The Grand...

I am taking a stats course for work this week in Fairhope, Alabama. Usually I am traveling alone when I do this sort of thing, sitting in class all day, brain well into overload by mid-afternoon on the first day, and no one but a group of strangers to hang with at night. Sometimes this is OK, but it gets old; this week that part is different. This week Laura and Kate came with me. It is nice to see them in the afternoon when I am finished as opposed to staring at a TV or hanging with a bunch of folks that are feeling the same way. In addition to Laura and Kate coming along, there are two other things that make this trip better than usual - location and great friends.

Location - Fairhope, Alabama is about as good as it gets. It combines the simplicity of a modern-day Mayberry with Old Southern charm and coastal living. I think that they actually have a 'town botanist' to make sure that the flowers and landscaping around town look just right. And to top it off, there is this hotel, locally referred to as The Grand. It has a neat story.

Friends - Jeff & Amy Powell... Jeff and Amy left Smyrna a little more than 3 years ago to move here for a job. Jeff and I worked together in Nashville and shared many drives to and from work. We had dinner with them tonight at their home and it was like we had just seen each other last week. For three and a half hours, we talked about life, kids, family, work and on and on. That must be the sign of true friends, that no matter how long it has been since the last conversation, you pick up just where you left off feeling fully at home in their company. Friends like that are few and far between. I think that Solomon said that he could only find 1 in every thousand that he could really connect with deeply.