Key West 2018 - Day 1

Sunset Key and Latitudes with Key West in the background.

The husband and I will be up well before day light and headed to Norfolk International Airport to begin our annual trek to Key West.  If all goes well, we will be in Key West by 11:26 am.  We will be staying at The Equator on Fleming Street.  Two friends from Hampton will be traveling down and we will also meet mutual clients of the husband and me who are driving down from Fort Lauderale (they are taking us to Paris and London in September, but more on that later).  We will also see former neighbors who now live in Key West full time as well as two of the husband's clients who winter in the Keys and who will join us for lunch at Latitudes on Sunset Key on Saturday.  Sunday we will do the annual pilgrimage to La Te Da for tea dance.

We have a friend staying at our home and babysitting our dog - we lost our little one on March 9, 2018 - and otherwise holding down the fort.  The only downside of the trip is that I will be working on a large hotel refinance part of the time, but at least I will be doing so in gorgeous surroundings.

Posting will be on vacation mode and I will post thoughts and commentaries as time and activities allow. 

Reduced Posting Alert

Dinner for 8 Monday night

The holidays are always insane for us and this year seems even crazier than past years in terms of a fully booked social schedule. Since a week ago this past Saturday we have had a social event every day.  This madness continues through this coming Sunday when we have three events in one day.  When we are not going to events, we are hosting dinners as tonight and last night for special friends and/or clients.   The result is that the number and frequency of posts will likely be reduced.  

A slightly less ornate dinner for 5 last night

We do love to entertain and socialize.   Tomorrow we have drinks at the home of friends followed by dinner at the James River Country Club. There will be eleven of us and only the host couple will be straight.  Trump may have stolen the election, but we are slowly winning the war.  

I wish a merry and happy holiday season to one and all. 

Wedding Weekend at The Greenbrier

The husband and I are headed to The Greenbrier (pictured above) located in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia, this morning to attend the wedding of the daughter of dear friends who were among the handful of true friends who stood by me when I came out after years of marriage to a woman and fathering three children.  We are delighted to be included in this wonderful event at a fabled resort.  Posting may be reduced, but as always I will try to give accounts of our experiences and stay up with current events.   Our usual house sitter will be staying at the house and caring for our two Chihuahuas - our furry children, as the husband calls them.  She will be staying at the house again when we sail on a cruise on October 28th.  More on that later.

The main dining room

Family Wedding - Beach Style

Posting has been reduced and will remain so for much of the weekend as the husband and I enjoy a beach wedding weekend out of state.  The ceremony (pictured above) was yesterday afternoon followed by a reception at a lovely B&B. Thankfully, the weather continues to be beautiful today and we will enjoy some R&R without the pets who are at home with a house sitter!  We love our dogs, but traveling is definitely easier and more relaxing without them. 

Holiday Social Chaos

Between a business trip, two holiday parties and hosting a dinner party tonight - the table is set and ready to go - for friends and some of the husband's clients, the last few days and today have been crazy.  The obvious result is greatly reduced blog posts.  This week will be a social frenzy - dinner parties on Tuesday and Thursday, client dinner Wednesday, two parties on Friday night, two events on next Saturday night and a dinner party next Sunday.  Fortunately, we are not hosting except for Wednesday night.  Again, posting volume will be reduced.  I don't have any immediate plans to stop blogging - it remains a form of therapy - the idea does seem tempting at times, especially with the new job and more work demands.