Sunday, April 5, 2009

Let's Go Fly a Kite

Hey y'all! Phil and I are back from Florida. We had a wonderful time at the festival yesterday, and we've got the sunburns to prove it! It really was another great day for kite flying , and even though I didn't get to spend as much time lounging around as I had planned (they put me to work yesterday), it was a blast.

So, as I mentioned in my last post, Saturday morning began with a hearty breakfast of cheesy eggs, raisin toast and GRITS at the Waffle House!


We had seen these restaurants all over the place (no really, there was one on both sides of a 500 metre long bridge, I couldn't believe it), and given the secrets of Southern cuisine it promised to demystify, we just HAD to go. Unfortunately we didn't have the greatest waitress, but the food (once we got it), was pretty good. I wouldn't say I'm heartbroken that grits haven't made it as a breakfast staple food in Canada though.

After that, it was off to the kite field to put up some big ass kites!

The Manta Ray. See how small Phil looks?

The one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater!

Betty-Octo-Boop. See her garter?


As you can see, at one point there were many kites in the sky. This wasn't the biggest festival I've been to, but seeing all those kites in the air, right on the beach, was really something. It's an experience Phil and I will cherish, and we're so grateful to our wonderful friends Barry and Karen for inviting us down there.

As fun as it was, it was a loooong, hard day. Putting on a show like that is a lot of work! And those kites may be fun to fly, but they're a pain the arse to put away! But hey, we were there to work, right?

It didn't stop me from taking a break to take a dip in the ocean though! Most of the group thought I was nuts (it was a lottle cold), but one flyer, Matt, came with me. We were on the frickin' gulf of frickin' Mexico, dudes, and by Golly, I was going to swim!

That night we were just plain beat, so we decided to just stay in the condo (some of us - PHIL! - even stayed in our jammies). I talked Star Trek with a cool young lady (Hi Savannah!) and everyone just had a swell time.

It's back to reality today, of course. We were glad to see the kids, and we'll be glad to sleep in our own bed tonight (though perhaps not to go to work tomorrow!). Thanks again Barry and Karen! And thanks to my Dad and Margot for coming and babysitting the kids. We're so very fortunate that you are able to come here so we can take these trips together.

We'll return to our regular blog fodder next post! Until then, Happy Knitting Everyone!

9 comments:

Mrhide said...

The sand squicked under our feet! (cause it's quartz Barry explained)

It was one hell of a great time. Tara helped a lot with the kites and what? no mention of the jokes?! c'mon !! Pass the peaches my perfect partner! We had a lot of fun with a lot of great people whom I'll now call great friends.

Anonymous said...

Those kites are awesome! It's too bad you didn't get a chance to veg and knit, but really...where would you have put your knitting in that bikini?

(Admit it- you're looking for places to wear it here. You know, just popping over to pick up the kids from daycare..."Oh this? I wear it all the time, why do you ask?")

Sinéad said...

Amazing kites, amazing bikini, amazing changing weather! So glad you had a good time. I love the sea horse and Betty Boop kites, all of the kites were really someting although I don't envy you folding those babies up at the end of the day.

kate-the-enabler said...

Welcome home!! (it's probably not just your absence...but somehow this seemed like a really looooong week ;) )
The pics are awesome - and when you put the enthusiasm in your post together with Philippe's very happy-sounding comment - it's pretty clear that you had a very good time. YAY!
And really...about the bikini? BOOYAH (does that mean what I think it means? gosh I hope so)
Did people stop you to comment on the tattoo?

birana said...

So you had great trip ;)
It must be quite impressive all those kites for real! They are wonderful. So you were welcome back in the rain.. At least you had sun over there! So coming back to knitting regular time now ;) and chores tonight of course :)

Maggie said...

Hey, if you ever do get a hankering for the grits, go get some Cream of Wheat. From what I know, grits are made with corn (someone southern, is that true?) and Cream of Wheat is made with wheat, but it's very grits-like, I've been told.

Mrhide said...

Maggie: indeed Grits is made of corn and yes, it reminded me of cream of wheat!

more pictures here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/philtibo/FortWalton2009#

Sereknitty said...

Those kites are amazing!! I've never seen ones so big or so detailed -- no wonder Phil is hooked! His assistant looked pretty 'hot', too ... :)

Montreal Mama said...

Those are some pretty awesome kites! Looks like so much fun!