SW Florida get-together, 2018 version

[omni550]

I'm pretty sure now that I'll be there, and there's a very good chance that DW will come too. Looking forward to seeing everybody again or for the first time.

Great! I'll adjust the reservation to 14.

It'll be nice to see you again and meet your DW.

(Whew! The cats are now all herded. )

omni

 

[braumeister]

If you people don't post pictures, you will be ostracized forever.

 

[omni550]

Hey, gang.

Today, when I called to make a reservation, they said, "First come, first served" and "We seat groups of 20 -25 people all day." So, we'll have to play that by ear. (I am targeting to get there a bit early. Hopefully, I can get the ball rolling on getting table(s) set for our party.)

I did pick up a yellow "happy face" mylar helium balloon for our meet up. Looks just like this -->

See y'all at lunch!

omni

 

[harley]

Hey, gang.

Today, when I called to make a reservation, they said, "First come, first served" and "We seat groups of 20 -25 people all day." So, we'll have to play that by ear. (I am targeting to get there a bit early. Hopefully, I can get the ball rolling on getting table(s) set for our party.)

I did pick up a yellow "happy face" mylar helium balloon for our meet up. Looks just like this -->

See y'all at lunch!

omni

I was at Coconut Point last night, and one of the stores had a bunch of "Now Hiring" balloons in the window. I almost grabbed one, but I thought that this bunch might run away from it.

 

[omni550]

I was at Coconut Point last night, and one of the stores had a bunch of "Now Hiring" balloons in the window. I almost grabbed one, but I thought that this bunch might run away from it.

omni

 

[pb4uski]

Good meeting today! It was nice seeing some faces from last year's inaugural get-together as well as some new attendees.... omni550 did such a great job... I nominate her as "organizer for life/cat-herder extraordinare"!

I know there were some pictures taken and I suspect that they will follow in due course once the required clearances by the witness protection program are obtained.

 

[simple girl]

Such a blast today!!! So loved meeting the new people and seeing those I met last year again! Thank you so much Omni for organizing!

 

[MichaelB]

. omni550 did such a great job... I nominate her as "organizer for life/cat-herder extraordinare"!

Lemme guess .. when you w*rked, you were a manager, right?

 

[Moemg]

I know there were some pictures taken and I suspect that they will follow in due course once the required clearances by the witness protection program are obtained.

Then you had better black me out ! Fun get together and hopefully Sarasota cycler will tell us all about 4% CD's and where to get them.

 

[omni550]

SW FL lunch

The herded cats all showed up at the appointed hour. Some had even traveled 2 -2.5 hours for the experience of meeting their virtual friends in real life.

The 14 of us enjoyed a tasty lunch at the Venice marina basking in the lovely warm breezes off the water while getting reacquainted and/or making new friends. Such an interesting group of people. The conversations covered just about everything under the sun.

Plans are already underway for a 2019 gathering or two.

For the POIDH folks, from the left - pb4uski, harley, Mrs. harley, Lagniappe, Dtail, Dtail DGF, simple girl, Mr. simple girl, sarasotacycler, Moemg (hiding), omni, Revlefty, boog, Mrs. boog

 

[simple girl]

Then you had better black me out ! Fun get together and hopefully Sarasota cycler will tell us all about 4% CD's and where to get them.

+1

Come on Sarasota cycler! You've been holding out on us!

 

[pb4uski]

To heck with 4% CDs.... I'm buying Mega Millions tickets.

BTW, I don't know about the rest of you but it took me twice as long to get home as it took me to get there.

 

[simple girl]

To heck with 4% CDs.... I'm buying Mega Millions tickets.

BTW, I don't know about the rest of you but it took me twice as long to get home as it took me to get there.

+1 Back up on 75 going north - was glad to exit early!

 

[aja8888]

Nice photo and it looks like all are having a good time! We (Houston, TX area) did a few meetups but could only gather a handfull of members. Looks like Florida has more Forum members in close proximity than our area, especially now that Alan moved to the UK.

 

[Moemg]

oor the POIDH folks, from the left - pb4uski, harley, Mrs. harley, Lagniappe, Dtail, Dtail DGF, simple girl, Mr. simple girl, sarasotacycler, Moemg (hiding), omni, Revlefty, boog, Mrs. boog

I wasn't hiding just not angled correctly .The story of my life . I took Beneva home and sailed through .No delays !

 

[Dtail]

DGF and I had a great time. Thank you again Omni550 for arranging everything.
Looking forward to future meet-ups.
P.S. Trip back home extended by 40 minutes, but well worth it.

 

[omni550]

Easy, but lengthy drive southbound on I-75. No accidents that involved a detour through Punta Gorda like when I was headed northbound to lunch.

omni

 

[simple girl]

I updated my sig since several people thought we were done w*rking...not quite yet! ... OMY ....

Had to increase our ages too.

 

[Dtail]

I updated my sig since several people thought we were done w*rking...not quite yet! ... OMY ....

Had to increase our ages too.

Mr. SG seems like a great guy. Let him have the boat.

 

[harley]

We had a great time too. Drove around Venice Beach area for awhile beforehand, since we'd never been there before. It was fun to see everyone. I'm hoping to make it to the next DC area meetup, whenever that happens. It would be fun to meet even more members.

 

[Revlefty]

I had a really good time. It was interesting to find out we have things in common with "total strangers."

Thanks OMNI. See you next March, hopefully.

 

[boog]

We had a great time as well. Thanks to Omni for organizing and to everyone for making us feel welcome. We’re making a weekend of it and spent the rest of this afternoon exploring Nokomis Beach and downtown Venice. More to see and do tomorrow. Looking forward to the next event!

 

[sarasotacycler]

Thanks again Omni550! It was great meeting everyone and being able to put faces to names.

Having been a long time lurker/now member I will promise to post my CD discoveries. Unfortunately the 4% CD rate expired 2 weeks ago (link to original ER post - http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/4-00-apy-do-i-have-your-attention-91057.html). But this does show that rates are rising and CDs can be a reasonable risk management tool.

Thanks for welcoming me to the group!

 

[Moemg]

We had a great time as well. Thanks to Omni for organizing and to everyone for making us feel welcome. We’re making a weekend of it and spent the rest of this afternoon exploring Nokomis Beach and downtown Venice. More to see and do tomorrow. Looking forward to the next event!

Make sure to drive through Casey Key . That is where Steven King lives and it is droll worthy .Check out Venice's main street and the street behind it and take a drive to Casperon Beach and since you are going that way stop at Sharky's for a drink .Have fun !

 

[harley]

I wasn't hiding just not angled correctly .The story of my life . I took Beneva home and sailed through .No delays !

That's OK, I got you from another angle.

Speaking of angles, I took this picture upright, but it displays sideways in the post. I have tried rotating it in numerous directions, but no matter how it exists on my computer, it always comes out sideways here. Any suggestions to get it to display correctly?