Jacksonville, January 31-February 2

So, how did we end up going to the National Annual Meeting of the United States Power Squadrons, held most years in Jacksonville, FL?  It had never been high on our list of things to do.  In fact, we only went to the district meeting in Ocean City, MD, once, at the urging of Scott Borzell when he was commander.
We were in Vero Beach in late June, staying at the Caribbean Court Boutique Hotel while we looked for a winter rental.  The last morning we were at breakfast, sitting at a large table.  A couple approached and asked if they could join us, since the restaurant was full.  We made small talk for a while, and I casually mentioned boating.  Louie perked up and asked if we had ever heard of the power squadron.  When I said yes, that we were members of Main Line in PA, he told us that he is the current national Admin Officer, moving up to Exec this year and to Commander in two years!  Louie and Dottie Ojeda were in Vero for a wedding, but they know people from the Vero Beach squadron and encouraged us to become associate members.  They also pushed for us to attend the national meeting in Jacksonville.  We eventually decided to go, since we would be in FL, and was a 100 year celebration of the founding of the USPS.  (And because we felt a personal contact because of Louie.)
Siegfried had checked out the hotel (the Hyatt-Regency) and discovered that it was pet-friendly, so Minnow didn't have to be boarded after all!  We set out on Friday morning, in heavy rain, to drive the 206 miles back north to Jacksonville.  By the time we stopped for lunch (yes, at a Chick-Fil A), the rain was pretty much over, thank heavens.
We got to the hotel in mid-afternoon.  It is in a beautiful location, overlooking the river.

Hyatt-Regency Hotel

River Walk

I was checking in when I turned around and saw Sieg and Minnow, standing by our luggage cart, in the middle of this beautiful, formal, all marble, fancy lobby!!  He is one lucky dog.  Instead of the first floor, as I had requested, our room was on the 12th floor, so we got to ride up and down elevators a lot!  He was allowed just about everywhere, including the gift shop (we went for ice cream sandwiches).  The hotel sent up a dog bowl and the most luxurious doggie bed/cushion for Minnow.

Friday night we went to the 100th anniversary reception in the ballrooms overlooking the river.  It was so mobbed!  The hotel provided wine and beer, and each district had a table with appetizers.  However, we had no idea that it was by district, and I was politely turned away from a district table when they asked if we belonged to their group. Grrr!  We never actually found the district 5 table, since it turned out it was two rooms down.  We gave up and went to dinner in the hotel restaurant.  There were supposed to be fireworks, but we missed them as well :(  Seemed that organization was lacking that day--even the First Timer's Table was unmanned.
But Saturday turned out much better!!  We got up early in order to make the opening of the Annual Meeting.  It was a lot of pomp and circumstance, flags and marching.  And we were pretty much the only ones not wearing uniforms, since we've never been interested in purchasing them.  We sat with District 5 for the entire 3 hour morning session.

Entrance of District and National Officers

Podium

We had lunch in the hotel restaurant again, and returned for more of the meeting.  We got there early enough to chat with Louie Ojeda, and then went to sit in the District 5 section. 

Louie Ojeda, 2nd row far left

Louie and Dottie Ojeda

A woman came over and suggested that we "vacate" those seats, since they were mainly for squadron commanders (and we certainly aren't that!)  I was a bit put out, but it really turned out for the best.  The woman was Mrs.Lafferty, wife of the Commander of District 5, and once she found out that we were representing Main Line, she invited us to a reception for District 5 attendees in their suite after the meeting finished.  It was a really nice event and we got to meet a bunch of people.  The suggestion is that we attend more district and national meetings, but I'm not so sure that is going to happen.  Although, Louie becomes Commander in 2 years, and that meeting will take place in Orlando, so I am tempted!!

District Commander Lafferty and First Lady!

 The evening ended with the Mardi Gras Ball.  The new National Commander is from New Orleans, hence the theme.  The dinner was held in a huge ballroom and about 600 people attended.  Dress was relatively formal, some had masks, some had decorated umbrellas, and all had Mardi Gras beads!  The dinner was excellent (except that they put the dessert, King's Cake, on the table instead of dinner rolls, so we had dessert before dinner).  The band was great, and they played most of the evening.  After dinner, they played Mardi Gras music and everyone got up and "strutted."  It was truly a classy, fun event.  When we got back to our room, Minnow got his ice cream!!

Mardi Gras Strut!