Taking Refuge in Bradenton

In most years - most pre-pandemic years, that is - we take a trip to Florida at the end of every summer, almost aways to Santa Rosa Beach.  Some years, we meet Jude's college friends and their families for a week, like we did last year in the Smokies and a few years ago in Zion Park.  This summer, we accepted a generous offer from my friend, Mike Corley, to stay at his house in Bradenton, FL, while he and Stacy were in Hawaii.  So, here we are. 

The flight down was strange for me, as it was my first time to fly since before the pandemic.

As an aside, I find myself dividing my life - my recent life, anyway - into two, no, three stages stages.  Before the pandemic; the pandemic; and after the pandemic.  Maybe, at some point, the pandemic will face into the past but it's not even close to doing so yet, particularly with Omicron cases on the rise again and estimates of 200,000 more people to die in the United States in the next year.

The flight.  The Southwest terminal was amazing, actually.  A new one - D - has been added since I last flew out of BNA almost three years ago.  New, clean, roomy, with a legitimate Nashville coffee shop (8th & Roast) and restaurants (Party Fowl, etc.).  I saw my longtime friend and fellow lawyer, John Rowland, at our gate, as his family was on our flight.  We worked to gather at Manier, Herod the first four years or so of my career and played a lot of softball together in the early days, so it was great to get caught up with him.  He's one of my favorites.

It was a complete full flight and I thought, briefly, about wearing a mask but decided against it, as did the boys.  Jude opted to wear one during the flight, though.  Habit?  Fear?  Caution?  I'm not sure she knows, to tell you the truth.  Two people crammed in next to me, of course, as I sat in my usual aisle seat.  Nice people, it turns out, although I am not much of a talker on flights.  I want to take off safely, fly safely, and land safely.  That's it. 

And that's what we did.  So far, three days into our trip, everyone appears to be healthy.  Let's hope it stays that way.

After a rental car snafu - note to self, never rent online from a rental car company you've never heard of (that's you, Sixt) - we finally got a car and off to Bradenton we went.  We arrived just after 9 p.m., ate a late dinner at a sports bar, and got to Mike's house around 10 p.m., just in time for the boys to get a late swim in his pool.  A highlight for them, for sure. 

So far, we spend a beautiful evening at a minor league baseball game (and fireworks) - the Bradenton Marauders - and Longboat Key, where we had a tasty, late lunch at the Drydock Waterfront Grill.  After stopping at Tyler's Gourmet Ice Cream, JP and I dropped Jude and Joe off at the beach and we drove to the end of the key, or near it.  Otherwise, it's been a lot of rest, reading, and TV watching (I'm hooked on For All Mankind on Apple +).  

JP and I ran yesterday, a stifling run in the South Florida heat.  I bonked at four miles and he finished five miles on his own.  

Unwinding, recharging, and trying to forget about work.  That all ends, today, though, as my team is working on a couple of projects that have to be finished in my absence.  I'll need to check in for a status report, then review the final product.  No rest for the weary and I am weary.  I need the time away.

Today, it's off to Adventure Park in Tampa, FL, a water park adjacent to Busch Gardens.  Not my choice of how to spend a day but Joe is really excited about it, so we'll give it a whirl.  

It's always good to get away, although I'll pay for it when I get back from a work standpoint.  

Now, morning coffee finished at Kawha - surprisingly good coffee that I remembered from our Spring Training trip here four years ago - it's back to the house and off to Tampa for the day.  Let's go!