Broadway at the Beach, Alligator Adventure, Tacos For Dinner, and a Buffett Thirst Quencher
Saturday, October 22nd, 2011
That sinking feeling of a vacation winding down usually comes about mid-week - especially in this case since we intended on leaving on Friday. It started for me on Wednesday, August 3, 2011. I didn’t feel like we had actually done all that much during our Myrtle Beach trip thus far, but I was perfectly okay with it, just greatly enjoying the company of Jamie, Ashleigh and Silas, my Mom & Bob, and Denise and her family. But on Wednesday, we did end up getting out a bit into the city rather than just laze by the pool and in the ocean. Read the rest of this entry »
In an effort to grab one more impressive batch of celebrity autographs and encounters, I made one last travel plan and booked one last flight of the year to leave on Friday, October 7, 2011, for Los Angeles, California, and visit the Fall Hollywood Show. It was going to be a short trip, so I tried to pack in as much as I possibly could. My friend Jimmy was on board to pick me up and tote me around for the weekend. (His wife Ellen was vacationing in New England that week). Unfortunately, David was heading to Disney World the morning that I was flying in and Bob had made plans to be in Lone Pine. So Jimmy and I came up with a few things to do to fill the odd hours where I wouldn’t be at the Hollywood Show. 
Jamie doesn’t have a tremendous interest in history but thus far, she had been a very good sport as I dragged her through Arkansas to such things as Bill Clinton’s birthplace in Hope, the Clinton Library, and the State Capitol. There was however one thing of a historical nature that she was interested in seeing. The reason for her interest was that she had had a guest speaker by the name of Jefferson Thomas in one of the classes that she was teaching. Jefferson had been on of the Little Rock Nine, a group of black children who were prevented from entering the front doors of Central High School in Little Rock in 1957 – until U.S. military troops showed up on the scene to escort them inside. It was a crowning moment in both the Civil Rights movement and the show of Federal Power under President Eisenhower. 
In return for taking Jamie to Indianapolis for her birthday weekend, she agreed to take me to Chicago to celebrate my birthday weekend. Of course, since I’m the planner, I made the arrangements and itinerary for the trip, which would include celebrities, diners, landmarks, and movie locations – and hopefully a lot of fun for both of us. I had liked the way Jason and I had only driven part-way on Friday night the last time we had gone to Chicago just 
Our time in the hot and sticky sun in Myrtle Beach continued on Tuesday, August 2, 2011. Mom kickstarted our day with an omelet and bacon breakfast, but after that Jamie and I ran out of steam for a bit and didn’t get up and moving until about 1pm. Aaron and Bob had gone off to play golf and the rest of the gang headed to the outlet malls. But once we got outside, we stayed out in the pool and on the beach most of the afternoon, as the sun blazed down on us and started to give our skin passable tans.