Sometimes, not often, the confluence of events allows a little down time on a trip.
This one has proven to be that one break a year type of trip…
Got a chance to attend a military reunion of current/former Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance personnel, and also got a chance to have dinner with Uncle Jay.
We commiserated over the ‘joys’ of travel to foreign destinations, those ‘little’ problems that come up on the road, and how little time one really has during work trips to actually do anything other than work.
Jay is a great storyteller, and has a ton of those little travel faux pas stories, and we also cussed the various customs, ITAR and other petty regulations (like having to have an EXACT number of items in and out, otherwise go to jail, do not pass go, etc.).
Jay really IS one of those ‘little’ guys (actually pretty damn big guy), who make things work behind the scenes, and never get the ‘credit’ (unless something goes wrong). He’s also the guy you want backing you up, anywhere-anytime.
And he educated me on carrying one and more guns on a motorcycle, something I really hadn’t thought about. It IS an interesting problem, and not an easy one to solve.
We got some good food at Whitey’s Fish Camp, a place I used to hit at least weekly, and I almost didn’t recognize the place, it’s expanded so much! But the food was good!!! I think we scared the hell out of the poor waitress as we both grabbed for the bill (and I lost, dammit).
And speaking of motorcycles, coming back to the hotel last night I hear a Harley. Stopping at the light I look over and see a chopped Fat Boy, the rider has on a real helmet, leathers, shorts?? Wha??? Andddd… Flip flops!
Really??? Shorts and flip flops? Sigh… But then it IS Florida…
And lunch was at Sonny’s.
Now I know not everyone likes Sonny’s, but I’ve eaten at this one for 38 years… It’s not gourmet, but it’s filling and you know what you’re getting. And it’s not expensive either!!!
I’m back on another airplane heading home for the day, then out again… Sigh…
Looks like I’m going to have o try out Whitey’s next time I’m down there.
Did you ever know a guy named Dave McBride? He flew P-3 Orions out of Rota, Spain in the late seventies. I went to school with him at the University of New Mexico. He’s the only P-3 type I knew.
We were having lunch at Famous Dave’s up here and my engineer from Sarasota remarked on Sonny’s, so we got to inform the table about Sonny’s.
I may well have eaten at that one.
If you’re back in that crazy city anytime and need a chicken dinner with all the fixin’s, I like this place:
http://www.beachroadchickendinners.com/
I think its the sun down here that makes people as kooky as they seem in Florida.
About darn time you had a Good Week!
You deserve a Good Week or two
Yep; happy you had something more pleasant to blog about today than yesterday. 🙂
Yeah. Yer griping is getting intolerable 🙂
MSgt B- It’s damn good seafood, catfish, etc. You won’t be disappointed. It’s off the 220 cut through. Whitey’s fish camp.
Harry- I’ve heard the name, I ‘think’ he was in VQ-2.
Ed- That one is on Kingsley Blvd in Orange Park. Been there 42 years.
Brian- Thanks! I didn’t know about that one!
Dammit/Rick- Thanks!
GR6/Ed- LOL… Yeah, better for sure!
Yep. That’s the one.
My Wench and I have dined at that Sonny’s!
Of course we’ve eaten at Sonny’s in four states.
Aw, prairie muffins. If you ate at the Sonny’s on Kingsley, you were little less than a mile from my abode. I like the food at Sonny’s but the coffee leaves something to be desired. And to me, good coffee is as important as the quality of the food.
Ray- I didn’t know that, sorry… For some reason I thought you were further South.
Ed- It’s STILL good!
Stretch- Nothing wrong with that!
Finally got my write-up done…
We need to do that North Florida Blogshoot & pig roast we discussed. Looks like there are some possible attendees here.
http://l2uj.blogspot.com/2015/04/friday-night-lights.html
Good times, good times!
-And-
Thanks for the copy of TGM -Payback-
I’ll be reading it tomorrow!
Safe Travels!
TBG
Sonny’s? Must be a Southern thing.
Dear WellSeasonedFool,
A Southern thing indeed! Started in Gainesville, Florida. It’s no coincidence that Gainesville was previously called “Pig Town.” Yes, really.
My wife and I travel with a map of Sonny’s locations tucked into the Rand-McNally. While there may be better individual BBQ joints Sonny’s is a consistently excellent chain.
http://www.sonnysbbq.com/locations
Understand. Unfortunately, my knowledge of Florida is limited to I-75 to Naples, motels and gas stations.
TBG- Great!
WSF- It is. It’s a BBQ chain that started in Florida back in the day. See Stretch’s comment.
WSF- You get back there, it’s worth a try!
I lived in Gainesville, FL for six months lo these many years ago.
There was a Sonny’s a half block away and about 11 a.m. the aroma
of meat on the grill started to waft its way down to the trailer
my wife and I rented.
Went there for lunch a lot more than I expected to at first.
Barbecue is somewhat lacking in the North where I live now.
Makes me miss the South from time to time.
Leon- True… I WILL brake for BBQ! 🙂