Grandson Jack at LaSalle/VCU Game on NBC Now

Every year neighbor Lee Schilling takes Drew and Jack to this game. Lee travels with the LaSalle team and gets these great seats. This is the 94th straight sellout crowd for the Richmond school. Robin is a professor at the Richmond school. 

FSU Seminoles Beat Louisville By 5 - Finishing Amazing Gauntlet 5-1

Today Florida State beat highly ranked Louisville - completing a string of 6 games against nationally ranked teams. Playing Virginia - Virginia Tech - Duke - North Carolina - Notre Dame - and Louisville - the Noles won 5 of the games.

We left our house at 1 PM to 75 degrees but mean skies. By the time we got to the arena it was pouring. We bought  2 nice tickets for $25 each ($35 face value) for the sold out nationally televised game.

The Seminoles shot out to a 14-0 lead. The Cardinals pulled to within 1 point before losing by 5.

It rained outside the entire game - luckily we brought an umbrella. We walked to our car about 4 blocks away - and drove home. We watched a video of the game.

The Seminoles may be ranked as high as number 5 in the nation after this amazing 6 game run. FSU has a 15 game home winning streak now. The yhave only lost to Carolina and Temple this year - they are 18-2.

Kate's Birthday - Richmond - Washington - Tamaqua

The Capitol is all blocked off for the party on Jan 20th

Kate was born on 1/11/11. So even though we get to see her on Christmas - she reminded us that we have not gotten to a birthday party yet. So here we are - flying to Richmond - going to a party - then heading north to Washington and Tamaqua PA to see everybody.

We left Tallahassee about 5 AM on Thursday and were in Richmond at 9 AM. We enjoyed 3 nights at Drew's house. The Skating Birthday Party was Sunday afternoon - so after a wonderful afternoon which included me donning skates for the first time in almost 50 years - we finally got to a party. I guess it does not leave you - but I was able to go around without killing anyone or myself.

After the party - Lulu and I drove our rental Ford Focus to Washington where we got to spend some time with Max before it was his bedtime. Monday morning - we had breakfast with Liz and Keith - and then we toured the "calm before the storm" at the Capitol and National Mall.

Washington reminds me so much of when we were in town on the "Eve of Destruction" right before Bush decided to invade Iraq. It feels exactly the same way - right down to the overcast skies and crisp cold 40 degree winds. It would be the trifecta for us - because Lulu and I came here in 1973 to attend Nixon's party that only lasted about 18 months until he resigned.

Tomorrow - we will travel north to Tamaqua to visit friends. We will be dodging ice storms to get in and out of the Valley. We will be staying with Betty for 2 nights - then we drive back to Richmond to catch our flight home on Friday.


Parade stands on Pennsylvania Avenue - and lots of toilets


German V-2 and V-1 rockets in Smithsonian


The National Botanical Gardens were the warmest place in town


Jan 20th - a party will be in the Building Museum


Botanical Gardens


Walking on that pad produces electricity for the lights in the park


Palm tree feels like home for Lulu

Swearing-In Stands

Party girl is 6 years old



The blur is me skating - remembering Wenzel's Rink


Putting a plastic pad down over the grass on the Mall

Florida State Basketball Pounds Duke by 16 - We Were There

Harry trying to buy tickets before the game.

We had been waiting a long time for this year's version of the Everhart Bowl. Son Drew got his bachelor's degree from Duke. Son Keith got his master's from FSU. Lulu got her doctorate at FSU and is a professor there now.  Since Duke is such a national power in basketball - and FSU is the football factory - usually the basketball games go in the Devils' favor. But not this time.

The game sold out yesterday. 12,000 tickets were sold - the first time in a long time that no tickets were available. Not that we care because we never buy at the box office. I like to stand outside with two fingers up - often times fans hand me free tickets - seldom do I pay over $10. Because of the big crowd - this time we drove to the arena early. It is about 1.5 miles from our house to the arena. Sometimes we take the scooter - other times we take the electric car. Usually we leave about 20 minutes before tipoff - but this time we allowed 90 minutes for the 8 PM start.

When I got to my spot - the first ones to visit me were the scalpers. After I tell them I want seats along the court for $5 - they leave me alone. I was offered a few pairs but the prices were too high. A guy had 4 tickets behind the Duke bench - but he wanted $80 each. I offered him $60 for two - no luck. He got his price. With 50 minutes to tip off - an old guy ran up and sold me his season tickets for $30 each. He had some upgraded box tickets with food and drink.

We were in our seats 45 minutes before the start. The place seemed empty - except the student section. It was hard to believe 12,000 people were coming. At 8 PM - everyone was there - but you could count about 1000 empty seats here and there. Why do people pay $40 for tickets and not go to games?

We expected to win this time. FSU took an dearly lead - but Duke stormed back many times. At half the Noles led by a few. FSU has a deep bench and played 13 players. Duke was missing a good player - and Coach K. He is out for a month with back surgery. About ¾th the way - Duke ran out of gas. The Seminoles won by 16.

The Seminole are now 16-1. That is the first time ever for that. They are also 4-0 in the ACC - first time for that. There is a new sheriff in town - this is a very exciting team.



The end of the game - FSU won by 16.

Deshaun Watson Lives In A Warrick Dunn House

You never know how far your sphere of influence reaches. Florida State's Hall of Fame running back Warrick Dunn has made a practice of building and furnishing homes for single mothers. Families get to move into completely furnished homes working with Habitats for Humanities.

One of his homes went to Clemson National Champion Deshaun Watson's mom. And the rest is history. Pass if forward.

Lulu works with Warrick Dunn to fund and select libraries that are placed in the new homes and matched to the interests of the kids.

Tamaqua PA in Winter

My friend - Don Serfass - publishes the prettiest pictures of our old hometown. It reminds us what we left behind. Cold - snowy  - dark winters.

We are flying north on Thursday for a week to visit friends and family.

It's not Russia - but you can see it from my house.

Florida State Basketball is 15-1. Add in a 14-2 Women's Team - It Is Easily the Best Year Ever So Far

Michael Ojo - number 50 on right - is a graduate student in
International Affairs. Son Keith - earned his masters at FSU
in that program. 

As I type this - it is Sunday 9 AM and 30 degrees - sunny - in downtown Tallahassee. I am not bragging or complaining - just the facts. We are enjoying two great basketball teams here at FSU this year. The girls are 14-2. The boys are 15-1. Yesterday we attended the game between FSU and Virginia Tech boys where the Seminoles won by 15 points. This is the best start our team ever had. 9000 tickets were sold for the arena that holds 12,000. Tuesday night Duke comes to town without Koach K. He just had back surgery over the weekend. The Seminoles are in the middle of an unprecedented run of 6 games - with teams ranked in the top 25. They beat Virginia - then VT - now they play Duke - UNC - Notre Dame - Louisville. The last time such a fete occurred it was the University of Maryland - and they lost all 6. We were hoping for 3-3 in the run - now after winning 2 - us foolish locals are thinking winning all 6. Duke can end that foolishness on Tuesday night. Yesterday - we went to the 2 PM game an hour early. We found a free parking spot - and then a nice fella walked up to me and handed me to FREE very nice tickets. I was wearing the FSU leather letter jacket I bought on Craigslist list for $20 - at 68 and gray - I must look like a sorry sight - and the guy even asked if I needed 4. I was startled at the quality for the $32 tickets - and I said just 2. He walked into the game with the extra 2 in his pocket. I know there are a lot of Duke fans out there - and usually we cheer for Duke because son Drew graduated there. But just this one time - I request that you cheer for this ragtag group of upstarts in Tallahassee. 5 are freshman - 2 will probably go in the NBA first round of the draft in June. We will be back to reset again. FSU is usually thought of as a football factory by the rest of the nation. Leonard Hamilton - our basketball coach - has a 94% graduation rate among his players. Michael Ojo - a 7 foot 300 pound graduate student from Nigeria - has played his first organized basketball at FSU. Who knows where he will be next year - I doubt it will be the NBA. So Tuesday night - when you tune in to see America's Team Duke play - I hope you will be cheering for those playing against the Blue Devil's tripping All-American. Sharpen up your Tomahawks and look for Lulu and I in the stands. There will be 12,000 of us for the first time in years. We will be the ones sitting in someone else's seats.

Two Free Tickets - Almost Sold Out Game With VTech - Face Value $32 Each - Go Noles!!!

It must be the jacket. Great seats. We are sitting 30 minutes before tip off.

Seminole won the game by 13.

The Civic Center holds 12,100. I would say there were about 8000 people that showed up.

A nice guy outside gave me two for free. He said - do you need four? I said no. He walked in with the extra tickets. He did not want to sell them.I guess he was given them for free.

Tuesday night Duke comes to town. That will be close to a sellout because FSU has a better chance than usual to win.

FSU is 14-1 and tanked number 12 in the nation. Virginia Tech was number 21.

FSU is playing 6 ranked teams in a row. They beat Virginia and Virginia Tech - both ranked.

See you Tuesday.

We Attended Two Seminole Basketball Games On Monday

The FSU Golden Girls Dance Team performs at every basketball game

Our view for the men's game

FSU men won by 8

The women's game as seen from our regular seats.
We sat with George and Joel Dawson. 

Monday we got to see two basketball games. Even though the students went home for the holidays - both the men's team and women's team got an early game in before heading home.

At 2 PM - the boys took on Samford University- beating them by 8. Although the Seminoles have a 12-1 record - they never quite put away the Bulldogs. FSU schedules a hand full of small schools to start out the season and fatten up their record. The crowd was sparse - between the 3000 that they announced and the 1100 I counted. Our friends Paul and Michelle gave us their season tickets - so it was free for us - and we moved down to sit behind the announcer at court side.

After that we went to Sonny's for supper. Sonny's is my favorite barbecue place to eat in town. Next we took a walk in the mall to kill time.

At 6 PM the women tipped off against the University of North Florida - a small school in Jacksonville. It was a laugher and FSU won by about 50 points.

FSU men and women have identical 12-1 records. The men lost to Temple after being ahead by 18. The women lost to UConn by 5 - but were playing without their best player - Leti Romero - the Olympian from Spain.

The men next play Wake Forest here on Dec 28th. We have 8 tickets for that game and plan to take our kids and grandkids. Games will get more difficult now that FSU starts their ACC schedule.

We Got A Little Sprinkling Of The White Stuff Last Night In Tallahassee

A picture of our white stuff

We are decorating - getting ready for the Holidays. Nature provided a sprinkling of the white stuff to make us feel at home - like back in the Coal Regions of Pennsylvania. Temperature dropped down into the 50s - it was 59 degrees at 4 AM.

Last Night We Visited Damfino's - It Just Opened On The Town Square In Downtown Quincy Florida

Damfino's across from the Court House in Quincy

Thursday night gave us an opportunity to head over on route 90 to Quincy for two important events - the downtown Christmas parade and the soft opening of Damfino's restaurant.  Damfino's is the new enterprise of Max and Cassie Gross and their partners.  Max is the son of best friends Josh and Melissa Gross and we love spending time with their family.  If you have been reading my web page you know them as the Thanksgiving Pie People.  Max and Cassie met when they were students at the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park - where they train world class chefs.  They have been putting their other talents to work in Tallahassee and FSU but now is the time for Max to put his training to work in the restaurant business.

Damfino's got its name when they were readying the space.  When they exposed the brick, a large painted sign with Damfino's appeared on the wall. Home of a former dry goods and grocery store they decided to incorporate the sign and use the name.  The exposed brick, modern lighting, and handmade wood tables give the place a nice vibe.  For the soft opening black bean chili and a soup made with pork was available which Lulu and I sampled.  I had a bowl (which is quite large) and Lulu could only eat a cup - which is also large for a cup.  Each was accompanied by a slice of Max's homemade bread (that was his "major" at the Institute) and there were sticks of real butter at the tables.  Lulu snatched up the last loaf of bread to take home to freeze and serve at Christmas when the family is here.  I also had a terrific hot chocolate.

Damfino's is a place where you can have a meal but also purchase local sourced products like the bread. There was also a load of fresh vegetables, local ice cream and yogurt, honey, and Bradley's sausage.   They are open for breakfast, which judging by the reviews on Facebook, was phenomenal.

After we ate we took our camp chairs and set up to watch the hour and a half parade.  The floats and marchers were impressive and since it was chilly, I went back for two more hot chocolates.

We wish Max and Cassandra great luck with Damfino's and highly recommend it to our friends.

Watching the Court House while
eating at Damfino's

Quincy is sure proud of their Talquin electric trucks

Parade Float

Antique cars

Court House form the judge's stand

I forgot to post a picture of the Bookmobile - this is not it.

Max's Other Grandparents Came For A Visit - Paul and Evelyn Askew

Evelyn and Paul at the FSU Hall of Fame
in front of one of the Seminoles three
national championship and three Heisman trophies.

Paul standing in front of his namesake building -
The Askew Building

Just like us - Paul and Evelyn are new grandparents - of our grandson Max. Paul is Liz's Dad and Evelyn is Paul's wife. Last week - they came to visit with us and stayed a couple nights on their trip to Sarasota and Naples. They were visiting other friends and family down in the tropical section of our long state.

While they were here we toured FSU campus and the Capital City. They treated us to a very nice dinner at The Edison - a restaurant in Cascades Park housed in the town's former coal fired power plant. We also took Paul to an FSU basketball game.

FSU Beat Gators 4 Times in 2 Weeks

This is the 4th football victory in a row.

This is the 3rd mens basketball victory in a row.

Pretty soon FSU will be saying "You are not our rival."

Seminoles Complete The Grand Slam of the Gators - Wins in Football - Volleyball - Mens Basketball - Womens Basketball

It has been a wonderful 2 weeks for Florida State Seminoles Fans. Today they completed the Grand Slam - beating the Florida Gators in Mens Basketball. Just a few days ago - the Seminoles also beat the Gator Womens Basketball Team - the Gator Womens Volleyball Team - and of course on Thanksgiving weekend - FSU pummeled the Gators football team.

The Gators/Seminoles rivalry is steeped in history starting right after World War II. At that time FSU was called the Florida State College for Women. The University of Florida was for men. Many soldiers - sailors - and flyers were station in Tallahassee during the war. Many learned to fly at Dale Marby Field just west of town. They wanted to spend their GI Bill with the FSU women.

Burt Reynolds and Lee Corso were teammates on some of the Seminoles early clubs. The good old boys from Florida did not want to play the Seminoles. It took a threat by the state legislature of passing a law that finally had the Gators agree to play the lowly Seminoles. For years - the Gators refused to cross the Suwanee River to play in Tallahassee.

Florida State has won the last 4 football games. It is becoming a little embarrassing for the Gator fans that their big SEC east champions football team has had to go into their championship game 2 years in a row after a loss to FSU.

Probably the best victory in the last 2 weeks was the Womens Volleyball team. The match was held in Gainesville. FSU offered free bus rides and game tickets for people to make the 150 mile trek southeast. In that match - Florida jumped out to a 2 game lead - the Seminoles were losing in the third game and the Gator fans were being a bit boastful. They started too soon - because FSU stormed back - and won the last 3 games. FSU won and moved onto the NCAA Sweet 16 playoffs.

Today it was Mens basketball at 4 PM. Lulu and I went over without tickets. It was a good crowd - but nowhere near a sellout of 11,000. I am guessing there were 8000 tickets sold - and maybe 7000 attended. The ticket price was $40 - but no one was asking over face value. Then a very nice lady gave me a pair behind the Gators bench for free.

FSU carried a small lead most of the way - small enough to keep the crowd sitting on its hands the whole day. At one time FSU shot up to an 13  point lead - but the Gators had one more run in them. In the end - the Seminoles won by 5.

It was dark when we got outside the arena. After a 3 block walk to our free parking spot - we drove home enjoying the Grand Slam - 4 straight victories over the Gators in 2 weeks.

Two tickets for gators and noles - free

Christmas Tallahassee - and Then There Were Nine

All the stockings were hung by the chimney with care......

...the Everhart 9 appearing together for the first time December 25th 2016.

Christmas in Tamaqua PA

Our good friend - Don Serfass - posted this picture of the Tamaqua Train Station. The train station was vandalized and set on fire in the 1980s. There were calls to tear it down. But a group of Citizens led by Ken Smulligan - made an effort to collect money and get state grants to restore it. Now it is a beauty mark in town and the pride of the community. Every time we return to town - we have supper in the station.

Tamaqua and the Station are at the intersection of Route 309 and 209 in Schuylkill County - Pennsylvania. Tamaqua was the center of the railroading and Anthracite coal industry. The Florida Coal Cracker grew up and spent the first 55 years of his life here. Lulu was also raised one mile from the building. We both made train trips from this station down the Schuylkill River - thru Valley Forge - to Philadelphia.