And So We Continue To Continue

Greetings:

Beautiful bridge – no? Well we had other thoughts as we headed for Charleston from Rick and Hanna’s.

Once again we were weathering the new winter in the south. It was snowing (since the top of the page) when we left Murrell’s Inlet. The storm was heading north and it looked like rain the rest of the way to Florida but temps looked to be in the upper 30’s to low 40’s. Well some unfortunate motorist slid into the wall on this bridge (Ravenel Bridge over the Cooper River in Charleston SC). Given the fact that everyone in the Carolinas was in denial that this weather was even happening this bridge and any others crossing this river were closed until they could find some trucks loaded with salted sand. This search and subsequent dispersal took the rest of the morning and some of the afternoon. Foolish New Englanders, we, who did not even suspect that this would bring traffic to a standstill.

Well it afforded another trip to 5 Guys and eventual trekking through downpours in Georgia and northern Florida. We arrived safely at Mary’s (Gini’s step-mom) in Winter Park, suburb of Orlando. She was more than pleased to see us and several bottles of Perrier-Jouet Champagne (quite excellent) were dispatched over the next few days.

Some of the visit was ritualistic – a visit to Mary’s friend Saul’s Mexican restaurant where we were treated as honored guests; a movie (The Tourist – could not resist the Venetian ambiance); lunch in Winter Park (French and fanciful); and visit with Nadine and Frank whose son Chris was one of our Miami Beach cohorts until he went and became a resident doctor in Pittsburgh this past year.

A new wrinkle in the festivities was Gini joined Chris for 9 holes at Winter Park Country Club and proceeded to outdo him by four shots on a par 3 by chipping in for a par! This course is the second oldest in Central Florida and is in the heart of Winter Park. Last year Chris had gotten to know some of the nearby residents and transient motorists from his errant links wizardry.

Mary was eventually bid farewell and Miami Beach soon loomed ahead on I 95. Paul and Gregg were ready with martinis and open arms. They were fresh from hosting Gregg’s life long friend from high school in Poland but were still graciously offering to share their beautiful apartment on Belle Isle with us for a few nights until we checked in to the Flamingo. For those who do not remember or have not seen this view it is spectacular:



We were also able to hook up with another friend, Rick, who harkens back to Lowell days.

And then the Flamingo:



Our wonderful balcony view:


As a tolerant gesture we turned off the air conditioning.