Florida Trip

Made an east trip this past week! Went back to Orlando for company and personal business. It was good to be back in town to see old friends and eat at some of my favorite spots. I was only in O-town for one and a half days and then was off to Key West for another business meeting. It was a somewhat interesting flight out of Vegas however. I sat next to Billy Simms, the Hiesman Trophy winner, a few seats up was Lou Holtz and to my right was Carrot Top. And I wasn't even in first class!

Billy and I chatted a while and not being a huge college football fan... it took me a while to catch on that a) he is famous and b) who he was. I thought he was part of a big group traveling back home as people were walking by as they boarded the plane greeting and interacting with him in a very familiar way, like you would your company manager (the one you like) and Mr. Simms was equally cordial with what turned out to be his many fans. He was nice and down to earth which I thought was pretty cool. I didn't talk to Holtz but chatted with Carrot Top as we walked toward baggage claim. Since both of us are Orlando transplants to Vegas it was interesting to chat about the differences.

The next day after business was taken care of I hooked up with my old right hand, Wui from my days running Hilton Grand vacations International Sales Division better known as ISD. We headed off to our favorite Indian restaurant in Orlando called Dakshin for their fantastic Chicken Vindaloo! It was great to come back after two years and have the staff and owner welcome me like I was still stopping by once a week. The following day on my way down to Key West I grabbed lunch at Firehouse Subs... which is my favorite sub shop in the USA.

The drive down to Key West was not bad at all... I had a Lincoln Towncar signature limited... I was pretty jazzed as it had about 5 miles on it... brand spanking new. Bonus - Sunroof, Negative - a new stereo in a luxury car without XM radio or a jack for my I-pod... lame! I had to rely on my trusty I-tunes FM broadcast attachment. The Cadillac and the Buick Lucern have XM and I-Pod jacks!

The great thing about the Florida Turnpike is the speed limit and lack of traffic. It is an enjoyable ride south.

I arrived in Key West about 8:00pm, checked in and headed down to Duval street to get some eats. I had to stop in to Sloppy Joe's the famous Hemingway haunt for a beer or two. I actually was a bouncer at Sloppy Joe's in Orlando some time ago but that is a whole different story.

The next day I had some time before my client meeting so after answering a few e-mails and making some calls, I headed down to the beach to attempt to look less like a British tourist... you see my ancestry is Danish, English and German... so if I don't spend some time worshipping the sun I look much like that HP bright white inkjet paper sitting in the printer next to you. The beach below is called Smathers Beach.

There was a decent amount of kelp or seaweed on the beach and as I approached bare footed I was glad that I had the presence to see the big purple man o war or whatever just infront of me. I was never a student of aequorea so Man O' War is my best guess. There were a lot of them. The night before there had been a pretty strong onshore wind and I suppose that is how they all got there. To my rescue came a beach comber of the mechanical sort. It was a tractor sized contraption that raked, removed and smoothed the beach in one action.

Seeing that these jellyfish were "floaters" I decided to brave the water after some time in the sun. I live in the desert and it would have to have been a lot more of those jellyfish and circling sharkfins to keep me out.

The client meeting went pretty late into the day but was enjoyable as we had drinks and then dinner at La Trattoria on Duval... excellent service and excellent food! Another place you HAVE to eat at is Blue Heaven... my wife and I stumbled upon this place years ago and were blown away by the food and the experience... go there I command it!

The following day it was a nice breakfast, some time in the sun and then a drive to Miami to catch my plane to Vegas. The drive in the daylight through the Keys is always nice from a visual perspective. Some of the bridges damaged or mostly destroyed stand as testaments to the power of the Hurricanes that blow through the Keys.