When I started this Blog, who knows how many years ago, it was to share my love of food, travel, beer, and life. It took a turn in 2020 that wasn’t expected, but as our lives return to our new normal I am beginning to find time to share more about our regular daily life. So for those family & friends who want to hear about our adventures, read on. But for those of you who aren’t that interested, make sure you skip down to the second to last paragraph, you won’t want to miss that!

In mid-June, we took Shamu on a journey south with the ultimate goal of visiting our son Justin in South Florida. Starting off this journey, we had a number of planned stops, tours, and visits with old friends. But like most of our last two years, a change in plans is inevitable.

Our first stop was to visit my first boss after college in the Daytona, FL area and stay in their condo on the beach. Well, COVID had to mess things up again, they tested positive before their flight home and were detained overseas. So we detoured to Charleston SC where we visited the only tea plantation in the United States. During the tour, the farmer came out in me every stop along the way, as the tour guide would always look my way when she asked “are there any more questions”. The remaining time at Charleston was spent walking the historic downtown market, having supper at Amen Street Fish & Raw Bar (best crab cake I have ever eaten), and just relaxing on the pier watching the sailboats as we sat on one of the pier swings.

With Shamu as our mode of transportation, we ( I ) decided that if we were going to camp, it had to provide something unusual. On the east coast, we camped at the Port Canaveral Jetty Park Campground, where our campsite was a hundred yards from the ocean where we walked the beach and watched the sun rise. Heading home we camped at Fort De Soto Park, on the point south and east of Tampa where the Gulf was just a hundred feet from our campsite. The final two camp nights were at Cloudland Canyon State Park; think of it as Georgia’s version of Turkey Run where it seemed like all the trails were uphill.

Spending time with our son was the primary purpose of our trip, the last time we visited was February of 2020 and a lot has happened since then. While we were there, we went out to dinner with his friends to Cap’s Place where we had to take a boat taxi to get to the restaurant; Flamingo Road Nursery as a new tropical plant is always needed for our botanical gardens; a bucket list for me, Top Golf for father’s day; a brewery or two including Tarpon River Brewing; A local dive for seafood called Catfish Deweys; and of course, a round of golf along the coast at the Palm Beach Par 3.

Heading north we stopped in Naples to have lunch with a classmate; later we met my jetlagged former boss for a meal as they journeyed across the state just to see us; travel along the Little River Canyon in northeast Alabama, and purchase yet another piece of cast iron cookware at the Lodge Factory Store. The last leg of the trip was a Nashville experience: Saturday Night at the Grand Ole Opry then a visit to Homegrown Tap Room for an evening snack at my final brewhouse, and finally the monthly Nashville Flea Market before the drive home.

Every trip needs one moment that is unforgettable. For us, it was an amazing, shocking, hilarious, and tearful event in our journey that occurred driving through the middle of South Carolina as we took a cross-country shortcut. If you remember, before Suzanne’s surgery, we recorded her voice for her future use if needed and she/we have that voice track on our phones. Anyway, at some point on this jaunt, I asked Google a question about whatever topic we were discussing. After an unusually long period of silence, over the car speakers, in Suzanne’s voice, came the words: “Uh-oh” to which we both looked at each other as we questioned what we just heard; Then, again in her voice the words: “Something went wrong, try again in a few minutes”. At that point, we both began to laugh; then I paused as tears welled up in my eyes; then we laughed and laughed again. For us, this was the most memorable and talked about part of our trip.

It was wonderful to be traveling again. As this was our first big and whirlwind trip at that, Suzanne has requested a more relaxed version next time where she can just sit back, read a book, and unwind a little more. . . . . . Relax, what’s that?

PHOTO ALBUM of our Travelogue, June 2022

The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.

Proverbs 15:3