As I wrote in Retirement Captain’s Log: Cherokee in January | blog.hernandi.com, I’ve been tardy in keeping everyone up to date on my retirement shenanigans. Although visiting Cherokee was the first travel trip I made(early January), the first retirement action I took was to book a one way late January plane flight to Florida, after accepting an invitation to visit two friends there. I purchased that flight in November, same month that I retired.

I’ve been visiting these two friends for quite some time. We went to college together with Alla, and some years later, during one of our Russion House Reunions, I became friends with Alla’s sister, Raisa. Raisa lives in a beachside condo in Hollywood Beach, FL(just north of Miami), while Alla lives in NY. I was initially going to fly directly to Florida, but when I learned that Alla was going to drive down for an extended stay(and bring her dog, Zoey), I offered to fly to NY instead, and help her drive down.

Side story about this plane flight: I had known for years that if we could travel in the middle of the week, the rates would be cheaper. But, having to work, we often traveled on Friday or Saturdays. Not this time! I was able to fly in the middle of the week, and finally able to take advantage of cheaper flights, and I didn’t have to select a return flight BECAUSE, IN NOVEMBER, I DIDN’T KNOW WHEN I WAS COMING BACK IN JANUARY, MUUHAHAHAHA! But sometime in December, I decided that I would stay about two weeks, and bought my return ticket before it got too expensive. Still, for a little while, I got a kick out of telling people I had bought a one way ticket to the beach, and I didn’t know when I was coming back.

I enjoyed the drive down with Alla and Zoey. Both of us enjoy similar books on tape(I can’t speak for Zoey, ha), so we listened to The Black Prism, by Brent Weeks, which I think I would characterize as fantasy-sci-fi. Alla doesn’t like long drives, but I do, so it worked out well, especially for Zoey, whom Alla didn’t want to place in a kennel during her long stay in Florida.

Florida was wonderful. I mean, c’mon, who hates the beach, right? The three of us get along really well, like college roommates, except that we’re grown up, responsible, and do chores without needing to be asked. I was able to start working out with weights in the gym room(which I’ve since continued at home, more or less), and took long walks on the beach, got really tanned, relaxed, and generally enjoyed the southern warmth and sunshine. This last part is important, because the longer I’ve lived in Michigan, the more I’ve disliked the winters. This isn’t the first time I’ve escaped to FL, and won’t be my last. I’m very grateful to have friends to visit in southern Florida, especially friends who live on the beach! On top of that, we got to celebrate Raisa’s birthday together.

I brought my camera, and borrowed a tripod, but was unable to get any good pictures of Comet C/2023 E3 TZF. But while I was setting up and testing my camera settings, I got this nice shot of the moon in the clouds on the beach.