This weekend was our Tulsa Christmas party. They hired a photo booth again. It was big fun. The party went well, lots of fun and food. We stayed a the newly renovate Mayo hotel and it was really nice. The trains though, Tulsa has to do something about the trains blowing their horns through town all night.
Back from our annual trip to NYC. The trip was uneventful this year. We stayed in the shadow of the Empire State Building. The rooftop of the hotel provided for some unique views of the ESB unobstructed. Had a great Thai dinner at Kittichai in SoHo. Good times, good friends, good food.
A lot of folks made the trip to come home this year, some folks we have not seen in a long time. A long time. Besides the lousy outcome of the footballing contest, we had a great time. I went to Orlando the next day, stayed at Disney and didn't take a single "real" picture.
I was a little disappointed hearing the big new thing was Fried Butter. It didn't sound appetizing in the least. But Oprah was there, as was Gayle, and they seemed to like it, so I figured I'd better try it. I got the Grape Jelly variety. As you can see, they are about the size of golf balls and covered with grape jelly and powdered sugar. They tasted just like a hot buttered biscuit. That was not at all what I expected. It wasn't bad, but the fried cookie dough from the same stand gets a bigger thumbs up. Amy's fried s'more wins my Fried Food of the Fair award for 2009, however. Two thumbs up!
This wasn't too bad. The corn dog batter could have been a little sweeter. The sauce was tasty. I would have liked a bit more kick from the jalapeno. Still, shrimp, corn bread, sweet and spicy sauce all crammed on a stick! I just wish it would have been better. I got my Belgian waffle fix taken care of though.
Baylor baseball held their annual Burgers on the Berm. Designed as a fund raiser for the Diamond Girls, we are given a chance to check out the new team and enjoy some hamburgers in the early fall. There were few people there so the boys had a field day rounding up the foul balls. They had somewhere near 11 here. By the time we left, we were up to 15.
So far I've been to Sheboygan, Tulsa, and Southern Pines, NC. This week, I'm headed to Connecticut; next week, Brownwood, TX. Then maybe some of the madness will stop.
The trip to NC was a dark and early start. Fortunately we don't do those often. But it did provide an awesome sunrise. We played at Pinehurst #8 that afternoon. A little sprinkling that did nothing more than keep it cool.
Mid Pines is a really neat facility if you find yourself in the area. Old and quaint rooms, nice employees, two great golf courses, and a fantastic training center at Pine Needles. The area offers plenty of golf, for sure.
The newest addition to the Cameron Park Zoo. It was a little hot when we visited on Sunday. Hopefully our new friends will be more active when it warms up. There is a stone near the fence with a button on it. Apparently, they are trying to train them to press the button. The button sprays water on unsuspecting viewers.
Alix and Francis were in town this weekend, Saturday evening we took Alix over to Baylor campus. Reason 1) Dr Pepper Icees. Reason 2) To show her the campus. After walking around the Bear den and the Quadrangle, we swung around the end of Founder's Mall and the boys wanted to climb up on the statue of Judge Baylor.
It was a pleasant afternoon/early evening; a cool-ish front lowered the temps to bearable. I wish the book store was still open. You'd think that the weekend would be a good time for folks to buy t-shirts, etc.
We went down to Indian Spring park this Friday evening to see Ruthie Foster and Ray Wylie Hubbard perform. A Model A club was staying at the Hilton and had filled up the parking lot with their cars. Many of them looked factory fresh. John got a big kick out of sitting in one and honking the Aaoogah horn. the concert was great, too.
Did i? So here's the story. John Cleese had performed for or convention's big gala event the night before. Amy and I were lucky enough to get rooms on the concierge level of the Boca Raton Resort and Club for the convention. We love free breakfast!
So Thursday morning, after getting packed to head home, we ran up to the Commodore Room for a final breakfast. I saw him the second we walked in, he is a very tall man. I walked over and grabbed a plate just as he was leaving the eggs. We exchanged "excuse me"'s and I said, "We saw your show last night and really enjoyed it." He replied, "Really, i thought you seemed quite tired." I laughed and explained that we had just sat through an hour of guys exchanging jackets and being presented with crystal gavels, got my eggs and moved on.
After filling my plate, I looked around for Amy and see she is sitting at the table with him! Apparently there were no empty tables and she asked if she could join him. His reply: "The English are not very good conversationalists in the morning, so if that doesn't bother you, please do."
I walked up and sat opposite him quietly eating my breakfast, twittering and texting about with whom I was eating. I got up to refill my coffee and snapped this with the blackberry. While he continued to eat his eggs, dring his coffee and honey, and peruse the New York Times.
As he was wrapping up his meal, he asked us if we were leaving today, to which we replied yes. He asked where we were from, when we replied Waco, he told us that his soon to be ex-wife used to live in Waco. She was married to a pro-golfer from here in the 70's, Dave Eichelberger. "Steve Martin was born in Waco too," he said. We agreed. I said that I was glad someone knew some better things about Waco. Amy asked him if he was going to stay in Florida, he replied, "I should hope not, this place is what my mother should refer too as Hell warmed up." He said that he was flying up to Newark spending the night then back to London. He said because of his height, he can't sleep on planes anymore, I mentioned that I had that problem due to my width and he chuckled, I'm sure.
We exchanged farewells, he thanked the concierge, and made his leave. Then Amy and I started giggling. He was the only reason I sat through that gala. I've been a Monty Python fan for as long as I can remember and Fawlty Towers is simply the best. So I was quite giddy and maybe still a little giddy almost a week later.
We visited the zoo this Sunday. They were doing the Beasts and Blooms deal. The Blooms were not so much but we enjoyed checking out the animals again. It's a really nice zoo. Waco did a good thing.
I like the soft light and the monochromatic feel of this. This room looks like it will get some nice afternoon light.
We took the kids to the Autorama this past weekend. It seems the "girls" get skankier every year, and the cars not quite as cool as they once were. I loved watching John though. He likes his cars. It took him 15 minutes to pick out some hot wheels to buy.
This was the year of the Gran Torino. Due to the movie of the same name. This Studebaker was just in the parking lot and one of the better sites of the day.
