Homeward Ho!

Now that you have had a few minutes…Is your pulse/heart rate a little quicker? Sweat subtly appearing?…upper lip?...slight moistening…on the forehead? My, my, my, how the mind and eye dance in strange ways…

**********************************************************************



We bid a fond farewell to South Beach on the last day of February. The Flamingo now just a fading memory like the image of a tree in the Louisiana Bayou.

The Honda Element was spatially challenged as we loaded all our stuff plus Jan and Bill’s suitcases with a month’s worth of articles and, lest we forget, Jan and Bill! Through the use of cell phones we were able to keep in touch with the back seat as we rode to Winter Park to visit Mary.

Alas Mary was suffering the loss of Sophie, her sweet companion (see picture in Blog Archive, Jan. 2010, “Ah…The Women”). Our arrival was fortunate for her to provide and share an emotional visit to the site in the backyard where Sophie now remains. Latest news is that there is a new Sophie and we shall see if the newer incarnation lives up to the sprightly standard of her predecessor.

After a quick stop for lunch we bid farewell to our Flamingo mates and Mary to head for Tallahassee. Gini had booked a night to give us a travel break for the long haul to Lousiana. The Florida capital proved to be more interesting than anticipated but we had to make progress.

In our endless quest for Five Guys we were further surprised by the charm and beauty of Mobile, Alabama. It even has a French Quarter with a fascinating history to match. This city deserves its own destination visit.

Now, fully nourished by Five Guys cuisine we made our run to Lafayette… in a pouring rainstorm that lasted through Mississippi and just about to Katy and Chris’ house in Lafayette. Our arrival was celebrated in grand fashion. When the debris was organized we realized we had drunk several martinis and the equivalent of a bottle of wine apiece. Late morning prayers were seriously offered in thanks for our survival.

Zach did get his GED and also was able to put together a scholarship application with the help of our ad hoc Von D’Lucci village. Now, Zach, about those dishes…

Taco Sisters was of course our daily agenda for lunch. The ladies are doin’ fine and are now open on Saturday. Y’all come on down now!

The small town of Breaux Bridge is a must for anyone fortunate enough to be in this area. Its charm is exquisite and offers Zydeco, antiques and great food. In fact we have officially decided that inside the continental US this is the best region for its food.

Katy’s great friends Margaret and Walter decided that the yankees should be treated to a proper crawfish boil. We meandered to their house just a few blocks away to a gorgeous cottage:




As evening fell it became the perfect milieu for crawfish:



Laissez les bon temps rouler! And so they did. Walter steeped and swirled the crawfish as a labor of love. Corn, mushrooms, potatoes, onions and delicious artichokes were first cast into the boil. Then four pots worth of crawfish made it to the cooler:



Grab your tray, some beer and try to remember to breathe.

The next morning saw us having to bid farewell to Katy, Chris and Zach. Hopefully we will see them here in New Hampshire this year.

It was then on to the Huntsville, Alabama area to meet with Helen Keniston Oney and her family. Helen graduated from Newfound in 1986 and had become a close friend of the family after initially being in Chris’s classes and taking a turn at baby sitting Chip. Now she has three children of her own. The oldest is just starting his 20’s. The youngest gives the impression of being ten years old but has been categorized as a Force of Nature. We will hear from her again without a doubt.

We chose a Japanese steak house and were entertained by the flashy show of the cook as he made dinner right in front of us. Helen kept us entertained with her stories and engaging take on life. Bill and Chris exchanged family stories and discussed the history of rocketry in the Huntsville area.

Helen is looking forward to her trip to India later in the spring. She has always kept it interesting.

The next morning we continued our driving odyssey with a stop in Franklin, Tennessee. It had been over thirty years since the roommates had seen each other. Terry Dunham and Chris had been roommates for three years in college. One of the years included Mike Foley (remember he married Gini’s roommate Ann). In senior year Terry lived with his wife Sue in a Lowell apartment. Terry, as you might remember, was the instigator for the Ouija Board incident (Everything You Know Is Wrong – Blog Archive, Nov 2009).

There are many things in life that exist and are not easily described in science but are readily known when experienced. Reuniting with Terry without missing a beat in comfort, intimacy or emotion qualifies. Though our lives have been physically separated for over three decades there is a continuity to the feelings that had linked us together so long ago.

We were able to meet Gretchen, their 34 year old daughter (34-Yikes!) and enjoy her company. Unfortunately, their oldest, Chris’s namesake, lives in the Pacific Northwest and was not currently visiting. He’s 37 (Yikes squared!).

Sue has faithfully maintained communication with the fraternity and is an ardent follower of the blog. Gini regrets that she had not known much about her back in college and is so glad to have had this opportunity to reconnect.

I like this quote:
“Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart”



The journey continued as we were to meet someone in Nashville that night.

In many ways we have a “second son” in Luke Elliott. He graduated from Newfound in 2000 and was a member of the track team that finished third in the state (“Coach, we left nothing on the track, we gave it all for you” …and they did).

He had been living in San Francisco for several years and had decided to start anew in Nashville. He has a couple of roommates but one was in Australia. The other, Christine, has a great relationship with Luke and we had a great time together. Delicious pizza was the dinner choice followed by a panoramic walk across the Cumberland River. There was a casual cruising of downtown Nashville. Not too crazy on a Monday night but were impressed by the number of musical venues. We were without our cowboy hats and boots and needs must return.

Luke guided us to a great breakfast place the next morning and we were off once again. This day was the long haul since it involved over eleven hours of driving and a time change that was not in our favor. However waiting at the other end were Chris’ cousins Kitty and Phil. In fact they almost wound up waiting a lot longer than planned when it was discovered that they were in their new home and our GPS instructions were for their old house. We would have knocked on some strangers’ door late at night with a struggle for an explanation.

Kitty figured it out and provided a great family welcome. Phil (“Oh no! Not those guys!”) eventually came around and we managed to enjoy a couple of bottles of wine while exchanging family news and old stories. Their house is enormous! We had to pack a light snack to take in all three floors. The basement is a paradise for their grandchildren and their rollerskates.

We were treated the next morning to a monster breakfast as we headed out for Rich and Val’s in Mass. Kitty and Phil promise to visit New England – we shall see, it would be great to have them.

So the home stretch brings us back to familiar territory. Instead of the last day of our trip we decided to think of this as the first day of being back and doing what we like to do. Val, still missing Miami Beach after her one week stay, cooked up a delicious meal. Richie had some great pictures to show us and stories of New York City and adventures with Simone, their daughter, at her poetry events.

Chris made it back to Newfound the next day in time to attend a couple of track meetings. Damage to the house seemed minimal until we tried to turn on the dishwasher and it would not fill with water. Hopefully someone will figure it out.

So 5800 miles later Gini could only exclaim, “Auto Train next year!”.