Here's the place... Capt'n Woody's. It's a really small sports bar at Palmetto Bay marina.
Amanda took this shot of Peggy and me... Not bad, if I do say so myself...
Here are Amanda and Peggy. Amanda was getting off work and heading to Remy's, another sports bar down on Pope Ave.
So she came around the bar and sat with us for awhile and talked. Amanda enjoyed some wine while we sipped on a beer. It was good to see each other again.
When we got to our seats, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful warm day. The sun shining on us in November felt a lot better than in September and was welcome to hang around, even if it was in our eyes...
It was Military Appreciation Day and a flyover had been planned. For some stupid reason, I was ready and got the shot. Enlarge it and see that what I pictured was what was on the video screen. So what if they were able to center it and I wasn't... Boom!!! That was them flying over...
You'll have to enlarge this one too. But I think it's a good shot, if I do say so myself... 
Before the game and before all the players showed up, the seniors got to run down the hill for the last time and were introduced individually. I got some shots of them on the big screen. Here's Ricky Sapp, one of the best defensive players on the team. I said "one of the best, not the best.
And here's two more seniors ready to come down the hill. 5 is Rendrick Taylor, a fullback who made an impact this year more than in previous years. 37 is Ronald Watson, a running back from Mauldin, SC...
And good ole number Dos Ocho.... 28... CJ.... Heisman candidate at large.... It was definitely "Spiller Time." The crowd went wild when he was announced. He carried the US flag down the hill....
C-L-E-M-S-O-N... Go Tigers!!!!!! Gotta win this on..... We've seen this picture before...
We've seen this one before too....... The sun is in our eyes, but it's nice warm.... As Gretchen would say... Very nice...
Heading in for another touchdown in front of us... Here we go Tigers, here we go...
And we score...... UVA is about to lose another one, sending Clemson to their first ACC Championship game in Tampa... But first things first... Time to concern ourselves with the Cocks.... Those feisty South Carolina Gamecocks... Bauk, Bauk, Bauk... Let's have some finger lickin good chickin!!! Next week, right....
Nothing needs to be said on this.... The scoreboard explains it all... And Dabo takes care of what Tommy couldn't do. 1st season for Dabo and 10 for Tommy. Good start to a rookie coach...
And the crowd goes wild!!!! Can you see us in there? Of course you can't. I'm taking the picture.... The people on the field were like the cars heading out of Clemson... Back to back, a$$holes to elbows... But a good time was had by all, unless you were from Charlottesville and UVA... Good luck to the Tigers in Tampa in 2 weeks and good luck next week against the USuC's next week....
Above, Peggy's ready to head to our seat in the first balcony. Dave and I did an exchange a couple of days earlier just to get closer to the stage. It was a good move...
And yours truly... The play was fantastic with lots of singing (brings back those choir days for me... I coulda done this... Hahahaha)... Really, the lead man, a baritone was unbelievable. He's part of the opera in NYC, so you know he's good... We had a great time and it was Happy Birthday to Dave....
And then it was Saturday morning.... Time for the game and tailgating.... We decided on a low country boil for food and showed up 5+ hours before game time. It was just like tailgating several years ago by the library. It had been years since we did this. Here, one of my work friends, Bryan is readying the sausages with Peggy, Dave, and Becky... Can you smell the potatoes cooking already?!?
Another shot of the preparations.... We sort of took our complete tailgate spot plus moved into the number one spot on the corner, just because he encroaches on our spot... He noticed... We didn't move... Good call, Becky!
So you can tell, we had two TV's going and were cooking all at the same time. Where were we? At the library.... Noooooo... We had to watch North Carolina beat up on Boston College... That would guarantee Clemson a trip to the ACC Championship game. And we had to watch Ohio State beat up on our "good friend" Rich-Rod at Michigan....
Dave poses in the morning sun while Becky works.... What's wrong with this picture???? Well, nothing, really... Ha!
So, here we are... back at the fashion statement thing.... Dress or skirt with boots. Why would you wear this when it's a 3:30 game with temps heading into the low 50's by the end of the game? Here's the first example across from out tailgate spot.
Example 2 is even more formal in her attire... Maybe she should have been going to the Sunday performance of South Pacific? A football game doesn't make a lot of sense for her, no?
Example 3 just needs to head home if she can't control her kid. What Mommy chases after her toddler in this outfit at a tailgate spot where there are cars passing by and a football game in the near future? Hmmmm.... she's definitely stylin....
So, you saw Bryan earlier working on the low country boil. It was actually pretty chilly where we were, so he and his wife, Jean decided to take a walk up to the dyke (no smart remarks here, OK?). Hahaha... Anyway, they warmed up quickly. That's them heading back down the slope, Parker.... They really made it!!!
Peggy's keeping warm, sort of while Adam and Lauren chow down on the 2nd round of boil we did... Jean watches because she already ate. Yep, that's right. We had to do two cooks to make sure everyone had enough to eat. I guess the guys on the first round over ate... But it was GOOD!!! Thanks, Syd for letting us use the cooker and pot...
Before dinner, Gretchen wanted to play in the sandbox. I think that was how that transpired... So she filled the truck bed with sand, and then dumped it... Great fun..
Then it was time to eat... Gretchen actually had some ribs, but she anxiously awaits that cookie in her Daddy's hand.
I'll have a bite, Daddy.... Yum....
I said YUM.... Gotta love those cookies...
Cookies and ice cream.... I think I'll have a bite, Mama...
I can eat this, right?!? Stop looking at me like I did something wrong... I'm gonna have this bite of ice cream to wash down that cookie...
Belly's full... Now it's time to play in the living room... Let's dance, Daddy... Or do you want me to throw the little red football? Yeeeee- hawwwww...
Gret-chen, Gret-chen, get into the middle, Let me see you jump! Let me see you wiggle!... It's a song from daycare and she loves it... And she can jump!
I can do it, Daddy......
Let me see you jump....... Wooooooo.....
Get into the middle, let me see you JUMP!
Fun Daddy... I like that Grandma and Grandpa put the toy box there so I can jump off of it.
Jumping is done, now it's time to get some reading in. So why not catch up on the Blood Bank Technical manual? I love this stuff. When do I start school?
Ugh... so invigorating... I love stimulating my brain. Thanks for telling me all about coagulation, Grandma...
OOOOOOOOHHHHHHH.... Verrrrrryyyy NIIIIIIICCCEEE, as Gretchen would say. Obviously, that's the front of the mansion on Northridge!
And the palm trees we planted a few years ago are doing very well, thank you....
Hey, Clem. Look here. I decided to do another picture in a picture... Time to find another place for the pumpkin...
No leaves here..... But it required cutting the grass front to back and side to side. Where were Becky and Dave? Hahahaha...
I love this Japanese maple tree. It's about my favorite in the yard. And it was on the throw away pile at the nursery when we bought it.
More leaves to fall, guys... Maybe we can have a raking party in a couple of weeks when Meredith, Dan, and Claire come to town! The raking and cleaning up isn't finished yet...
After our 1 hour shopping adventure that lasted around 3 plus hours, it was almost game time. But before watching Clemson play NCSU on TV, there were leaves to rake in Gretchen's back yard. So we raked for about 1/2 hour, watched Clemson devour North Carolina State 43-23, then came out and finished raking. Here's Gretchen after I put her in a pile of leaves I had just raked. She wasn't impressed... That would be Clemintine in the upper right corner enjoying her day outside.
Dave, Gretchen, and Becky go for a family portrait in the leaf pile. It didn't work so good, though. Gretchen, look over here!
Here's Gretchen playing lawn darts with a magnet square and magnet darts. I thought this would be a good game for around the house, but now that I see it, I think not so much. But Gretchen sure had a good time with it.
Bag those leaves!!!! Bag em! Hahahaha....
And when you're done with that pile, there are a couple more waiting.... Ans waiting... Why I went to your house for Saturday, I don't know. The game was all right, but the work was exhausting (just kidding). I had a great time. But Peggy had it right... Show up when it was time to eat! Mmmmmm, ribs!
Now Gretchen is OK with being in the leaves. As Becky and Dave say, she has to do it her own way.
Bike time on the deck while Mommy and Daddy pick up more leaves.
Gretchen, say 'cheese.' Cheeeeeeese... That's what she's saying...
More cheese from Gretchen. She decided to put on her bike helmet in the house and she agreed to a picture. Yep, you read that correctly, she agreed to a picture... That's the Florida Gators chomping on South Carolina Gamecock meat on the TV in the background.
Picture in a picture. Gretchen looks like she's playing on the computer, but she actually isn't. That would be Dave and a younger Gretchen feeding Clem on the computer screen.
And here's Becky showing off Gretchen in her cheerleader outfit last year. Yep, you'll have to enlarge these to see. And you can clearly see Gretchen is just watching and not playing.
And here's Dave, Becky, and Gretchen when Gretchen was a much smaller baby. The computer scrolls through the pictures as a screen saver and this is what Gretchen was enjoying. I was lucky enough to get a few pictures in a picture. And that was our Saturday.
Here's the birthday girl and her 5oth balloons. That's Syd in the background in the orange pontificating; he's probably saying he thinks the Tigers will win big against North Carolina State on Saturday. It would be hard to disagree with him too.
Peggy and Anna pose for a shot at the table. A very good picture of both of you.
Here's Eddie with his family chowing down on some chicken fingers.
And Dave kept Gretchen busy on the dance floor.
A bit later, it was time for some birthday cake. It was really good... And chocolaty too! And the result was:
Chocolate lips and mouth... Gretchen said she liked the cake. It was very nice....
And her hands are all chocolate too. I wonder if she really thinks she's going to get some more cake... But she's ready if another piece decides to fly towards her mouth.
Daddy has her mouth cleaned up; now it's on to her hands... Good luck with that one.
Good job... She's all cleaned up... and ready for some more dancing and playing.
Back at Gretchen's house, she got hold of Grandma's glasses and started playing with them. So it was time to show her what they are for. And to get a picture... Funny!
Beethoven decides to play a few bars before heading off to bed. Da, da, da, DAHHHH...
Maybe it's more like Liberace with the picture and smile after playing.... Hahahaha....
Here's Gretchen with her new mate.... His name is...... c'mon, guess. Of course.... his name is Happy! Now aren't you happy too? She's smiling... Are you? Be happy; don't worry. Gretchen LOVES her new mate (or doll, or whatever it is).
Check out Clem... See the smile on her face? She's happy too. Are you smiling yet? Laughing? Good... Clem's about to have a walk with Gretchen around the house. Her happiness started to wane....
Gretchen's still happy. Pajamas are on and she's still hanging in there playing and not in bed... yet...
Dave's happy too.... Where is happy........ Gretchen is getting restless, it seems.... Maybe she'd be happier in bed asleep...
Now we're happy. Happy is here with Gretchen and Gretchen has on her heels. It doesn't get any better than this does it?
Well, maybe.... Still have on one of those heels and still not in bed... For a kid, THAT'S HAPPY!!!
So, you know, right? Becky's happy too. Does she look happy? She should... there's only 25 weeks to go and 15 are already down. If that doesn't make sense, then enlarge the picture and check out her tummy.
Now she looks happy. I'm happy... Peggy's happy... Linda's happy... Larry's happy... So, congratulations to Becky and Dave... And to Gretchen. We're all looking forward to another bundle of joy in early May (hey, Dave, don't travel anywhere in late April - if you do, you may not be happy!). Well, this post sure turned out differently that what I planned. But I think it's a good idea to be happy. And to be positive. Peggy did a good job naming Gretchen's silly Halloween doll as "Happy." And for Janer and Larry, that's NOT Mr. Happy.... Have a good Friday the 13th and a fantastic weekend!!!!
I got plenty of laughs with my Browns helmet on the walk into the stadium and to my seat. But I just had to wear it since it was going to get really cold (it really didn't get THAT cold, to be honest). Peggy's having a good time too. She needs a helmet... Hmmmm, Christmas is right around the corner, you folks from Cleveland.
How could I miss a shot of the balloons and the band as the Tigers head down the hill? I couldn't.
C-L-E-M-S-O-N!!! Let's go Tigers.... Beat those jh;ukasrhfu Seminoles!
No pictures from the first half, but here's one of the band at halftime. The flag line did a great job for this game (more so than other games, in my opinion).
More flag line and band at halftime. Don't you wish you back there Meredith and Andrea? And Dan, Dave, and Becky for the band?!? Probably not, but I'm sure you all have fond memories.
"Back in the day," there really wasn't any flame throwing twirlers. But, these days there is and she does a great job. Here's as good a shot as I could get.
We're about to score here.... So I had to post this one.
Game, set, match! Tigers win, 40-24. You probably can't tell from the scoreboard, but that was the final score. As the coach said, Clemson did just about everything they could do to lose this game, but their effort in the 4th quarter paid off.
But first, let's go back to those azaleas from the other night. We didn't get a shot of the ones on the other side of the porch. Enlarge the one above and check out the bee doing the work usually done in April.
On our way to see the Tiger's play. As we approached Clemson, I asked Dave to get a picture of the fashion statement boots with dress or skirt. He got it! At least this weekend, it was sunny and warm.
I got this shot as we drove a bit further up the road on our way into Clemson. These boots are made for walking in front of Bowman field.
Here's a tailgate spot on the right just after we passed through downtown Clemson. Nothing special here; just people enjoying themselves.
I didn't realize it, but Packman was back for another visit. I knew he was coming back but didn't think about it much. Maybe we should have come earlier. And gotten several more koozies. Ha!
A HOT, SMOKIN' tailgate spot, if I do say so myself. That's Dave, Peggy, Jean, and Bryan just after we got set up. The sun was just at the wrong angle so the newly added side shield came in handy.
Hey, Peggy, Peter, Andrea, Meredith, Dan, Claire, and Marianne, where are you? It's tailgate time in Clemson on the west end. Got the TV already going and the Irish aren't doing so well against Navy (sorry, Peggy R.).
Here's the dish setup and the group across from us. They have been conspicuously absent the past few weeks with the rain. But for the FSU game, they were all in, so to speak!
We're in spot 97.... We had the grill set up in the middle of spot 98 when all of a sudden the car pulled in. We were invited to put the grill in the front of their car as long as we didn't set it on fire... No problem and thanks!
More boots fashion statement, this time with Jeans. Oops, that's Lauren and her Mom, Jean (no relation to jeans!).
As the sun started to set, the smoke from the grills at the bottom area really made for an interesting picture...
That's Jean and Adam, Lauren's boyfriend. Jean is enjoying holding Gretchen before Gretchen finds her way to the food.
Becky spent the afternoon in Saluda with her friend, Susan, her maid of honor. But dinner was to be served in Clemson so she and Gretchen found their way to the tailgate. We're glad they made it.
Chief cook, Dave at the 98 spot! That would be chicken and sausage this time. We really didn't have enough food. Maybe we needed Peggy R. to help with the menu... Hahahahaha, you know we had the Peggy R. portions available.
The food bag is on Gretchen and Becky is helping out. Hey, just grab that skewer and take a bite out of that sausage.
Peggy and Jean are enjoying the food and tailgate.
Dave and I are about ready to start the tear down and clean up sop we can head to the game. The cool air really came in when the sun went down so the helmet felt good. You like this shot, Dan?
Here we are with Gretchen.... I think she's ready for some more sausage!
The people in spot 99 were cleaning up and getting their stuff in their car. So Gretchen had to go over and check it out. Who does that sound like, Dave?
Gretchen and Becky were heading for Greenville because of the late night and cool temps. So Gretchen was bundled up ready to go to the car and head for home. Thanks for having dinner with us, guys!
Kristi is in full command of the direction to take in the corn maze. The problem she has is that Steve has absolutely no sense of direction. And that includes the corn maze too. I wonder how long it took them to find their way out.
Looks like they made it out all right. What a great picture. Love it guys....
Here are Katie and Mike, our niece and boyfriend. I think it's a great shot of the two of them and they aren't even performing jumps on a horse or racing laps in a car! Hey, Kate, I think that's probably a good thing! Maybe it will work out that we can all get together next summer at the beach.
Check this out! Click on the picture and enlarge it. The blooms are amazing!!! And it's November...
OK, you don't believe me. It really is November. Check out the picture with the pumpkins from Halloween last weekend. Same azaleas and the same blooms!
Wait a minute. The palm trees are looking pretty good too..... Maybe it's not November and all this is just a hoax............... I mean, the palm fronds are really green and healthy! Where's the pool pics with the palm trees???
Here's the pool area and the temp is really 40F and falling.... I don't know what type of azaleas those are at Becky's and Dave's but they have award winning Fall blooms. As for the palm trees, they are safely inside. I wanted to make sure it was difficult to tell where they were. My guess is that none of you reading this were fooled.
And if you were, here's Clem to guard against your stupidity. C'mon folks, it's November. Do you really think I'd go to great lengths to play games with the pictures? Nah!!!! More to come in the next couple days from the Clemson and FSU game.
Here's Claire sitting on the concrete "rail" in front of the Mohegan building where she lives. Note the embroidery on her 50's style skirt.
Meredith, are you making sure Claire doesn't fall? It looks chilly in Hoboken! Well, maybe not.
Claire checks out the activities through the rail fence on Washington St. I'm betting she's looking into her daycare. Meredith will comment and tell us.
At daycare, Claire looks like she's having a great time.
Claire's ready for the sock hop. Her Mommy and Daddy took lessons a few years ago so they should be able to teach!
Trick or Treat!!!! Give that girl some candy. Give her enough to last until Christmas....
