Spending Friday On Peter's Electric Boat

The Electra is a 50 foot long electric powered yacht - presently harbored at Shell Point - with a future home on the Hudson River on Coxsackie NY.


While we were there we had a downpour - Peter kept working while I held the umbrella.

My friend Peter owns an electric boat. This is not a toy we are talking about - the Electra is 50 feet long. It had two 12 horsepower golf cart engines and 24 golf cart batteries. It has two luxury cabins that include a kitchen and a bathroom. Almost the entire deck is covered ala the African Queen.

Parents Day Saw Perfect Weather As The Seminoles Beat Wake Forest 43-3

Not bad seats for $12.50. 82,000 paid attendance - I am guessing 70,000 showed up.

What a great day to be living in downtown of Florida's Capital City. The temperature was 75 degrees - and you could not find a cloud in the deep blue sky. It was 3 PM - but the moon was already raising in the east. 

Lulu and I left home on our Honda scooter in Myers Park just before 3. We like to drive down to the park  - cut under the Apalachee  Parkway - then head west on College Avenue. We like to park near the traffic circle at the end of Jefferson Street - it is free and safe from traffic - and we have a straight shot home after the game. 

40 yard line. 2 for $25 total - left house at 3 on scooter

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Abingdon Virginia - I Never Heard Of This Beautiful Little Town in the Appalachians - But What a Great Visit We Had

Abingdon was the home of Martha Washington. For 70 years the Martha Washington College called Main Street home. 

The State Theatre of Virginia is on Main Street - it has daily shows.

Abingdon was a main city on the Wilderness Road - today US Route 11 and Interstate I-81 - follow that path. Settlers moving west stopped here for a last bit of culture. 

Lulu's brother Jackie lives about 40 miles east of here on I-81. Lulu had to visit a library intern here - so we were introduced to this beautiful town. Today - tourism is their number one product. Before - lumber and travelers left here via The Wilderness Road and later the railroad. The town sits at 2000 feet above seal level - so winters are cold and snowy - but the other 3 season have marvelous weather - clear skies - plenty of breezes.

Main Street cuts the town in two - going east and west. Most of the downtown buildings are red brick and many of them have historic signs on them. Because of the federal and county courts here - there are a lot of law offices. 

The inside of the theatre is top drawer - we will return to see a play there. This weekend Lulu's Mom is visiting brother Jackie - and he is taking her to a show there.

The Barter Theatre got its name because it was started on the premise that the farmers could exchange products for admission to the shows. 

Lulu spent Wednesday and Thursday visiting a library intern at the elementary school. The school was about 4 miles outside of town in a rural valley setting. In order to be a school librarian - one must have a teaching license - then take a masters degree in librarianship - and finally work as an unpaid intern for a semester. People are surprised when they hear the program is that strenuous. They are even more surprised when they find out Lulu has a doctor's degree in library science. 

The main theatre entrance of the Barter Theatre.

Lulu found the Washington County Library and to her surprise - one of her FSU Library School graduates was working there.

Virginia Beach - Military Aviation Museum - Was Worth Two Days Visit

This is a Fokker tri-winger - the aircraft flown by the famous Red Barron. It is housed in the wooden German hangar.

Jerry Yagen has a wonderful collection of flying World War I and World War II aircraft. He houses them at the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach. It is about 10 miles southwest of the beach proper. I stumbled on the collection pretty far from the touristy area of the beach. While Lulu was slugging it out in the public schools downtown - I was enjoying this wonderful display. 

The collection fills about 9 large buildings - some structures collected from other places. My favorite was an authentic Luftwaffe Hangar brought back from Germany piece by piece and reassembled to house German aircraft.

The price of admission was $10. They let me in the second day for free. 

All of these aircraft fly. They have regular shows. 

The only USA made plane in WWI was the Curtis Jenny. After the war - they were sold as surplus for under $200.

Virginia Is For Lovers - And Visiting Library Interns

The same pool at our wedding hotel - heated to 87 degrees was great.

Our wedding room is directly behind us on the 3rd floor. We stayed there again. 

Whenever Lulu is assigned to visit library interns in the field - she tries to plan it around other events so that we have fun killing the time between schools. Virginia is a big state - and the two interns are on opposite ends - 6 hours of driving apart,

Friday - we flew to Richmond and stayed the night with son Drew and family. We got to see the kids in a run - a football game - and a soccer match. 

Saturday - Drew - Liz - Keith - Lulu - and I went to Raleigh to see FSU play North Carolina State. Tickets were hard to get - but we got two for $40 each and three for $25 each. We also had a nice tailgate buffet after the game. 

Sunday - before we drove to Virginia Beach  - we got to see the kids in a run - a football game - and a soccer match. Virginia Beach is on the far eastern end of the state on the Atlantic. The first intern is there - but it is also where Lulu and I spent our wedding night on the honeymoon trip to Miami - June 24th - 1971. That is also my mother in law's birthday. 

Back then we stayed at the Empress Hotel. To our delight it is still there - and now an Econolodge. It is a boutique motel and the rooms still look the same - the same furniture after 43 years! We got our old room - Number 341 - the middle on the top floor. Lulu loves the beach and this was special. We paid $32 back then - $72 this time - senior discount  :-)

Monday and Tuesday - Lulu visited the intern in Virginia Beach while I went to the Military Air Museum. The museum is classic and a story in itself later. It was so good - I went back Tuesday. Then we drove 6 hours to Rural Retreat VA. 

Wednesday - Today and tomorrow we are at Abingdon VA - home of Martha Washington. It is a cute resort town and I will enjoy 2 days here while Lulu visits the intern here. Tomorrow late we go home. 

Noles Beat Wolfpack Going Away

FSU victory!

Lulu took these two pictures on her phone and figured out how to post them directly to my web page.

We had a great time at the game with - Liz - Keith - and Drew. Tickets were hard to come by but we got in for $40 and $25 per ticket.

FSU started out in a hole losing 24-7 - but then stormed back to beat this 4-0 NCSU team 49-31. This was enough to convince some coaches that FSU was not the real deal. After 20 straight wins - they were dropped from Number 1 in the Coaches Poll. I have a feeling the SEC coaches banded together on this one. The ballots are anonymous.

Lulu hacking the blog. We found our friend from Tallahassee, Rysa, NC State sophomore.

Tickets were tight. Wolf pack ahead 17-7

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We Are Calling It The Elvis Seminole

If the Redskins fall - can the Seminoles be far behind? The FSU Seminole have changed their logo to be more politically correct. Also - Nike wanted to make more money on shirts.

The is the old Seminole logo - 

ESPN and SEC Out to Torpedo FSU and Jameis

Copied from "SEC Exposed" Blog -

Why ESPN Needs You to HATE Jameis Winston and the Florida State Seminoles

It has been a wild and crazy past week for the Florida State Seminoles. Their QB, a magnet for controversial news ever since his stint as quarterback for the reigning national champs began last year, once again was at the top of the headlines after being suspended by FSU for a half, then a whole game, for being spotted in the student union yelling a vulgar popular online meme. While we have seen the outrage on TV and on social media forums, and even the anger coming from a small contingent of FSU alumni, we are going to tell you all something you probably didn’t realize and that never occurred to you.

ESPN and the SEC-enamored media desperately WANT you to hate Jameis Winston. They need you to despise him. They’ve been working for you to hate him for a long time. If you don’t hate him by now, you are either an FSU fan or really disconnected from the online and sports entertainment television world. Is it because Winston is one of the most disgusting, criminal minded, moronic menaces to society in sports history? Or is it because the sports media, especially ESPN, is manipulating the public into believing what they need you to believe for their own benefit and the benefit of the SEC? We are going to show you in this article why it is the latter. We are going to lay out why we believe that ESPN and the mainstream media are working overtime to destroy this kid’s character and bury his school so that they never “steal” another championship from the SEC in the near future. And we are going display to you their hypocrisy in encouraging this witch-hunt of a player whose greatest faults pale in comparison to some SEC stars who came before him.

FSU Star Jameis Winston - My Rape Accuser Tried to EXTORT Me

Jameis Winston's lawyer has fired off a letter to Florida State University ... claiming the woman who accused his client of rape demanded $7 MILLION to buy her silence.

David Cornwell, the lawyer for the Heisman Trophy winner, sent a letter to FSU, saying Winston will fully cooperate with the University's ongoing investigation into the handling of the rape charges. The alleged victim claims the University engaged in sexual discrimination by sweeping her claims under the rug to protect its prized athlete.

According to the letter -- obtained by TMZ -- the alleged victim's lawyer, Patricia Carroll, demanded $7 MIL to settle her client's claims against FSU and Winston, telling Cornwell, "If we settle, you will never hear from my client or me again -- in the press or anywhere."

Cornwell says he rejected her offer and 4 days later she went to the media.

Cornwell also says Carroll claimed her client's sexual encounter had to be rape, because she would never sleep with a "black boy."  Fact is ... the alleged victim's boyfriend at the time was black. The criminal case fell apart, partly because the alleged victim had semen from 2 different men on her shorts.

Cornwell ends his letter to FSU by saying, "Mr. Winston will cooperate with the Investigation. He looks forward to clearing his name. But Mr. Winston will not walk into a honey trap.  The Investigation must be a legitimate investigation."

Read more: http://www.tmz.com#ixzz3EEjJEtzT

Coke Fan Cam Proof I Was At The Game

Big Brother is watching you. Coke has a web site where you can see the whole crowd at an event. Lulu and I were sitting in Section 8 at Doak Campbell Stadium. Lulu is obscured by the big hat in front of her. It was a pretty night in Tallahassee - the Noles got lucky. 

Florida Beat Clemson With One Quarterback Tied Behind Their Back

It was not pretty last night - but ABC had the scene set for one very large upset - but a little luck got in the way. 

It was a prime time night football game in Tallahassee. Clemson was coming to town with upset on their minds after being beaten by 40 points last year in "Death Valley." The fate doctors tried to even up the sides a bit on Friday night at 11 PM - by suspending the Noles' Heisman trophy winning quarterback for the entire game. He dressed up for the game just in case it went into overtime - he must have thought his suspension was just for 4 quarters. 

Lulu and I had a late supper at home. The weather was perfect - clear blue sky - temperature 80 - low humidity for Tallahassee. At 7 PM we decided to take our old white Honda Helix scooter to the game - we can weave thru traffic with it - and park anywhere free of charge. By 7:10 - it was parked behind some old brick building on Jefferson Street next to a dumpster. We parked there before - and after the game it is a quick straight shot east to our home. 

$30 each. 20 yard line. Hour before game. Go noles.

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One hour to kickoff. From our seats. $30.

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Took first pair. $30 each. At 7:15. Section 8. Row 39.

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