Georgia - Florida - Georgia Part 4

For several years I have tried to find races to run whenever I travel and this trip was no exception. The first race I ran was a 5K and was the third race I've run in Florida. After a long day of party time and a short night of sleep the first thing that I decided to do when I got up Sunday morning was make sure that I was ok to drive. I knew that it had been quite a while since my last beer and that I had switched to water, I still wanted to be sure before driving over an hour to the race.

The race itself went fine. Although I ran like someone who is old, overweight and had spent too many hours partying the day before, I still managed to place 3rd in my age group; the first time that I placed top 3 in Florida. I'll have more to say with pictures in a later post.

After the race I hung around just long enough to get the official results and then headed back to Cocoa Beach and more family time. Everyone was just getting organized to spend the day at the beach. The good news is that we didn't hear about the boy who was attacked by a shark just north of us. We had a good day.

It was nice having Carol and the kids stay in Cocoa Beach for the day so they could spend time at the beach with everyone. It made for a nice complete weekend for everyone.

The night before after the party.

When Carol, Jamie and the kids headed back to Tampa Clarence and I decided to walk to the Sand Bar for lunch. We had eaten there several times two years ago and the food was outstanding. The kids were going to go back to the resort and rest for a while before their next water adventure at the pool.

Clarence and I ate and I brought back gator bites for Jeff and chicken nachos for Rochelle, their favorites from the Sand Bar. Stacie and Tom got to go to there after the kids were all settled later that night and loved the fish tacos. Little things just add to the overall vacation experience.

The kids had a great time at the pool. It must be nice to have so much energy! The rest of us just hung out at the pool visiting.

The next morning we all went our separate ways after a lot of fun and quality family time. It was so great having everyone there to celebrate Allison's special time.

Georgia - Florida - Georgia Part 3

I started my second day in Cocoa Beach with a run north past the pier and back. I didn't bother worrying about the distance and just ran for an hour. The humidity was crazy again but what did I expect from summer in the south? Even though it wasn't officially summer yet. I always enjoy running at the beach no matter what beach I'm at. I love watching people and hearing and smelling the ocean smells. This run was no exception.

After my run Clarence and I had coffee and went to the beach to watch the kids on their wakeboards before taking a walk down the beach to the pier. You wouldn't know that this was the first time the kids had ever been on wakeboards. They are definitely a pair of water babies.

I had a race the next morning so wanted to stay hydrated!

On the way back to the suite we had a slice of pizza from 7-11 and the hung out for a while before getting ready for Allison's party. There was a really good turnout at the party and I think she had a great time I know it seemed like everyone did. I know that Jeff and Rochelle worked hard to make it special for her. Everyone is really proud of her. Jackie and I were both there and so was her Grandfather and his second wife from Pennsylvania. Sadly her other grandmother, Rochelle's mom had passed away just a couple of days earlier. She had been sick so it was not unexpected. The party was held where we were staying and was catered. 

My sister Carol and my niece Jamie and her two children came over from Tampa to stay the night, attend the party and hang out at the beach with us the next day. It was nice seeing them all and meeting the kids. Clarence really hit it off with Jamie's daughter, London, she had quite a personality.

There were a lot of people taking pictures that night that's for sure.

Georgia - Florida - Georgia Part 2

Clarence and I were talking about our last trip to Cocoa Beach and on a whim I decided to call The Cocoa Beach Pier to see if our bartender from then still worked there. She was more than just a bartender she was like a local tour guide telling us where to get the best fish tacos and where to go kayaking for example. Surprisingly she still worked there, was now the supervisor and was in fact going to be working at the pier on Friday after we arrived. Part of the fun of returning to vacation spots is seeing people and places from prior visits.

Before leaving Athens though I had to make an important stop. It was National Donut Day and I wasn't going to let it pass without a stop at Dunkin Donuts.

Celebrating - National Donut Day

For almost two years Clarence and I have laughed about a sign at a roadside fruit stand that we saw and it was still there so I had to stop and take a picture. Apparently spelling isn't a prerequisite for growing and selling peaches.

When we arrived at the Wakulla Suites we pulled in right behind Tom and Stacie and Jeff and Jackie pulled in right behind us. It was amazing that we came from three different places and all got there at exactly the same time to check in. It was a really nice facility and we enjoyed the three days that we spent there. After getting settled in Clarence and I headed to the pier for a quick visit before returning to spend some time at the beach.

Eryn our Bartender/Tour Director

When we got back Tom grilled burgers and Stacie made the rest of dinner before we headed to the beach for a while. Stacie took an amazing picture of Haley from the back looking out at the water.

It was fun watching my daughter, son in law and grandkids get to know Clarence. My sons actually met him back in the early 70's at our home in Valinda, California and Jeff saw him when when we came down two years ago. To say that he and I go way back and have many shared memories is a major understatement. I've shared some of those memories in previous blogs and hopefully there will be many more.

All of that and I had only arrived in Athens about 48 hours before. It was going to be a busy and fun filled trip if the first two days were any indication.

Georgia - Florida - Georgia Part 1

What an amazing family filled, friend filled, activity filled, memory reflecting and memory making trip this was. I'm sure it will take several posts and not necessarily chronologically accurate to share this trip that I had the privilege of sharing with family and friends old and new.

When my son Jeff told me that they were having a graduation/graduation/birthday party for my granddaughter Allison I knew that I wanted to be there. The good news was that my daughter and her family and Jackie were also planning to go.

The Catalyst - High School and Junior College Graduation & 18th Birthday

In the past couple of years as documented in previous blogs I have been able to reconnect with some of my oldest friends and two of them who never came home from the south, Clarence and Fred and I have been talking about wanting to get together, the first time the three of us have been together since 1968. This trip was the perfect opportunity for that reunion and it was a fantastic time together catching up, reminiscing and meeting Fred's family. I started on June 2nd staying in San Francisco at a Park and Fly hotel because I had to be at the airport at 3:30 on the morning of the 3rd for my 5:50 flight to Atlanta. In Atlanta I picked up my rental car and drove to Athens to stay with Clarence. The plan was to stay in Athens to celebrate Clarence's 67th birthday on the 4th. We visited a lot of places that I had visited before and I met even more of Clarence's friends from the 32 years he has lived in Athens.

The first night after spending some time visiting downtown we walked to a place where they have really good pizza. The name of the place has a special meaning to all of us from our group of friends. The next day after I took Clarence (JR in Athens) to breakfast for his birthday at where else? Waffle House! After that I went for a run near his house and had a good dose of southern humidity but it was a beautiful run.

 While JR spent part of the day running around doing errands to get ready for our road trip I spent some quiet time sitting and reading in his back yard. He has been doing a lot of work to make it a beautiful place to relax and listen to an amazing number of birds.

That night Clarence decided to grill and we just hung out and relaxed before hitting the road the next morning for Cocoa Beach. Clarence had gone there with me two summers ago and we were looking forward to getting back. If the first 30 hours of this trip was any indication it was going to be a good time.