Henk van de Goor's Bloggers@large

Well boys & girls: I'm back from vacation again. I hopped over the Atlantic Ocean once again to visit my girlfriend Carrie. Our last vacation was in San Francisco, last September, so it was time for another (short) trip. I left on Friday, May 9th and just got back this morning after a three hour delay (more about that later). This time we visited beautiful Savannah, Georgia, a good 5 hour ride from Tallahassee. Some people told me before I left that it's a mix between St. Augustine and New Orleans, and after visiting I would say I agree. It's a very historic town (by American standards) and the people are very friendly. I loved the historic Riverfront and all its little restaurants and shops; it reminded me a bit of Pier 17 in San Francisco (the touristy part of it).

We had great weather (not too hot, not too cold) and enjoyed some very good meals including one of my favorites at B&D Burgers. They got voted "Best Burgers in Town" 6 years in a row and I can personally say that they deserve that title! Man: it tasted gooood. Anyway: I was lucky to be with my girlfriend on my birthday for the first time in 11 years! Somehow we managed to never be together when either of us had their Bday. So that was cool too.

As usual the week flew by and before I knew it I was on my way back again. As seems to be the case lately I also ran into some delays this time: my flight back out of Atlanta to Amsterdam had a mechanical problem (something about a fuel gage). They weren't able to repair it so we switched planes altogether. I don't know how, but somehow they had a spare plane and we didn't even have to switch seats or anything.

Savannah 2008

Hurricane season has started again and it always makes me a bit anxious. Not that I live in the USA/Florida, but my girlfriend and her son do. And I have seen what the results of a hurricane (like Katrina) can be. So I am alway a bit nervous when they announce the next storm, especially when it heads straight for the Florida Panhandle where they live. Luckily Alberto did not do that much damage in Tallahasse. A few fallen trees here, a crushed car there and off course the obligatory power outtages. I just hope this hurricane season is not as bad as last year.

Once again I am back home after a Christmas in Tallahassee with my girlfriend Carrie. And what a great time did I have! I think this must have been the best visit I had in years. I think it was just what we needed: some quality time. I can't wait till summer vacation: we very much would like to visit Italy and drive there and make it a great trip down the south of Europe. But here I am again: back in cold Holland. Going from some 18-20 degrees to just 0-5 degrees isn't a pleasure! And off course I have a lot of jetlag again. This time we just went for a daytrip to Biloxi, Mississipi to the Isle of Capri Casino. We saw a clip of it on CNN where they showed it was going to be reopened on December 26. It turned out a bit different then we planned for! Continue reading "Another Xmas, another New Year" »

Once again my vacation is over. A lot of stuff happened when I was in Florida this time. Problems with my flight on the way there, problems on the way back. Hurt my back when I was there. Got bit by mosquitos again. Visited St. Augustine, got hit by the outer parts of hurricane Dennis. In short: I can’t say I was bored or anything. If anything else I was a bit frustrated.

Continue reading "Florida: There and back" »