April 5-9, 2006 :: Sarasota, FL

Gulf Coast Family Fun
My younger brother, David, moved to Sarasota, FL back in Feb (2006) for an FMP rotation with GE (yes we all work for GE... :).  Although he found it challenging to get people to come visit him when he lived in Louisville, KY, the family jumped at the chance to come down to Florida...I wonder why... ;-)  Before he even moved, Mom, Bill, and I all planned to meet up down there the weekend before Easter for our now annual spring family vacation.  Ready for the warmth, ocean vista, and change of scenery for a few days, I hopped in the car on Wed (4/5/06) afternoon and away I went!

4/5 :: A Long Drive Well Worth It
Having lived right off of one of the exits for I-75 for the past two years, I've come to appreciate how many places this interstate highway is connected to!  I can drive just over 400 miles to the north and end up at a friend's apartment in Cincinnati, OH, or I can drive just over 500 miles to the south and end up at David's front door in Florida.  The way I see it, one morning or afternoon in the car will deliver me to one of the extremities of the United States of America!  Not bad when you think about it!  I started my trip just before 1:00pm destined to arrive around 8:00pm.  Mom and Bill arrived not too much earlier in the afternoon, and David didn't get out of work until 6:00pm anyway, so I wasn't too late for the party.  When I did arrive, Dave had a glass of port, my favorite wine!, waiting for me to relax with.  It was all hugs and kisses hello, happy faces, a toss or two of the bottle, and out the door for some dinner.  We didn't do anything too over the top that night, though, because Dave and I were going to work at the GE - Security office the next morning (PS...one wonderful thing about working for GE that I've found is the ability to visit friends or family almost anywhere and still go into work the next day in a GE office without anybody knowing the wiser (or caring for that matter!)...it's a great way to avoid using vacation time!).

4/7 :: A Day in the Sun
Dave and I had a pretty uneventful day at work on Thurs (4/6) with the exceptions of a site-wide power outage Thurs morning and going to meet Mom and Bill for lunch that afternoon.  On Fri (4/7), though, I had the day off to spend with Mom and Bill.  We all but drove Dave up the wall in order to get at least a half day off from work (during quarter closing no less!).  While he was at work, though, we took the time to get up late, Mom made a nice breakfast, and we all went out to the pool to read and splash around.  Soon enough it was 1:00pm, we were back inside, and Dave was home and ready to go to the beach!

Siesta Key, FL is the beach that is nearest to Dave's apartment in Sarasota.  A couple of minutes, and some interesting neighborhoods later we were laying our blankets down on the white sands taking in the view of the Gulf of Mexico.  Mom (seen in picture with me on the left) had to document almost every moment of it with her camera (she's quite the shutterbug!), but in no time at all I was reading "Wicked" (Maguire, 1995) and getting a sweet tan!

My friend Liz (in picture on right) just so happened to be at her parent's house in Ft. Myers, FL that week.  We've been friends since nursery school and grew up together so it was very exciting to be able to see her here, 1000 miles away from "home"!  She drove up to Sarasota and met us at Dave's place that evening.  A couple "pre-game" drinks later and we were off to what Dave and his roommate, Sudeer, referred to as "downtown Sarasota"...which really is just a strip of stores and bars :)  They took us to a place called the Gator Club which is a pretty cool two-story bar.  They had a great band playing downstairs and a lot of standing room and some pool tables upstairs.  We had a great time, actually, before playing with the statues in this little park next to where we parked the car and eventually heading home.

(Picture on left is at Gator Club. From top left to right is Sudeer, Bill, Dave and then it's me and Mom on bottom)

4/8 :: A Relaxing Day in the Sunshine State
Now for anyone who's spent some time in Florida, you quickly realize why it's referred to as the Sunshine State.  The sun is just about always shining there (except for at night ;-)!  I was glad that we spent almost all day Fri in it, but as you can see in the pictures above, Mom, Bill and I got a little cooked, so I was also grateful that it was a bit cloudy on Sat and that we spent some time inside just vegging!  Mom and I took a long walk around Dave's complex (which is really pretty!) before we ventured off to find some good Italian food in the area.  We happened upon a little place called Marie's Kitchen.  This restaurant is amazing!  A must do if you're in the area!  Marie, the owner, greeted us and walked us through the menu and wine list.  She and Dave discussed the wines in great length and she even brought over several samples to help us make a decision.  It was nice to be treated so special!  We didn't end up going out again after dinner that night.  I mostly just wanted to rest up and get ready for my long drive again the next day.  Sarasota is not known for it's wild night life anyway, so nobody really objected to following suit on that one.

4/9 :: Return to the ATL
On Sunday we got up, went to brunch at this cool little diner on the beach back at Siesta Key, and returned to Dave's place in time for me to gather my things and head out.  Thanks to the seemingly never ending road work on I-75 north, the trip took a whole extra hour longer than it should have.  As the Atlanta sky line came into view, however, a huge grin came over my face.  I was home again...another adventure down...and best of all I got 5 days with my family!  Three cheers for good times!

M@

March 31-April 2, 2006 :: Redondo Beach, CA

A Weekend in Sunny California...
My good friend Logan moved out to Redondo Beach, CA (outside of Los Angeles) in June 2005.  Since then we've been talking about when I could take my first real trip to California (for more than a couple hours over night) :-)  The opportunity surfaced at the last minute one night in the middle of March so I thought to myself, "Why not!  Let's do it!" and to the Internet I went to acquire passage on one of Delta's finest airborne transports to the West Coast. 

3/31 :: Welcome to LA!
I took off at 10:30a on Friday for the ~five hour flight to LA and through the miracles of time zones, arrived only two hours later in LAX.  Logan swung by in a Toyota Yaris that he was borrowing from work to pick me up.  Now, not to take a small segway or anything, but let me tell you about this little bugger!  It can zip in and out of traffic like a humming bird; it can turn on a dime; and it's also great when flying over steep hills with scary drop offs to get some air ;-)  Not that we'd know...

After picking me up, Logan showed me his place, we went to eat, and then took a drive around the hills over looking the ocean near where he lives.  The word "beautiful" is defined by some of the vistas we saw that day!  I was more than slightly impressed by it all. 

We had a long afternoon of site seeing before heading back to the apartment.  Now, Logan lives straight out on Redondo Beach, so when we got back, we took a pass through the Sea Lab near by, and then went for a stroll on the beach.  We even found an old swing set and took a few pumps on it.  All along we talked and caught up.  I hadn't seen my friend for almost a year! 

Finally heading back, I had to take a nap since the jet lag was starting to catch up.  As typically happens when I take naps, it was hard as all get out to wake up even for dinner, so after we ventured out for that, swapped our little Yaris for Logan's Prius, and headed back, we watched TV for a while and got ready for an even bigger day to come!

4/1 :: LA, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Burbank, and El Segundo Beach Bonfire
Saturday was my only full day in the Golden State so we were bound and determined to make the most out of it.  We woke up early (partly my fault since I was still three hours in the future psychologically), and started with a tour of the beaches starting from Redondo and going through Manhattan, El Segundo, Vista Del Mar, Santa Monica, Venice, and finally to Malibu.  We continued our journey up through the hills of Beverly taking a driving tour of the houses up there and wondering which one we should put a down payment on :-) 

Since we were so close, and since I just haaad to feel like Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman", I asked Logan to take us to Rodeo Drive!  We parked, walked around the area, and finally stopped into a cool street-side Italian restaurant for lunch.  The day was gorgeous outside, temperature was just right, and the food was wonderful!  There wasn't much else I could think to ask for! 

Reuniting With an Old Friend...
Now Logan wasn't the only friend of mine that moved out to Southern California last year.  When we left Rodeo Drive, we went over to The Grove (an outdoors shopping plaza) and met up with Timothy who has been my colleague and friend at GE since internship days!  We took a walk around The Grove, got a coffee at Starbucks (which there are numerous of in CA!!!), and took off to head up to Burbank where we'd ditch Logan's car and head out to see the movie studios together. 

We met up at Timothy's apartment, which is a nice one-bedroom unit near by Universal City.  After a brief tour we hopped in his car and headed out to see Disney's studio to take a look from the outside, and then over to Universal Studios and the City Walk.  The City Walk is a part of Universal Studios that is outside the gates of the theme park.  There are various shops, eateries, and an iMax theater screening Universal movies (surprise).  It was a neat area teaming with people walking around in the setting sunlight squeezing the rest of "today" out of the afternoon. 

Pacific Coast Bonfire...
Logan and I gave our best to Timothy, arranged to meet up for dim sum the next day, and started the journey back south to Redondo Beach.  We arrived in time for our customary meal at Red Lobster before meeting up with some of Logan's work buddies on El Segundo Beach.  The Toyota/Lexus group had put together an impressive bonfire; something I had never been to, especially on the beach of an ocean!  His friends were excellent and we had a great time. 

One thing I noticed while out there was that it was weird seeing the moon and Orion go below the horizon so early in the night.  Logan mentioned that you can actually watch the moon come up and go down and come up and go down again twice during the normal course of the day out there.  That fascinated me!  However, I could have done with more time with Orion.  He's been watching over me from up there at nights for so long now I miss him when he's gone during the summer months.  Haha, go ahead and laugh :-)  In any event, it was time to head back, get ready for bed, and prepare to return to the East Coast...what a day it had been!  And what a weekend as well!

4/2 :: Home Again Home Again...
Finally Sunday was here and soon so would be my flight back to Atlanta.  We met up with Tim again at the Ocean Star restaurant, which is quoted to have the best dim sum in Los Angeles.  After a great meal, great conversation, and some shared memories, Logan and I headed back towards LAX to get ready for my trip home.  Since we were making remarkable time (we originally figured on a lot more traffic, which, by the way is actually WORSE than traffic in Atlanta for the record) :-) we decided to stop at El Segundo Beach again since it's right next to the airport.  We took one last walk along the water, gabbing all the way.  Before we knew it, though, we were pulling up at the departure gates in LAX and saying good bye.  With very little hassle, I was through security and waiting at the gate.  The flight was fast and uneventful and I was standing on Atlanta soil again in no time...although not for long.  It would only be a couple days before I was heading down to see David (my little brother) in Sarasota, FL...but that's another story... :-)

M@