Pages

7.10.2006

Paradise Through a Pinot Haze

Didn’t get to bed until 5 in the morning last night, my alarm is set for 6:30 in the morning, and I can’t sleep. Shit! Anyroad, I’ll be home tomorrow night.

Right now I’m in a Holiday Inn in Venice, Florida. If anyone comes here and wants my room, I’m in #104, one of the few that is in the same building as the bar main building.

Tonight the cast and crew sat on the roof-top area of Sharky’s down on the beach, watching the sunset over the gulf while listening to a band play “Margaritaville” that has a synthesizer with a steel drum band voice.


“Screw Vienna!” I exclaimed. “I’m moving to the tropics!”

And you know, sitting there thinking, “I can’t believe that in 24 hours I’m going to be back in Oklahoma”, it seemed like a plan. Bars stay open until dawn here. Grocery stores sell wine and, when I asked if the beer was “three-two” at a bar today, the reply was, “What’s that?” Yep. My idea of paradise.

Well, not Florida, but on the Gulf somewhere. Or maybe I should check out Key West. Now that’s a romantic thought! The end of the road! Hemmingwayland! I could do that. But there’s always a catch. In this case, hurricanes. Aw, crap…

From my interaction with the locals here, the best way to weather out an Act of God is by staying drunk… not all that different a mindset from what I’m used to in California with the earthquakes. I think I could fit in, even if I’m not from New York.

Anyway, I just wanted to check in. I’ll be writing tomorrow night. If I’m alive that is. So far, I’ve gotten about six hours of sleep this weekend and not all at one time. I can always nap during my three-hour layover at George Bush Airport in Houston. Bush always sets me to sleeping like a baby.

You dirty mind!

P.S. I have a lot of neat stuff to tell you guys, but it’s going to have to wait.

11 comments :

  1. :) Glad you’re having fun, Steph…and I can’t wait to hear the neat stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  2. YAY!!!!! You come home today! I’ve missed you so much!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well I hope you enjoyed your stay, sounds like you did... and yes, go to the keys…what a relaxing place and different attitude.And take your sweetie for some fantastic sunsets!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Don’t all grocery stores sell wine? They do here. What a degenerate lot we Brits are :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Liz, alcohol sales vary greatly between the 50 states. In some, you can’t buy anything alcoholic in a grocery store. In others, only beer or only wine or only beer and wine. And in others you can get all spirits at grocery stores. It just depends on what state laws have been passed.

    ReplyDelete
  6. And here in OK it varies from county-to-county. Where we live, the liquor stores close at 9:00pm. That’s just plain inhuman. Besides that, all domestic beers sold in bars are only 3.2% alcohol.

    The best thing about Florida was being treated like an adult who has the ability to make a responsible decision.

    Someone get me out me of here.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Click your heels enough times and you might find yourself in Kansas, which may be slightly better… I wish you were still in California! You should at least have hung around until I got here… :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. YAY!!!!! You come home today! I’ve missed you so much!

    ReplyDelete
  9. And here in OK it varies from county-to-county. Where we live, the liquor stores close at 9:00pm. That’s just plain inhuman. Besides that, all domestic beers sold in bars are only 3.2% alcohol.

    The best thing about Florida was being treated like an adult who has the ability to make a responsible decision.

    Someone get me out me of here.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.