Apparently driving laws have changed in south Florida and, as usual, I'm the last to know. At least, I assume they have changed as that is the only reasonable explaination for my experience this past Thursday morning while driving across the state to attend the Miami SailOnly Expo. I'm not a slow driver, but my foot's not all lead, either. I feel the car really settles into its stride around 80 or 85 miles per hour. Apparently I'm in the minority regarding this particular feeling.Not only was I passed by nearly everyone else on the road, I was sneered at by a policeman in a patrol car as it sped past me. Everyone drove as though the four horsemen of the apocalypse were galloping up their tailpipes. I did manage to pass one automobile. A circa 1940's pickup truck, driven by what appeared to be Mother Theresa's twin sister, limped slowly along in the right lane. More rust and holes than corporeal vehicle, it seemed a phantom apparition on the warm, white concrete of the Turnpike. I finally made it to Stuart and managed to find dad's house using his circuitous directions. Apparently he wanted me to get a good feel for the town he and his wife, Sam, had just moved into, and felt it necessary to send me up and down most of the town's ten or fifteen prominent streets. A delicious dinner and sound sleep later found the two of us back on Florida's Turnpike speeding towards Miami and the Sailonly Expo. The drive was uneventful; we were passed by every other car on the road, and I think I even saw Mother Theresa's twin, in her rusted truck, flashing by at one point. We made it through Miami's incredible morning traffic and managed to find the show on the first try - a good omen for sure. Here are a few things to do when you're at the Miami SailOnly Expo: - Show up on Thursday, VIP day, without VIP passes.
- find a friendly security guard to let you into the show anyway.
- suddenly require a fax machine.
- leave the show and your dad to seek a fabled fax machine.
- realize, only after you've passed the show's ticket booth, that they're now checking tickets and you've not got one.
- realize, too, that the friendly security guard is now gone.
- find the fax machine.
- while at the fax machine, find a friend who is also an exhibitor and is nice enough to put you on their list of "helpers", thus scoring you an exhibitor's pass, entry back into the show, and thereby reuniting you with your momentarily long-lost father.
The show, though not large, contained a wonderful assortment of boats, gear, and yachties. Highlights for me involved seeing old friends and making a few new ones. We talked with a great couple from Atlanta that Heather and I had met this past year at the Annapolis Sailboat Show. We spent time with a great guy who had originally introduced us to Good Omens. We saw our friends, Libbie and John from Hotwire. We spent a little time crawling around some fantastic boats; my dad thinking of possibly buying one (he is, as they say, "between boats" right now), myself getting ideas for Good Omens. The show was just the right size for a day's visit, and as the sun began to sink towards the western horizon we slipped away from the boats and fellow wonderstruck yachties, back towards the car and then Stuart. The following morning I was packed and on my way homeward as the sun rose above Florida's wonderful eastern coast. It was a great trip in many ways: the show was fun, I spent time with old friends and new, I got a nifty exhibitor's badge. But the best part of the trip, by far, was the time spent with my dad. Thanks, dad.
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