Thursday, February 28, 2008

Florida Florida

We survived NOLA and I will quote Hirsh and say that if you are really curous about the city's recovery, the best way to see is to go see for yourself. While parts of the city are still severely damaged and witnessing this makes you- well, me- angry at the incompetence of a variety of government agencies in the rebuilding process, the energy and vibrancy of New Orleans..not to mention the flavors- are back. So here's my plug for the city- the best way to help is to go on down to the big easy and spend some cash and eat a po' boy and boogie to some music.

Our final night there, we saw three guitar players who were not only talented on their instruments but also humorous lyricists. They took some tunes we knew and changed the words....for example, "You say Hez-bol-ah, I say Hez- bolah, let's blow the whole thing up." Another crowd pleaser was the original "She's my Sperm Bank nurse and I'm her Speci-man". It was a fun ending to a few days of music and food.

Friday, we power-drove to Miami- 14.5 hours in the car. What I learned most from that experience is that I am no longer in my 20's and 15 hours in a car is LONG. The good news is that we were able to crash at Sue's friend Mackenzie's house in (on?) South Beach and got to wake up there.

Saturday, after a very French breakfast of crepes, we went to the Everglades. Mac's husband Scott is a fire fighter and was doing some work down there for the park service. We were lucky enough to get a private tour and we even saw some gators. I was glad to check out the park before it's gone, and it was also fun to hang with the park service guys who were a wealth of info.

After a nice dinner in South Beach we took a walk and admired the Art Deco architecture. It was great to see that, just like Santa Fe and New Orleans, it looks the way it's "supposed" to look, architecturally. As we headed back to Mac's, we passed by the beautiful people lining up for the clubs. Maybe I'm getting really old, but seriously, if I can tell when your last bikini wax was, your dress is too short. We decided to skip the thumping night clubs and instead went and crashed.

I spent a lovely Sunday with my Grandpa, who at 93, told me that some days, he doesn't feel a day over 92.I found it interesting that, as we ate a a Jewish deli where I brought the mean age down significantly, the paramedics rushed in with a stretcher. All of the - "experienced"- patrons in there looked up, checked their own pulses and, once establishing that the EMTs weren't there for them, returned to their eating, as though nothing was unusual. And I suppose, in a community with nothing but retirees, perhaps it isn't.

The post is long so I'll save our 95N trip for next time. Remember to let me know if the subscribing works and also, post some comments here so I know someone is reading this darn thing!

I leave a week from today!!!

3 comments:

Joanna Stansbury said...

Your grandfather sounds right up my alley :)

Unknown said...

You may be adding a few years, but your writing is as entertaining and interesting as ever. I am reminded of the great journal entries you did when in Africa.
Keep them flowing.
love,
tante e

Anonymous said...

Can you post some pictures too? I'd love see a close up with you and a gator!

I have not signed up for the feeds - I'm just going to check back daily (hourly.... every few minutes!)

In Japan - the elderly hang out at the Dr.'s office every day. The only way you know if someone is sick, is if they stayed home from the doctor that day!