ALABAMA

ALABAMA - White Sands and Blue Angels, January 17-20

We arrived without incident for our visitation to the Gulf Coast of Alabama and were met at the airport by PGER and State Sponsor Val Bates, State President Russell and Judy Vice, SDGER Ron and Gale Creamer and GL Committeeman Andy Milwid and Ruth.  Venita had received a call previously from Claudia Bates to apologize for not being able to join us in Alabama since she had to attend a flower judging re-certification in Tampa this weekend.

That evening we all went to dinner at Wintzell's Oyster House in Orange Beach.  The menu featured excellent seafood and, of course, oysters!  We indulged in traditional gumbo, and Venita ordered one of her southern favorites - shrimp and grits. Happy dance!  After dinner we headed for the Perdido Beach Resort.  We had a lovely suite overlooking the white sands beach and the beautiful Gulf of Mexico.

Friday morning the guys departed for Pensacola and the Naval Air Museum. Upon arriving, they were greeted by Will, an Elk and docent for the Naval Air Museum.  Over the next four hours, he gave them a detailed tour of Hangar Bay One, the museum for the most historic naval planes in existence.  Will and Tom frequently stopped to talk about the various planes and the heritage of Naval Aviation.  The museum at Pensacola was an absolute marvel of static displays coupled with the scream of naval aviation in action today as jets shot across the field. What made this truly memorable was Will's knowledge of Navy aviation, from its inception in 1908 to the present.  He is a proud naval aviator who took the time to introduce us to the wonderful aircraft on display and explain their history in a way that made their history as real as today. Will is above at right.  This was a visit I will never forget. 

During a morning reception and coffee, the ladies presented Venita with some lovely gifts to remember her visitation.  Claudia had sent a beautiful jewelry box containing a stunning pearl and turquoise necklace that she had made.  Other gifts included a jeweled purse hook, drawer sachets, an air freshener/diffuser, and a votive candle holder.

After marveling over the generosity of these wonderful ladies, we loaded up the van to do some local sightseeing, shopping and then had lunch at the Gift Horse Restaurant. The Gift Horse features traditional Southern cuisine including Cheesy Apples, Fried Biscuits and Praline Sweet Potatoes.  Even though everyone only took a small spoonful of all the goodies, we all ended up with a very full plate!  After a little more shopping, we all stopped for an adult beverage LuLu's.  LuLu's is a wonderful restaurant located on the inland waterway and owned by Lucy Buffett, Jimmy Buffett's sister.  We enjoyed watching the boats come and go.

Friday evening we had another wonderful dinner, this time at The Oyster House. We finished up the evening visiting with the convention attendees in their communal hospitality suite.  As a special surprise for us, they had decorated the entire room with a motorcycle theme and everyone was sporting their motorcycle gear.  Lots of black leather and warm welcomes.  The band was vintage Lennard Skinner and it was impossible not to dance. 

Saturday morning we attended the business meeting for the Alabama Elks Association.  It was an excellent meeting with focus on their outstanding results for the previous year.  Much of what they emphasized duplicated what Tom had planned to cover in his speech at the luncheon.  But since important topics bear repeating, Tom joked about how his speech would now be 30 seconds and proceeded to share his information with the guests.

After the luncheon, the Alabama Elks presented Tom with a leather motorcycle vest sporting the Elks logo.  Venita received a beautiful set of black and white pearl earrings.  The Alabama State President for Emblem presented Venita with an autographed cookbook from LuLu's titled "Crazy Sista Cooking.”  After lunch, there was a rap session with the GER where Tom answered questions from the floor.

 

The rest of the afternoon consisted of relaxing with our escorts and other state officials upstairs in the suite, overlooking the beautiful Gulf and enjoying the company.  Dinner that evening was at a waterside restaurant called Cobalt.  We all enjoyed excellent ribs, catfish and other assorted foods.

Sunday morning, Ron and Gale took us to breakfast at Hazel's, a hangout for locals.  After breakfast, they dropped us off at the Pensacola airport with a promise to see us in a couple of weeks in Florida.  We both felt that our visit was too short and that we could have stayed much longer.

That being said, we turned out attention to our trip home.  Upon checking with the agent at our gate, we discovered that Houston was completely fogged in and we were not going to make our connection to San Jose.  After working with the United ticket counter, we were able to catch a flight to Atlanta and then on home to San Jose, arriving about an hour and a half after we were originally due in.  Not too bad, all in all, but still a long day.  See?  We should have stayed in Alabama!