Yes I am Proud Of my Daughter

[Starman]

My daughter, Lauren, is a student at UNCW Wilmington, NC. She is the VP of the student body in the phys ed curriculum. She also sits on the state board, made up of 12 students from different universities in NC.


Later this week in Baltimore, we will be attending an award ceremony that recognizes the "Student of the Year " at a national convention sponsored by ESPN .

There are 3 students from NC to be recognized as Student of the Year at their perspective universities. Lauren has received this award for UNCW.

When she was in the 9th grade, she broke almost every girls track record. In the 10th grade, she broke them all and competed in the 800meter individual run against many seniors from across the state. She came in 10th place, about 6 seconds slower than first.

She has always been competitive and since the ninth grade knew she wanted to be a coach.

Early in the 11th grade her right knee went out, and 30k of operations later, she can no longer compete. But her heart is there.

She is finishing her last semester now, will be off this summer and do her student teaching in the fall. In all probability, she will continue her schooling to pursue her Masters Degree before committing to a job. ( Any one want to help with some scholarship money ? )

The point is, we are very proud and I thought I would share this with you.



Now,

We will have Friday free. Any sightseeing suggestions ? We are staying at the Days INN, downtown by the convention center.


Oh,

Almost forgot. On Saturday we are driving to Ocean City Delaware where Lauren 2 of her friends and my wife are going to jump out of a plane.

Not me !!

 

[jim rosenthal]

See the Constellation, if it's open for visitors. It is a nineteenth century warship kept in Baltimore Harbor. (it was thought to be eighteenth century, but it isn't)

The Baltimore Aquarium is incredible. Looking at all those fish will make you hungry. Looking at all those tourists makes the sharks hungry.

Annapolis (home of the US Naval Academy and one of the older, more picturesque towns on the Bay) is about forty minutes from Baltimore.

For Italian food in Baltimore, visit Little Italy and there are six or seven really good places at least.

In Annapolis, the most consistent and best place to eat is Paul's Homewood Cafe, on West Street, a mile or so out of downtown. I have eaten there literally thousands of times, and you can't beat them. Also good are O'Leary's, Lewnes' Steak House, the Chart House, and Carroll's Creek. And the Yin Yankee, downtown.

Hope this is helpful, and have a good time. Sorry about the shameless plug for Annapolis, but we like tourists around here. And our parking tickets cost a lot less than they do in Baltimore.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Jim-- isnt the USS Baltimore also in there? The ship was part of the great white fleet from Teddy Roosevelt's tenure. It may be in Philly, I'm not sure. I always try to tour historic warships and need to spend some time between there and Mystic. ws

 

[Freebird]

Congratulations Paul in that it would seem your daughter took after her mother! Just kidding, I'm sure she took something from your side.

I've only been through Baltimore on my way to someplace else, but as I recall it isn't a bad drive to DC.

Maybe you should stop by and view the monument erected in memory of Bill Clinton.

 

[jim rosenthal]

Bill, I don't know about the Baltimore. I don't remember, but it's been a while since I was in the Inner Harbor up there. There's a submarine, a lightship, and the Constellation, and I think a retired CG cutter. There may be others. It's a nice place to visit, especially if the weather cooperates.

 

[MicroKap]

The old warehouse area, Fells Point, is a really nice area that has all been restored. There are a lot of restaurants and clubs. Duck Boat tours are another fun event, but I'm not sure if they're seasonal.

There is a good website, http://www.walkbaltimore.com/ that gives some really nice ideas for walking tours of Baltimore.

Enjoy, it's a nice "smaller" city with a lot of things to do.

 

[(Nobody You Know)]

Almost forgot. On Saturday we are driving to Ocean City Delaware where Lauren 2 of her friends and my wife are going to jump out of a plane.

Not me !!

I heard your dentist bought a Porsch right after your last appointment

 

[Freebird]

I heard your dentist bought a Porsch right after your last appointment

LOL Bill, you aren't a retired GA State Trooper are you?

I never will forget a trooper pulling me out of a whole line of cars going the same speed to pull over for speeding. I was in a black Porsche 928S which stuck out like a sore thumb in 1984 when I had my first one. I had a radar detector at the time, and it sounded about 2 seconds before that guy hit the median in an unmarked patrol car to chase me down.

When I got out to talk to the guy, he started writing me a ticket while we stood at the rear of my car. He asked, "what kind of car is that?". 928's have "Porsche" in two inch tall moulded letter indentions across the rear just below the decklid. I just pointed to that instead of answering his question.

I swear to God that guy looked at my car and repeated aloud each letter as he wrote the make of my car on that speeding ticket!

 

[egaito]

Oh,

Almost forgot. On Saturday we are driving to Ocean City Delaware where Lauren 2 of her friends and my wife are going to jump out of a plane.

Not me !!

Never have understood why someone would jump out of a perfectly good running airplane. My wife tried it, before we met, but gave it up after her jump school plane went into the woods on takeoff. Someone had intentionally tainted the fuel. She always speaks fondly of the experience though....I just never have "gotten" it.

But then, I guess some folks don't "get" Hatts, or boating either.

 

[Freebird]

Almost forgot. On Saturday we are driving to Ocean City Delaware where Lauren 2 of her friends and my wife are going to jump out of a plane.

Not me !!

Humm, I wonder if I could interest my wife in jumping out of a plane.

She sings really well, so it might be okay!

 

[Starman]

ha-ha !!

I asked the dentist when my name was going to be put over the entrance to one of the rooms in their new building

The wife and daughter can jump, but I will be on the ground with the camera.

Thanx all for the " to do" tips.

This evening another cap just came loose, but this already had a root canal, so no pain. Just need to see the dentist first thing have it glued on then we hit the road.

Better now than up there.

At least I did not swallow this one. Did that before. Talk about 700.00 going down the crapper........Geeeeeeze !

 

[Boss Lady]

not if you are as cheap as me! LOL

 

[(Nobody You Know)]

LOL Bill, you aren't a retired GA State Trooper are you?

I never will forget a trooper pulling me out of a whole line of cars going the same speed to pull over for speeding. I was in a black Porsche 928S which stuck out like a sore thumb in 1984 when I had my first one. I had a radar detector at the time, and it sounded about 2 seconds before that guy hit the median in an unmarked patrol car to chase me down.

When I got out to talk to the guy, he started writing me a ticket while we stood at the rear of my car. He asked, "what kind of car is that?". 928's have "Porsche" in two inch tall moulded letter indentions across the rear just below the decklid. I just pointed to that instead of answering his question.

I swear to God that guy looked at my car and repeated aloud each letter as he wrote the make of my car on that speeding ticket!

I gottaa get reed of theis keeboard.

Hey, I had a Vett once and I know where you are coming from. I too was a target for the HP (and other but more delightful people too, KWIM?).

Those were really good days.

 

[Freebird]

KWIM? Is that a radio station that broadcasts Bulldog games?

 

[Boss Lady]

I ran them to the state line in Alabama in my 66' vette, them boys did not have sense of humor either! I think they all got a piece of my butt. I had boot prints everywhere. I was 19 at the time. After I got my car back a few days later, and returned home to Panama City, I was cleaning the interior and found a set of keys, it had about 25 keys on it including a handcuff key. I called the HP station in Alabama and asked was anyone missing a big key ring, the lady came back on and said "yes", I told her I had them and that if they needed them back they could be found in the Gulf of Mexico off the end of the county pier and hung up.

 

[Freebird]

A '66 Vette at age 19 followed by jumping out of airplanes without a parachute... how the heck are you still here Bubba?

 

[Boss Lady]

It was a helicopter, and I fell off the skid. the good lord must have plans for me. I made it from Panama City to Birmingham in two hours and forty minutes and stopped for gas in Montgomery (305 miles on two lane roads back then) Did that trip many times. John Law did not like getting left behind so they set a trap for me one weekend. Those AMXs they had would run on the top end, but did not handle the curves as well as the vette'. I had to go to a big block Trans Am with a 2.70 gear ratio and speed rated tires to beat the Florida HP with their 440 Dodges with overdrive trannies. Florida boys can sure drive too! Their cars were pretty trick for the day, speed rated tires, bonded to the rims, extra ballast to lower the center of gravity, and they sent them to driving school too. They would shoot at you back then also. Ahhhh the seventies!

 

[Freebird]

Son, you don't even want to begin to talk about how those Florida and Alabama Po Lease could drive their fast cars.

Here in God's country, your Trans Am would have been just another teenage toy which drew too much attention. These boys up here invented "The Sleeper" as they tended to transport things best left untransported. You left FL for NC, so you know what I'm talking about!

Their vehicle of choice was a big ugly four door banger with a huge trunk and a NASCAR inspired race engine. The cops never had a chance!

Why do you think I have so much fun with a car which is normally equipped with a V-6 and an automatic? My "Vettillac" sleeper has a LS6 400HP ZO6 Vette engine with a six speed manual transmission and a race tuned suspension.

Picture this, a young 'un in a new black Charger SRT/8 pulls up at a red light alongside a 50 year old with his kid strapped in the back seat of a plain looking black Cadillac CTS, but he doesn't know what the little V with the flags on the front fender means. The old guy looks over and says "Hey, is that a Hemi?" The young 'un smiles and nods yes. Old guy says quietly, "Ryan, you want to hear Daddy's race car go vrooom vrooom?"... "yeah Daddy, let's go really fast!" Okey dokey, let's rock.

I rev the engine, the kid next door has to take his out of drive so he can do the same. The light changes and I'm just a distant memory before he gets his racecar back into gear! Next light, he's ready and is a little skeered as his girlfriend is giving him a hard time. This time, he brake torques the Hemi while I sit at idle. The light turns green, his face turns red, the girl "friend" laughs as he has to imagine hearing me say "Say bye bye Hem-ee, life is like a box of choklit, you never know what you're gonna git!"

 

[Starman]

We are back.

The trip was good and so was the convention. When we arrived wed. afternoon the temp was about 80 degrees. Thursday, it was around 70, still warm especially when in the coat and tie suit.

Friday, it started raining, which turned into sleet and snow. It was pretty cold.

We went to the aquarium, and that was nice. Very Large.

Saw the sub and coast guard cutter from pearl harbor, but did not take any tours because of the time.

 

[Starman]

There was a dark side to this trip that I hesitated to post , but decided to go ahead and place it here as well.

My parents also drove to Baltimore and we kept this a secret from Lauren as to make it a surprise during the awards ceremony.

However on the way to Baltimore, my parents received word that my Aunt Dorothy, by dads sister has passed away. ( this was somewhat expected and my folks had prepared for this in case she passed while they were in Baltimore )

So on the day of the awards, early in the morning, they came to our hotel and and had breakfast with us and Lauren, then took off to Chicago for the funeral , which was yesterday.

Still , Lauren was surprised and pleased that her grandparents did come to see her.

I will post a pic of Lauren later today .