausted from the travel.

Monday was our first full day. We spent the morning getting ready for the pool, but it didn’t open until 9 so we went to the beach instead. It was a hot, breezeless day on the beach, with a yard of seaweed on the beach at the water’s edge and several yards of it in the surf. We stuck our toes in the water for a little while before packing up and heading back to the pool. We spent a good long time swimming there and getting noisy. The kids loved it.

Soon after the kids began their naps it began raining, dumping so much water that Thomas Drive flooded in many places. The weather didn’t bother the naps, fortunately, though it did limit Kelly’s exercise options. Like lots of storms in Florida, it soon blew over and gave us a chance to get some dinner at Pineapple Hallie’s, er, I mean Pineapple Willie’s. We then returned to the condo for a surprise birthday party for our neice, Hadley. Lots of fun was had by all.

Tuesday brought a chance of pace as Carl arranged for us to use his daddy’s boat. My family and Jeff’s family piled onboard the catamaran boat for a trip to nearby Shell Island. We were doing fine until I somehow steered out of the channel and got us temporarily grounded in the shallow lagoon. After that inauspicious beginning, our trip to the island went very well.

The island was one place not suffocated in seaweed. We ran the boat up on the beach, hauled the kids and toys to the Gulf side and went for a seaweed-free swim before packing back up and heading in for lunch.

After the kids napped, we got cleaned up and headed to Triple J’s for dinner. In spite of being a party of ten descending on them at 7 PM, we got seated immediately and had our dinners before we knew it. Kelly and I finished up the day by watching The World’s Fastest Indian on the DVD player, a delightfully good movie.

Morning came early for me this morning as Carl invited my dad and me to go fishing. Up and the crack of dawn, we motored to a spot a few miles off a coast full of high-rise condominiums. Less than two minutes from dropping my hook into the water, I caught a nice-sized snapper, the first of six for me today. One nice one tipped the scales at ten pounds. Dad and Carl caught the remaining six allowed by the game commission rules, including another ten pounder Dad reeled in. We motored back to shore with a cooler full of snapper and smiles on our faces.

Lunch and naps here were followed by a visit from all the Andersons. We watched fishing film before waking our kids up for another trip to the pool, their second today. We changed clothes and then went for dinner again, this time stopping at Schooners for dinner. Schooner’s has always been down at the less-populated end of Thomas Drive but is now visibly crowded. A 20+ story condo building was built within 7 feet of the “Last Local Beach Club,” providing the most visible contrast of the old Panama City Beach and the new, booming, high-rise one. Their dinner isn’t spectacular (its bar food obviously), the beer is lousy, but the atmosphere is the best on the beach. We ate quickly so we had more time to watch the kids dance to the live music.

Tomorrow we take our beach pictures in the morning. Then our local relatives come to visit. We’ll have a cookout here at the condo and visit for a while. Should be nice. The rest of the week is open for whatever we decide to fill it with.

So far its been a very enjoyable vacation. No matter how much it changes appearance-wise, I’ll always have a fondness for this beach.

We’re enjoying our first day at the beach today. It’s sunny and hot with no breeze and lots of icky seaweed in the surf. Fortunately, there’s a nice pool at the hotel.

We stayed with Kelly’s great aunt and uncle in Decatur, Georgia on the way down. They treated us very well.

More updates when I get a chance. Now its lunchtime, as well as time for some boiled peanuts.

Boy am I glad I decided not to stay overnight in New York. The gummint is telling us to run around like screaming ninnies because terrists are everywhere! It may have taken many more hours to get through the BS at the airport security screening.

The corporate travel agency has this to say:

At this time – no laptops or electronic carryon of any kind and no
liquids including shampoos, gels, beverages and similar material. Plus
allow plenty of extra time for checkin – locations like Chicago and
Newark have lines more than twice the normal to get through security.

If only Connecticut voters hadn’t turned out Joe “Mr. National Security” Lieberman in Tuesday’s primary. Save us, Joe!

I’m in New York for the day, doing a demo. If all goes to plan I will be home for dinner. Thank goodness for airport WiFi.

We bought the boat yesterday. Now we’ve got to figure out how to own it. There is a lot to learn. Fortunately, there is a boater safety course given at the end of the month. Kelly and I hope to attend.

We spent Sunday with the Naylors at their Lake Gaston lakehouse. As always, it was great to see them as well as David, Anna, and Wesley; Hallie and Travis’s new cousin. We visited a bit before having lunch. Kelly dressed the kids in life vests and sunscreen and then we brought them down to the edge of the lake. It was so hot and muggy that Travis practically fell alseep standing up. I was holding his hand on the dock and he was actually flopping around. I think the tight vest, sun, and heat made him sleepy.

Kelly took Hallie out on the rowboat before lunch for a quick ride. After she put Travis down for his nap, it was my turn to take Hallie out – this time on a sailboat. She joined Ralph, Matthew, and me for a rather show and unexciting sail around the lake. She was a great sport and loved it when the wind would gust. The heat eventually got to her, though, and she declared she was sleepy. I asked her if she’d like to take a nap and she replied “but I have to wave to the boats!” That was the “job” I gave her and she was so dedicated she didn’t want to miss a boat!

Once we came in, we enjoyed a great game of UNO, with Kelly, me, Hallie and Suzzanne playing. Hallie really enjoyed playing, until it became apparent the game was going to go on forever. Then she excused herself and Kelly, Suzzanne, and I played for a good 30-45 minutes more. Smart girl, that Hallie.

We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon, said our goodbyes, and headed home, rolling in around 7:30. We put the kids to bed and spent the rest of the evening catching up on things. It was a very fun, relaxing day.

See Kelly’s account on the Hallie and Travis page.

We’re finishing up what has been a very active weekend. It began Friday evening when Kelly’s parents arrived for the weekend. The kids love to see them so we had a pretty excited bunch here. Somehow we got the kids settled, though. Although their bedtime was a little later than normal, it wasn’t too much later.

Kelly’s parents had offered to take the kids Saturday so we could have a “date day.” Instead of going out to dinner and then hanging out at some club, we chose to spend our time out doing active stuff. After we made our guests breakfast, we hotfooted it over to Dead Broke Farm near Falls Lake for some horseback riding! It had been about fifteen years since either of us had ridden, but we were looking forward to some fun!

Our rides were supposed to begin at 9 but for one reason or another we didn’t actually hit the trail until 10:30. Some riders were walking up way late, which caused the rest of us to wait. We passed the time by grooming the horses, but it was not the best way to get started.

Eventually, though, we did get riding. Cody, the male horse I was riding, liked to run while Blaze, the female horse Kelly had, was a bit more reserved. Though there were sixteen riders all told, Kelly and I managed to ride close to each other for most of the trail. I’d laugh when I’d look down and see Blaze’s nose near my leg as she would try to move in front of Cody.

I gave Cody wide latitude for most of the ride and he took advantage of it. On some creek crossings, he’d get some speed up in climbing the bank and plow right into the horse in front of us. On two occasions he even cantered, which would have been teriffic had I not been so focused on guarding my knees from the approaching trees! In spite of my efforts Cody twice managed to slam my knee into trees. The sneaky bastard! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise: horses are devious and know exactly what they’re doing! Cody got the message and came around, though, when I got more serious with the reins.

We’d originally signed up for an hour of riding, but after all the extra waiting to get started we opted to do two. Both of us hopped off the horse relatively painlessly and headed for our next adventure: sailing!

We arrived at Lake Crabtree to observe a rather weak and uninspiring wind rustling the trees. It didn’t look promising for sailing. Even so, we figured we could always go kayacking or canoeing, so we headed down to the dock anyway. By the time we arrived, a nice, steady breeze was blowing across the lake and the blazing sun was hidden by clouds: almost perfect conditions!

Kelly and I rented separate boats and I gave her a push off the beach and into the breeze. Soon we were crusing across the lake, Kelly in front and me with no chance of catching her. In spite of a steady breeze, I could never get my boat to behave and began to suspect that I was carrying extra ballast in the form of water in the hull. Ah well, what did I expect for ten bucks an hour?

I was making another run across the lake when I saw Kelly head back to the beach. With time left on our hour, I was wondering if she’d had enough. Then I saw her paddling towards me in a kayak, which looked pretty fun to me. That woman can do anything, I tell ya.

Once we’d gotten back on land, it was back to the house to get cleaned up. We had time to see Travis awake from his nap before we got in a quick shopping trip and headed out to dinner.

Dinner Saturday was at 18 Seaboard on a recommendation of our Source Of Hip, Mr. Scotty G. The restaurant is between the old Seaboard train station (now home to Logan Trading Company) and Peace College (now home to, uh, Peace College), located in an area where I looked for office space for my company a year ago. Anyway, the decor was great, the service was speedy, the food was noticably fresh and tasty (with an admirable local slant), and the prices were reasonable. I enjoyed my sea bass special and Kelly absolutely loved her catfish, ranking it among her best restaurant meals ever. 18 Seaboard gets two thumbs up!

After dinner we wandered downtown to check out the festivities going on for Raleigh Wide Open, the grand reopening of Fayetteville Street. The irony of a streetful of pedestrians celebrating the removal of the pedestrian mall wasn’t lost on us. We showed up in time to run into our friends Mandy and Gerry and their kids before the fireworks began. A quick tour of the street later, we were on our way home, where we collapsed into bed close to midnight.

As for today, we spent the morning visiting more with Kelly’s parents. Then it was off to Royal India for lunch. We parted ways at that point, got the kids their naps, and I went out into the oppressive heat to mow the lawn. A bunch of other weekend projects later and here I am.

The week has me staying put for a change, which is nice. After that, the only thing on my radar is our upcoming beach vacation two weeks away. Woo hoo!

Kelly is a much better sailor than she gives herself credit for.

I’m back at the hotel for the night, frustrated at how everything closes so early around here. Not. No, I’m in becuase I’ve got a 6 AM wakeup and nobody to go raving with me. Ok, that’s not true, either. I’m in because I’m sleepy. This may be the city that never sleeps, but I sure do.

I had lunch at the Laguardia airport after landing a little before 11. It was after noon when I connected with the customer I was going to see. The word I got was that they’d go grab some lunch and be back before I arrived at the customer site.

In reality, the cabbie got me there twice as fast as the customer had estimated. I spent 30 minutes waiting in the lobby before he got back. At least there was free wireless, though, so I had something to do.

I went up to the office and quickly diagnosed the problem. Bam. Done for the day. I thanked him and hailed a cab for the hotel.

I got to the hotel at exactly 3 PM: check-in time. After a little cooling down, I ventured out to find the Daily Show studios, a block away from me.

It was pretty easy to find it, as there were already 50-75 people lined up out front. It didn’t look good for getting in. The standby line – for saps like me without tickets – was hidden around the corner, right next to a garbage can. I met some cool people while we waited. Even grabbed a bite to eat at the local deli. Alas, we were soon told there would be no standby tickets so we dispersed.

Here’s how you see a show get filmed. First you email them a couple of dates you’d like. Then they tell you what’s available. Your name gets put on a list making you eligible to wait for tickets. See, even if your name is on the list you may still walk away empty-handed, as happened to two guys I met who had driven all the way from Philadelphia to see the show. If you’re lucky and the VIP line isn’t too outrageous, you may get a ticket and get in to see the show. About 100 fortunate people do. Those like me get to try another day. Since they got shafted by the show, the two Philly guys get put on the VIP list for the next time, meaning they’ll have a more-or-less guaranteed shot at getting in. It’s all a big gamble, it seems. But what can you say, the show is The Thing now.

I overheard one of the show staffers telling a woman to try getting tickets for the Colbert Report, a few blocks away. Not having anything else to do, and thinking it would be worth a try to see some show, I tagged along with her. Her name was Emily and she worked for the FAA. We walked to 54th street, the site of the Colbert Report and the former studios for The Daily Show.

Once again, there was a long line of ticket-holders. Absent any official direction, we formed an ad-hoc standby line where once again I got to meet some really interesting people. That’s where I met the Philly guys. One of them half-jokingly suggested they get beer for their wait and before you knew it the other was bringing back a six-pack from the corner grocery. Lacking a bottle opener, they got creative and popped the caps using the top of the steel fence we were near. I thought it was a pretty festive scene, all told.

As the show time neared, I got excited to see another staffer with a clipboard, taking names for the standby list. I actually got my name on the list before another staffer announced that – once again – there were no standby seats left. At least this guy was sincere in his apologies – it seemed he was really sorry to turn us away.

Emily decided to go see a play, so – once again lacking anything else to do – I tagged along. When we got there, I balked at the price, thinking I’d save this experience for when Kelly and I could enjoy it together. With that, I headed back to my hotel to regroup.

The many times I’ve been to New York, I’ve never gotten to visit the “Strawberry Fields” area of Central Park. Strawberry Fields was the area of Central Park favored by John Lennon. Now there is a place in Central Park named after the famous Beatles song. Against my better judgement I walked the 21 blocks to get there, but I had to go.

There was the sign right inside the park reading “Strawberry Fields.” Beyond that was a crowd surrounding the circular tile with the word “Imagine.” Flowers and photographs adorned the tile and people viewed it quietly. I sat down on the bench and just watched everyone, taking in the feeling of being there. It was very reverental. A lot of deep thoughts seemed to run through peoples’ heads.

Before heading back, I had to see the Dakota itself, the place where Lennon was shot. Guards stood at the driveway but looking through the gates was enough for me. What a terrible, sad crime. I don’t think New York will ever stop taking it personally.

For the way home, I hopped the subway and then explored some options for dinner. The hotel staff pointed me to a nearby Italian restaurant, Roberto’s. My hopes of enjoying a fine Italian meal were dashed when I was told they only take cash or American Express! I had to forgo my wine, salad, and dessert to make the cash in my wallet fit an entree (I was so hungry at that point that getting more money was out of the question). I don’t know why they have such a PITA policy, but it hurt them tonight. I would’ve happily tripled my bill otherwise. Next time I’ll come prepared.

Tomorrow is the show itself. I have to check out of my room and scoot to the Financial District for the show’s start at 8. It will be tough saying goodbye again to this hotel as it holds a special place for me. You see, it was here that Kelly first told me she loved me, nine (!) years ago in December. Things like that you don’t forget. I can’t wait to return with her so she can say it again. New York rocks!

Had an awesome weekend alone with the kids. Read about it on the Hallie and Travis page.

This morning I’m off to New York to do a small trade show and do some tech support at a customer site. If timing works out, I also hope to join the audience of tonight’s Daily Show, since its filmed a block away from my hotel, the beautiful Skyline Hotel on 10th Ave.

This is the last travel trip on my schedule for now, which is good. The next trip away from home is our vacation next month!