I Blew It... But I Have a Good Excuse

Ever since I started this blog, I have blogged at least once a month. Well, I blew it. I missed June darn it all. I did go to New York City and then to Tampa in June, and then Nashville over the 4th of July, and then Nashville again! The last time was for a new grandbaby!!! Kate Rebecca, born July 15th, 8 lbs. See Becca's blog for photos.

Why all this travel? Because I love it! I went to New York City on a trip sponsored by the UAH Music Department. We went mainly to see the New York Philharmonic perform, attend a master class with their principal trumpet and to tour the Lincoln Center and the Philharmonic archives. It was all simply amazing. My best friend from high school joined me on this trip, and we took in a lot of shopping, museums and shows. Into this 5 day trip we jammed in (on top of above mentioned NY Phil activities) Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, a jazz group at Birdland, the MoMA, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Little Italy, Chinatown, Staten Island Ferry, a walk through Central Park, Times Square, Hell's Kitchen, shopping on Park Avenue, shopping in SoHo... gosh I don't even remember it all. But it sure was a blast!!! Oh yeah, we went to Brooklyn for pizza at Grimaldi's and then walked backed to Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge.

I got back on a Sunday and then turned around on Tuesday to head to Florida with my best buddy Machiel. Road Trip! We stayed with my half brother John, who is the best little brother a girl could ever have (even though he pinches). He has a darling little girl and a beautiful home. He took us all around Tampa and it was fantastic. We went canoeing on a river and saw two alligators (yes, I was scared!), we went on a eco-tour of the bay and saw sting rays and dolphins. We spent a little time on the beach, went swimming and picked up living sand dollars off the floor of the gulf. We ate some very good food, at Bern's, at a crab shack on the beach, and at an awesome Cuban restaurant. John drove us all around and showed us some beautiful Florida scenery. Florida isn't all about the beach.

On the way back we stopped in Gainesville where I was born and grew up. We found my old house... which was one of only two homes left on the street I grew up on. The rest have all been torn down, and now they're putting up condos. We drove around Gainesville and I showed Machiel some buildings my architect daddy designed.
We also walked around my old school, PK Yonge. Nothing like a walk down memory lane.

In other news... the Beatles is coming to Rock Band!!!