North Carolina

After coming home very late last night and not being able to go to sleep for more than 2 hours, I went on a 10-hour drive to visit Linda in North Carolina. I thought it would be really bad but it was not really a problem. I didn't get tired at all. I was on the Interstate until Macon and then drove towards North Carolina on Highways. I think it would have been a bigger problem had I stayed on the Interstate (boring!), but the variety of the Highways kept me alert. And once I got close to North Georgia the road started to twist and turn and the mountains kept me interested.

Linda told me that there was snow in their driveway, but as I was driving it was 54 degrees outside, way too warm for snow. But during the last 30 minutes of my drive, as I got higher in the mountains, the temperatures dropped almost 20 degrees. And the I saw it: SNOW! 100%, genuine, honest-to-goodness SNOW!

I had not seen snow since 2001 and it made me very happy! Even if this all the snow I'll see on this trip, I will be happy.

When I arrived at Linda's there really was snow in the driveway. The driveway is VERY steep and there was no way I was driving up there. Both Linda and I parked close to the street and walked up to the house. Did I mention that the driveway is very steep? Well, it is . . . and by the time I got up there, walking in the snow, packed down with my clothes and stuff I would need for the next few days, I was sure I'll have a stroke or a heart attack - or both! At least Linda knows where the closest Emergency Room is :). It turned out that we didn't need anything that drastic, so after a little while we went down the driveway and drove to dinner at the "Sapphire Mountain Brewing Company".

When we came back after dinner we settled in close to the fireplace and knit for a while.

WICKED!

Today was the day we saw the musical "WICKED". I was very excited to see it.

First we met for dinner at J Alexanders. Daisy, Dale, Paula, Amanda and I had a good time and good food, and we even shared a dessert!

After dinner we all squeezed into Dale's Beetle Bug and drove to the Tampa Bay Performance Art Center to see "WICKED".

The curtain on the stage was actually a map of the Emerald City,

and the dragon was huge, presiding over the stage and the musical.

The musical was amazing and I loved it. It was over at 11pm, but it took us another half hour to get out of the parking lot. That's what happens if you go to the theater with 2500 of your closest friends!

What happened?

Apparently nothing happened since September when I made my last entry. Or maybe it happened but was never written down. I'll try to do better.

Well, Linda and I went to the newest tea room in South Tampa again. It's called Kittridge House and is one of our favorite tea rooms at the moment. The food is sooo good and there is plenty of it. Good food and good company - what more do we need?

Savannah, GA - Sunday

This morning I took Drew to the starting point for the "Savannah Century" Bike Ride, then I went back to the hotel. The ride started at 8am and there is not much sense in walking around Savannah that early in the morning. At 10:30am I drove to River Street, parked the car and started my day in Savannah. I always loved Savannah - not the weather, because it is hot and humid - but the city itself. I walked along River Street where vendors had put up tents and sold their wares.

I had to take a picture of the bridge, because it was the first "problem" that Drew ran into when the ride started. But it could have been worse - they could have put that huge bridge on the route on the way back! I don't think a lot of pople would have made it then. It is a very steep ascent to the top and at least that early in the morning the riders were still fresh and could handle it.

While poor Drew was riding his bike, I wandered around in Savannah. Savannah is one of those towns where it really doesn't matter what street you take, it is all beautiful. It is the first US city that was planned from the start. The layout is like a huge grid, with squares of houses surrounding a park square. In Savannah, you will never be far from a little park, benches, shade, peace and quiet.

Walking around in Savannah is never boring. The buildings are interesting, everything is green and lush, there are stores and little restaurants everywhere and very few chain stores. Savannah is unique and beautiful.

I stopped at a little shop that also had a counter where they sold refreshments. It looks like it came straight out of a bistro in Paris!

I met up with Drew after his ride and we sat at the River for a little while before we made our way back to the hotel.

Savannah, GA - Saturday

Saturday morning after breakfast (at the Village Inn, of course!) we left for Savannah. The weather was good for driving and there were no accidents or construction sites that gave us problems. We checked in at the hotel in Savannah and then drove to "The Distillery", where the Saturday night ride would start. It was appropriately called the "Midnight Garden Ride".

The ride started at 8pm and by that time it was already dark. The police had come out on motorcycles like on all the other rides, but because this ride was in the dark the flashing lights of the police and the white and red flashing lights of the riders turned this into a see of bright lights.

There is Drew, just one of 300 people out for a nice, leisurely evening ride. He was easy to see in his test dummy shirt! :) And speaking of shirts - for every ride, the participants get a T-Shirt. Usually they are bright, ugly colors with gaudy advertisement on shirts that you would not be caught dead in. The shirt for this event is VERY nice! It is a black shirt with the name of the ride in the front and very nice art work. The names of the advertisers on the back are very discreetly written. Whoever came up with the design and layout of the shrit did a really good job!

While waiting for the ride to start I was talking to the lady standing next to me and we decided to go to the bar at the Distillery and get sloshed. We actually didn't get that far, but we had a really good time sitting at the bar, talking and watching the people.

Since this was a very organized ride and was done with all the riders riding together, it took almost two hours before they all came back. At that time we went back to the hotel, because Drew has the big "Savannah Century" ride tomorrow morning.

Dropping off the Kid

It is finally time for Patrick to go to College, to move out and to somewhat live on his own. So I drove him up to Tallahassee and helped him move into his dorm room. It is a very small room he shares with another kid, but I think they can make it work.

Patrick has the upper bed and his room mate John sleeps on the lower bed.

There isn't much room for anything else, just a mini fridge and a chest of drawers.

There are two bedrooms in this "suite", a bathroom and a study with four desks.

Of course, Patrick had to set up his computer right away and check on his friends!

We arrived on Thursday afternoon, unpacked and put his things away. Then we had dinner, I dropped him off at the dorm and went to the hotel.

On Friday we got an early start, we set up his post office box and his bank account and then we bought all the books and supplies he needed for his classes. It doesn't sound like we did a lot, but because of the large number of new students, it took us all day to get this done. We had an early dinner after which I dropped him off at the dorm and then I drove back to Tampa.

So, I'm back in Tampa . . .

. . . and after emptying out the car, cleaning the house, doing the laundry, and cooking dinner -I'm ready for a vacation! :)

It was time to come home, though. Patrick is getting ready for College and there is still a lot to do before he finally leaves the house! And after that there will be a time of adjustment. After all, he was the center of the universe (his humble opinion) for 18 years, I'm sure it'll take a while to deal with the empty nest syndrome. But life goes on - and there is always the next summer to look forward to.