Scenes from Clearwater . . .

The only part of last weekend’s trip that seemed “normal” was the time spent in Florida.  Even monsoon rains, chilly temps, and gale force winds aren’t that out of the ordinary.  But I really expected to arrive to find that the Greek Orthodox Church where the show is held had been restored after the fire last February – instead, I found that the repairs have not started.  The church is still fighting with the insurance company, and they hope to settle and complete the repairs sometime this year.

I tried to get a picture that gave some perspective of what it was like when I arrived in Clearwater, and this was the best I could do.

Remember those pictures I took in out my back door a month or so ago during a snow squall?  I sent them to the local newspaper and they ran in the paper last Thursday – I saw them on my tablet 1,000 miles away after I checked into my hotel in Clearwater.

We were in our usual spot – I love those mirrors behind our booth.  So many times over the years, customers have asked me to move so they can get into the “other room” that they are seeing in the mirrors – and it happened again this year.

One of the usual carts in this booth setup stayed in Atlanta, so we took shelving and displayed coloring books where the cart would have usually stood.

 

After setup, I drove over to Clearwater Beach for my usual walk in landscape that one just doesn’t experience in Ohio.  Looked quite different this year – I posted these pics on my Facebook page with the following caption . . .

Here's a recipe to get a prime piece of Florida Gulf Beach all to yourself on a Friday afternoon in February...

- Take one Florida white sand beach
- Add three layers of clothing
- Mix with howling winds
- Bake at temps lower than when you left home
- Enjoy! (it's still February in Florida)

 

Our friend Mary Garvey made her way south for the weekend to escape from winter in upstate New York.  She spent part of the time working for Pat Huntoon at Technique Junkies, and part working with Linda Malcom at Lost Coast Designs.  And yet her name badge carries part of a label from a package I sent to her years ago . . .

Pat Huntoon was concerned that I would get tired of listening to the same demo speech over and over again – she was sitting less than ten feet from my cash register.  And yet the day was so busy – and the crowd was so excited – that I barely heard her all day . . .

 

My best laugh of the day came courtesy of this nice lady.  Another customer kept telling me “Look at her shoes – look at her shoes!”  Too cool – and she said they are really comfortable.

One last way-out-of-focus image taken on the move during teardown – one of the staff from Scrapbooks, Etc. was unknowingly wearing the convention version of a “Kick Me” sign – she had no idea until she heard me laughing and her coworkers had to explain why . . .