Florida/Bahamas
5/10/08 - 5/17/08
Home
Travel
_______________________________
Henry and Gwen in the Delta Lounge
Dinner at Freddie's house
Freddie's Rhubarb Pie A la Mode
Pete and the "Wall of Shame" in his garage
Entrance to the Four Seasons Great Exuma Resort
Great Exuma, Bahamas
View from our balcony
In the pool with a Mojito
Tee reads the poolside menu
Tee chats with colleages at the Welcome Dinner
Tee and I on #13 of the resort course
Another tough day on the beach!
"Beer of  The Bahamas," Kalik
Pre-dinner cocktails on the patio
Tee with close friend and colleague Karen
Another round on the resort course
Hanging out at the "Quiet Pool"
Karen, Tee, Diane, and Jackie
The German/Polish contingent
Tee and I at the beach party
Our longtime friend Mark and his
girlfriend Lisette
Some of the poker crew post-tournament
Tee at the Georgetown Airport
Pete and Gwen pick us up at the
Ft. Lauderdale a Airport
Henry tees up during his first
ever round of golf!
The Links at Boynton Beach
With Henry on the golf course
George and Henry get a
close-up view of the iguana
A 6 ft.+ iguana hanging out in the fairway!
The kids say 'goodbye' to "Grampy Pete" at
West Palm Beach Airport
The genesis of this trip came about when Tee won an award for Director of the Year 2007 through her company
back in January. As a result she was invited to an exclusive, company-sponsored getaway to the Four Seasons Great
Exuma Resort in the Bahamas. She was not only allowed to take me along, but the company offered to pay for us to
have the kids flown down to Florida with us in order to leave them with Tee's parents while Tee and I went to The
Bahamas for four nights with the company executives and other award winners. We were thrilled! We had been
anxiously looking forward to it ever since it was announced. Little did we know, but the trip would end up
exceeding all expectations!

Everyone was packed and ready to go the night before our flight because our departure was early on Saturday, May
10th. Henry heard Tee's alarm go off that morning and was dressed and ready to leave to the airport in literally
about 30 seconds. He was that excited to go! We parked the car at Diamond Parking and took the shuttle to the
airport. Our timing was just right and we boarded quickly. The kids were very well behaved and I was even able to
sleep for almost two hours of the 3 hour flight to Atlanta. Once in Atlanta we found that the Delta Lounge was
directly across the hall from our gate to West Palm Beach. We had just enough time to take a potty break, get some
fruit and juice, then board the next flight.

The second flight lasted about an hour and 20 minutes. Once we were at the baggage claim our bags immediately
began comming out. That is, all but our golf bags. Sure enough they had been delayed in Atlanta and we were told
that they would be delivered to us at Freddie's house later that night. I was a bit worried.
Tee's Dad, Peter, picked us up and drove us directly to Freddie's house where the kids would be staying while Tee
and I were away. The weather was hot and muggy. Pete told us that they were in the middle of a small heatwave and
the day's temps had broken a record. Once everyone was settled at Freddie's, Pete and I headed out to the local
grocery store and liquor store to get drinks for that nights dinner. At the nearby Publix grocery store I found an
interesting beer selection and ended up picking up some beer from The Bahamas called "Kalik," as well as some Long
Board Lager from Kona Brewing Company, Hawaii.

The dinner Freddie had prepared was fantastic. It included grilled, thick-cut pork chops artichoke salad, corn on the
cob, and the 'pias de resistonce', rhubarb pie a la mode. Tee had actually requested that her Mom make that
particular desert because she knows its my favorite. I'm not a desert guy at all, but I have a major weakness for
rhubarb pie a la mode. It was fabulous.

We were joined by Pete and Freddie's longtime friend from Montreal, Dave. Dave is often a guest at Freddie's dinners
when we're in town, and he's a real fun guy to have around. He loaned me a yet to be published book his son Matt
had written called "Full Moon Lotus," a novel based on Matt's travels throughout Asia. I would end up getting through
about half of it on this trip.

It was a very pleasant evening and a great way to start off the trip. Only two things wrong: One, we hadn't yet received
our clubs by bedtime. And two, Tee and I would be sleeping on a rather uncomfortable pull-out sofa. The Delta
baggage folks told me that the bags would be delivered sometime over the next four hours as I went off to bed. I did
indeed suffer from being uncomfortable on the pull-out, and tossed and turned for quite a while. Sure enough, just
10 or 15 minutes after having finally having fallen off to sleep, the doorbell rang and woke me. It was our golf clubs
being delivered. I remained uncomfortable for much of the night, but at least I felt good about being in possession of
our clubs.
The next day was a relaxing one spent mostly just hanging out at Freddie's. In the morning we spent a couple of
hours at the swimming pool. Then in the afternoon I took a much needed nap as the others went shopping. I then
watched the Utah Jazz play the Lakers in game 4 of their playoff series as Tee made dinner. The Jazz won in a tight
game to tie the series at 2-2. Tee made shrimp lemon scampi and it turned out perfect. I could have eaten twice as
much as I did, but it was gone before I knew it.

After dinner Tee and I left with Peter to spend the night at his house as he would be taking us to the Fort
Lauderdale airport early the next morning. I found it somewhat tough saying 'goodbye' to the kids knowing I
wouldn't see them for several days. Once at Peter's house we all hung out and had a beer sitting in his open garage,
which is a very comfortable makeshift lounge room. It's always fun and relaxing time when we're at Pete's house.
We were all up by 5:30 the next morning in order to make it to the airport for our flight to the Bahamas. The drive
down to Fort Lauderdale and the check-in for the flight went well, and we were able to spend some getting a bite to
eat in the lounge. The flight itself was a lot of fun. We flew in a 30 seat double prop plane which bobbed and
bumped around a good deal until we were clear of land. I slept for the first half of the flight and woke to find we
were flying over some really spectacular blue water sprinkled here and there by tiny little islands (more sandbars
than islands really).

We landed at Georgetown and were escorted to what basically amounted to a double-wide trailer which served as
the immigration and customs office. We couldn't help but laugh a bit at the immigration/customs procedure which
involved being asked to step to one side of the room, then one by one have our passports checked and proceed back
to where we were previously standing. After we had made our way through immigration we asked where the
bathrooms were and were then directed to the only bathroom in the place, on the OTHER side of immigration! We
ended up just walking freely back and forth from one side of the immigration officers to the other. We definitely
weren't in the U.S. anymore!

Once outside we were met by a group of tour coordinators who helped load our bags onto a van which then took us
on the 20 minute ride to the hotel/resort. We caught our first glimpses of the island and I was struck by just how
odd things appeared. While both the houses and other building of the island were quite modern in design, they
almost all looked to be either incomplete in their construction or simply poorly maintained. I was also struck with
the sense that the homes and businesses seemed very scattered and quite removed from one another, as opposed to
being in groupings that could be called 'neighborhoods.'

Eventually a golf course came into view and we turned into the main driveway up to the resort entrance. I had only
one foot out of the van the resort hosts and bellmen had already begun addressing me by name. Our bags were
swiftly dealt with as we were given some fresh Guava juice and escorted through a small but immaculate port
cochere and to the front desk. Tee inquired about a possible upgrade (standard procedure) as I gazed at the
extremely high, white ceilings of the interior lobby. We were told that an upgrade to a private bungalow would be an
additional $1500. We feigned a brief discussion about it all the time knowing full well that we would definitely NOT
be taking the upgrade. At the front desk we were asked to fill out a mini-bar menu as they would fill it according to
what we requested. I ordered four Kalik beers and a couple of cans of Guava juice.

As we exited out from the main building to walk to our building and our room we immediately ran into one of Tee's
closet friends and colleagues, Karen Mirable. I hadn't seen Karen since we were in Memphis a couple of years ago. I
really like Karen and it was really great to see her again. Just knowing she would be there with us that week was a
hint that we were going to have a great time here.
Our room was a bright comfortable one on the second floor with a balcony that overlooked the "Quiet Pool" from a
short distance and allowed glimpses of the ocean. The ocean here was the most spectacular color of blue. A rich and
dazzling hue of turquoise that I had only seen before in areas of southern Thailand. I just happened to open the
mini-bar as we entered the room and found it had already been stalked with my order of beer and Guava juice! The
service here had already impressed me several times and we had only been at the property a mere 15 minutes or so!
We didn't take much time to change into our swim gear (cosies) and head out to the main "Active Pool." Karen and
Nick were there next to a very comfortable extra set of chairs, so we readily took them. The poolside attendant
immediately prepped our lounge chairs and took our drink orders. I ordered a Mojito. She also left us with a lunch
menu. The drinks came and I got talking with Karen and Nick. The whole scene was wonderfully relaxing and
indulgent. I took a quick swim in the pool, then ate half of my duck confit and shitake pizza. It wasn't nearly as
good as the Margarita pizza Karen and Nick shared with us. The Mojito was exactly as I imagine they should be
everywhere but rarely are.
We eventually went back to the room to shower and dress before the Welcome Dinner. The cocktail party and
dinner was held in one of the large lawn areas fronting the beach. We ran into Karen and Nick again just before it
started and ended up having a beer on their balcony (lanai) overlooking the party itself. We all went down together
and started mingling  with the various WK people. I met Tee's newest CEO for the first time and was surprised at
how young she is. I met Kevin, a very talented tech guy from Brooklyn who has been with the company even longer
than Tee! I also met a German guy from the new Australia office (now on George Street), David. Earlier on in the
evening I was introduced to a great guy named Curt and his wife Rachelle. He is originally from Utah and is now
living near Dallas. His wife is a truly lovely Mormon gal from So. California, and the three of us had a fun several
minutes talking together before dinner. I had been looking for my old friend and drinking buddy, Dutch Mark, but
he didn't arrive until later (they had taken an Amsterdam-JFK-Miami-Nassau-Georgetown flight and had just
checked-in).

There was a band, a fully stocked open bar, and a very large assortment of food severed buffet style. I had the
seafood salad, Grouper, jerk steak, and Kalik beer. There were disposable cameras at each table. I figured not many
people would take charge of the camera, so I started taking pictures of various people at the party. Nick and I
approached the bar after dinner and ordered Petron shots. We instead were served half a Bourbon glass full of
Petron Silver. Don't know about Nick, but mine went down quick and I was in bed at 10:30. Life is good.
Tee with Rachelle and Curt
Life didn't get any worse the next day. The day started with an "Awards Breakfast" in one of the social halls. We
again sat with Karen and Nick. The awards presentations were really interesting, as they had a fascinating diversity
of award winners and achievers. I can't even say just how proud I was of Tee when her CEO, Karen,  presented her
award as Corporate Director Of The Year. This is what she had won at the beginning of the year and had allowed us
to have this vacation, but it was especially moving to hear her list of achievements read aloud to the whole group.
Karen even mentioned how Tee had found time to teach Henry how to ride a bike. It brought a little tear to my eye.
So proud!

We had just the right amount of time to leisurely get back from the breakfast, change into our golf gear and head
out for our tee time at 11:00. We walked our clubs over and were again treated to prompt professional attention at
check-in. We were immediately show to our cart which had our names displayed on it's visor, and was also stocked
with a wet towel, a couple sleeves of balls, and a players guide for each of us, and a cooler full of bottled water. We
were paired with one of the Division CEOs, Mark and his wife Deb. The course is a beautiful, seaside, Greg Norman
designed gem that is challenging yet playable. Wish I could say I played it well, but I didn't. Mark played even
worse. Tee hung in there to have a solid round in the end.

After the round we paid a visit to the golf shop, and when I say "paid" a visit that's exactly what it was. We didn't go
too crazy but we each bought ourselves some great golf shirts with the resort logo on them, and I also bought a golf
towel that looks like the flag of the Bahamas. But even just that came to an amount I was hesitant to pay!
That night's dinner was held at one of the resort restaurants, with each of the company's divisions grouped together
and given separate dining times. I found myself seated next to Jens, a German guy from Berlin and a good friend of
Tee's. Also at our end of the table was Jens' wife, a gorgeous 20-something blond sales rep from Poland and her
boyfriend. It turned out to be a fun group to dine and chat with, despite the fact that the Polish guy spoke no
English. I quickly came to really like these people. The food was good, but I must admit I was expecting better. We
all shared the appetizers of Thai beef salad and potstickers, while Tee and I both selected Nasi Goreng as our main.
It was mediocre. The highlight was the lemongrass panacotta desert. The service was slow and awkward. I was
feeling really tired throughout and was happy to head off to bed shortly after dinner was complete.

The next morning I woke up around 10:00. Tee went off to work out at the gym, while I dressed in my swim gear and
headed for the beach. I occupied an umbrella chair and sat reading "Full Moon Lotus" and taking the occasional
break to swim about in the amazingly clear ocean water. After an hour or so Tee came out and joined me. We read,
talked, napped, and swam over the course of another hour or so then headed to some chairs at the poolside in order
to take some lunch. Tee again had the crab and mango salad and I had the burger with fries. We also each had a
coconut Mohito (Mohito w/Malibu Rum).  Just as we finished our lunch I noticed my friend Mark sitting in a cabana
just behind us, so I went over and had a nice visit with him. We talked quite a bit about China, and the fact that he
thought that Tee was a prime candidate to eventually take a position there now that the company was getting
serious about it's plans there. It was great to catch up with him and pick his brain a bit.
After a while we set off to the spa for our 80 minute Balinese massage. The spa here is wonderful! Tee and I were
shown to our locker areas and I proceeded to change into my large robe. The facilities were top-notch, and I took
note of the fact that there was a nice steam room in the men's locker area. Once we were both ready we were
taken to a large room that could accommodate both of us. My masseuse was indeed from Bali! I knew we had
scheduled a "Balinese Massage," but I hadn't expected the masseuse to actually be from Bali! Tee's masseuse was
a young, local guy. The massage was fantastic, and as Tee and I compared post-treatment notes I realized I had
received the better massage. We spent about 30 minutes sitting in a luxurious relaxation room after our
treatment. We ate an apple, drank some water and sat talking in a couple of very comfortable seats near the
balcony.

We then went off to our separate locker rooms agreeing to meet back at the room. I took a long and leisurely time
in the locker area. First I took a shower and then I went and sat for a good, long time in the large, clean, sunny,
and beautifully sparse steam room. The place was generously stocked with high quality hair and body products,
so I spent another several minutes sampling the wares. I didn't see another patron the entire time.

Tee had gone to relax and nap at the "Quiet Pool." I went to the room, cracked a Kalik, sat on the balcony, and
watched the curious half British half American ESPN channel. Tee eventually came back to the room and we
began to get ourselves ready for that nights "CEO Dinner" function.
The dinner that night was held in the same large function room in which we had the awards breakfast. Dinner was
proceeded by a great little cocktail party on the adjacent patio overlooking the golf course and the front entrance.
Outside of the food itself there wasn't much to this event. The food was served buffet style. It was again good, but
not great. I had a green salad with mango dressing, crab cakes, short ribs, and a terrific portion of Cream Brule.

Nick and Karen had been talking about their times at the casino on previous nights so we decided that we would go
over to the casino after dinner. The casino is in a semi-detached portion of the resorts' central building, and isn't
much more than a one smallish room containing all the gaming and a connected bar/lounge area. I saw that they
had the Craps table up and running that night so I headed there right away. My luck there was no good however
and I ended up losing a good chunk within the first 10 minutes. I usually tend to do quite well at Craps but not
tonight. Tee and I walked around to the different tables and found the Black Jack tables crowded. We continued to
watch the action at the Craps table (don't think I ever saw the point hit!) until I noticed a Black Jack seat opening
up. Tee wanted to keep watching Craps and talking with Karen, so I went off by myself to play Black Jack.

The seat that I snagged at the Black Jack table just so happened to be right next to Jeff, the parent company's
CEO. I knew who he was right away. Tee has played poker with him a couple of times in the past. I was a little
intimidated having to sit next to the biggest of the "big wigs" there at our function. I just kept quiet for a long while
and smiled politely. Eventually we slipped into a nice banter and I was readily taking his advice on some subtleties
of the game. Turned out that I went on a long roll of steady success at the Black Jack table over a couple hours time
and made make all of the money I had initially lost at the Craps table. Jeff and I started talking poker at one point
and he invited Tee and I to come to a private poker game he was putting together the next night. I was excited to
know that I would be getting the chance to play poker and that he would personally invite us.

During the time I was at the Black Jack table I was half watching the Jazz at the Lakers in Game 5 of their playoff
series. Neither team had yet to win on the other's court in the series at the Jazz in this game seriously threatened
down to the wire. I was watching the last couple of tense minutes of the game with some British folks in the casino
bar. I was really disappointed when the Jazz ended up losing after all. When the game finally ended it was 1:30 in
the morning. Tee had been in bed and asleep for a couple of hours by then.
Tee and I had a tee time at 10:00 the next morning. It was another gorgeous day, with temperatures hovering
around 76. We arrived in time to do some putting and hit several balls on the practice range. We were eventually
paired with two guys from WK, neither of whom Tee knew. After 2 or 3 holes we were being driven crazy by the
unbelievably slow and obnoxious play of one of the other guys, so we made an excuse to play on ahead of them. It
was the best thing we could have done! Within a couple of holes they were completely out of sight and we were
really enjoying ourselves. We eventually caught up to another couple who we joined for the back nine. They were a
fun couple from Delray who was traveling on their boat which was docked at the harbour next to the course. I
played far better on the back side and Tee played quite well throughout.
Following the round I headed to the beach and Tee chose to spend some more time at her new favorite spot at the
Quiet Pool. The beach was far more crowded than I had seen it on other occasions. I initially had a tough time
finding an umbrella chair but eventually settled in comfortably near the walkway. I spent a good couple of hours
reading, napping, swimming, and sipping on a couple of beautiful Pina Colada. I then went and joined Tee at the
Quiet Pool for a relaxing chat. It was then time to make our way back to the room and get ready for that night's
function, the lobster bake and beach party.
We arrived at the party to find the cocktail hour in full swing. A large section of the beach had been set up for the
party with a designated bar area at the entrance and the dinning area toward the water. I drank Cuba Libre and
made the social rounds, visiting with Curt and Rachelle, Karen and David, Kevin and JoAnn, Jens and his crew, as
well as Karen and Nick. We eventually were invited to make our way to the dinner area. I was lucky to end up sitting
next to my friend Mark and his girlfriend Lisette. The dinner was served buffet style and was a truly amazing spread.
I went for a bowl of Cajun style chowder that no one else seemed to be going for. I blew my socks off! I had to go back
for another! There was also a grill stacked high with Spiny Lobster tails. I took two initially, but then went back for
two more when everyone else was having desert. Yum!

There was a live band playing on an elevated stage and some people began dancing as dinner was coming to a close.
Mark, Lisette, and I continued having a fun time talking, laughing, and drinking together at our table. Eventually Jeff
came by and told me the poker game was going to get started in 30 minutes or so and told us to invite anyone else we
knew played poker. I mentioned it to a couple of people, but no one was particularly interested. By the time Tee and I
left the beach to go and play poker the band had half the place participating in a limbo contest. It looked like a lot of
fun! It appeared that the contest was coming down to Jackie and a lovely girl from India when we finally left.
We quickly found the poker game, which had been set up in a small function room between the fine dinning
restaurant and the front entrance. There were maybe eight to ten people there already. Two tables were set and
ready to go. There was also an open bar being run by a stoic local guy named Kane. I asked him later if they called
him "Big Daddy." He gave me a knowing smile and said "yes." I drank and rum and Coke. Within a couple of
minutes 5 or 6 more people came in. We started quickly after having agreed to play a $100 buy in and designating
payouts for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places. We also adopted a rule that no spouses or partners (one guy had brought
his brother and another guy brought his sister) could sit at the same table to begin. I played well to begin. I won a
couple of solid pots early on and began to remind myself to be extra patient because of my chip stack. I only wanted
to play really solid hands (sets, straights, flushes), and fold readily with less. Thing is, I was dealt AA on a hand
quickly thereafter. Sure enough, a guy behind me goes "all in." He had a huge chip stack and I immediately called
him thinking I couldn't be any luckier. The guy, (Adam?), ends up having KK and I was already feeling like I was
going to end up winning the whole tournament. Instead, Adam draws out an nearly impossible flush on the river
with Diamonds. The whole table reacted and I felt like I had just been kneed in the groin. I stood up dramatically
when I lost and accidentally knocked over my chair. I was sick as I went from having a huge stack to being out pretty
early on. I had to go walk it off. But before I went out for some air, I went over to Tee and told her to only play great
hands and "only go all in if you can't lose." She had won a couple of pots herself and had a nice chip stack. I went
outside, walked around to the Men's Room, then through the main lobby. I went back to the poker room but sat
outside in the warm wind for a while before going back in.

Just after re-entering the room I saw that Tee was making an "all in" move. The board was a "rainbow" J, 7, 4. The
other player (female) called. Tee turned over AK. The other girl had Jacks. The AK didn't hold up through the river
and Tee was out. I was quite shocked as Tee went in with only Ace high not too long after I had told her NOT to do
anything like that! I was bummed for the both of us.

Tee and I had a nice chat in the "Losers Lounge" (aka outside) with Jeff's wife. She was a fun and friendly person. I
learned that they have kids exactly our kids age. Tee eventually went off to bed. I stayed around to see the
tournament to the end. Wouldn't you know it? The guy who took me down with KK ends up winning it. There was a
really fun vibe at the end and I made sure to snap a photo or two just as it ended.
We had to get up early the next morning in order to get a quick breakfast and catch the shuttle to the airport.
Personally I needed about 4 hours more sleep, but what was I going to do? I just hoped I could sleep a bit on the
plane. At breakfast we ran into Jeff and had the chance once again to thank him for his part in putting the week
together. We also ran into Karen and David and said "farewell" to them as well.

The shuttle to the airport delivered us well before our flight. After checking in we found ourselves with almost two
hours to burn, but with nothing to do. The airport was one main building that had only the most basic facilities;
one bathroom, a gift shop about the size of a station wagon, and an uncomfortable waiting area. While most people
went straight to the waiting area after checking in, we went back outside and walked around. At one point we were
in the small parking lot adjacent to the runway. From there we could see Jeff preparing his private plane for
takeoff. Jeff had flown his own plane down from Pennsylvania, and was now returning home.

We walked along a set of storefronts, but like most everything else on the island, they were closed. The island had a
feeling of being on permanent holiday, with shops and restaurants closed throughout the day. Strange. There was
one business open directly across from the airports main building. It was a restaurant/bar called "Kermit's." It was
a large place, but empty. Only a group of three or four locals occupied the place. Tee and I sat at one of the outside
table/benches at the entrance. Hardly anyone came by. I laid down on the bench there and tried to get a little
sleep, but after a 10 minutes or so I became to uncomfortable. Finally it was time to board the flight.

The flight itself was routine. I again tried to sleep, but only actually slept maybe 15 minutes. After going through
another slap-dash customs/immigration procedure in Ft. Lauderdale we exited the terminal just as Peter was
approaching the curbside in his van. He had both kids with him and it was a thrill to see them again!
I sat in front as we drove back to Delray. We stopped by Pete's house briefly then went to Freddie's. I was hungry,
but it was decided to get something at the golf course before our round. George, Freddie's "boyfriend?" and next
door neighbor had arranged for he, Pete, Tee, and I to play a round of golf that day. This was the first time I had
met George and he seemed a good guy. I was really tired and hungry, but looking forward to the round. Henry
ended up convincing us that he should come too, just to ride in the cart.

We drove to The Links at Boyton Beach, a nice public course not far from Freddie's. As we are checking in a guy
who works there the guy told us that Henry couldn't just ride and watch, not because of his age but because they
have a rule that everyone out on the course must be a "player" and have clubs. No just paying a riders fee. We then
said "Ok. We'll just rent him some clubs but he won't necessarily play." They then proceed to tell us that if we did
that then we would become a 5-some and couldn't play together! I got pissed off because Henry was starting to cry,
thinking that he couldn't play and had caused a problem for us. I told the guys checking us in that their
nit-picking rules sucked! We had agreed to keep pace, pay the full green fee for Henry, rent their clubs,...and the
still were giving us a hard time! George is even a regular at this place! I was steaming! And the fact that I was
starving didn't help my mood either. Eventually we came to an agreement that we would play the 9-hole "Family
Course." Henry would pay the full green fee and rent clubs. We were then told to pretend as if we are playing in
separate groups until we are out of sight of the clubhouse. What? How asinine is that?

We paid our fees and I stormed into the cafe area to get a hot dog and drink. I paid for everyone to eat, and at the
same time started to feel bad about loosing my temper a bit in front of George. We got out on the course and Henry
and I waited behind the others as if we were just a 2-some. I hit my best shot of the day off the 1st tee, yet no one
was watching because they were playing ahead. Henry teed it up for the first time ever on a real golf course. He
took a while getting ready, but then he hit a nice little shot. Henry picked up after that and I went on to par the
hole. We then joined up with Tee, George, and Pete on the second hole. I ended up playing quite poorly, Tee
played beautifully (2 birdies in 9 holes!), and Henry hit a couple of shots that thrilled all of us! George is a
particularly good golfer, and I think I actually learned a couple of things just from observing him play.

A little over halfway through our round we noticed from the tee box that something was crossing the fairway at
quite a distance. At first I thought it was a small alligator, but then George said he thought it was a lizard. We
immediately went up in our carts to check it out. Sure enough it was a HUGE Iguana! Henry thought it was about
the coolest thing ever. It stopped and lay down for a minute, so went were able to get a couple of pictures of it. I was
able to get right close, and estimated it's total length to be just over 6 feet!
We gathered back at Freddie's and ordered a pizza from a popular Italian restaurant around the corner, Mama Mia's.
Freddie, Tee, and the kids went to the swimming pool. Peter and I hung out in lawn chairs on the driveway until it
was time to pick up the pizza. We also went by the liquor store to get some red wine. It was a great little dinner. After
eating I was so tired I could hardly stand up. Knowing that the 6th game of the Jazz/Lakers series was on later that
night I knew I needed to take a nap despite it being almost 8:00.

I slept for an hour and it made all the difference in the world. I even felt more optimistic about the Jazz chances that
night. After Tee and Freddie had gone of to bed around 10:00, I found myself watching the end of the
Celtics/Cavaliers game and drinking red wine with George. It gave us a good opportunity to chat just between the
two of us. It was readily apparent that George wasn't just a casual sports fan. We talked sports straight for about an
hour. He's originally from Pittsburgh and lived in New York for many years, so he is a big fan and follower of both the
Penguins and the Steelers, but is also a big Yankees fan.

George went home just as the broadcast switched to the Jazz game. Despite my nap I felt tired. I almost dozed off a
couple of times during the game but I HAD to see the end. Turns out it would have been just as well to have gone to
bed and skipped the game altogether as the Jazz were put out of the playoffs that night. I turned off the T.V. at
1:45am.

I had another uncomfortable sleep alone on the pull-out. Luckily I was able to sleep in. Tee and Freddie took the kids
for one last swim in the pool while I packed all of our bags. There was just enough time after that to toss the wet
things in the dryer and eat a small lunch before Peter came by to pick us up. We loaded up all of our things in his
van and drove to the West Palm Beach Airport. I think Pete was sad to see us go, and so was I.
We stopped in Atlanta to "norikae," and ate pizza in the food court. There were several soldiers around and Henry
had a lot of questions about where they were fighting, who they were fighting, and if any of them would die. He
really takes it all in and seems to have a very healthy attitude about it all. Henry also really impressed me with one
of the most memorable images of this trip when he sat for the entire flight from Atlanta to Salt Lake in a seat across
the isle from me and next to a very attractive 20-something blond, behaving throughout like a well traveled young
gentleman. I had already been well impressed with his behavior and demeanor, but then, at the end of the flight
came the kicker. As we were approaching the airport Henry casually begins to ask the blond (who he has yet to
speak to directly), where she's from and where she's been traveling. He continues to chat with this girl for several
minutes as we land as if he is her same age! He had no idea I had been eavesdropping. I had never been so quite so
moved and proud of my little boy as I was right then.

Congratulations Tee on earning us all this wonderful vacation! Thank you for choosing to include all of us!