Re: Donna...you bring the salsa, I'll bring the quacomole!

My experiences in Florida have been a little different...

The first time I came down for the Orange Bowl in Miami when I was in college ('74). I went to the U of Houston, and was on the Cougar Guard. We brought the cat in a station wagon to the game, driving a straight 24 hours. We only stopped in Bilouxi, Miss. for a night run with Shasta on the beach.

I remember how white the sand was on Miami Beach, even in the moonlight. We wanted to take Shasta out. She loved the beach. But there were too many people for it to be safe with a wild cougar. So the Guard went out, rolled up our pants legs, and had a great time in the chilly Atlantic after the game.

My second trip to Florida was to see the space shuttle take off from Cape Canaveral. The cargo that day was the Hubble Space Telescope. My dad designed the computers to run that baby. Yup, I was a space cadet growing up in Houston in the 60's. The place to be. My dad was a contract engineer for NASA. Since Dad was a VIP, we got special passes to see the shuttle from a different spot than where the tourists get to go. They ended up having to scrap the mission that day for some reason, so we spent the day in Titusville shopping for sea shells with the children (I had 3 then), eating seafood at a famous astronaut's hangout, and stocking up on Florida oranges. Slurp... yum! We also saw the sights (blush) on Cocoa Beach- I kept jabbing John in the ribs with my elbows. He was a surfer dude in high school and loved to watch those sun goddesses....

Owen, my brother was into kite competitions for a while, and has some great video footage. I had a big Delta in primary colors that had double handles and four tails and was made for wind speeds between 35-60 mph. Great kite. My brother lives in Annapolis and takes his kites to Chesapeake Bay. He has several unique ones, plus some boxes and traditional diamond shaped ones. One fav memory I have is kiting with him and John on the bay shore with all these sailboats on the horizon and the sun shining through the kite material against a crystal blue October sky.

Blessings,
-Donna Tweet