What I did on my spring break: Part 1

I could tell you about the geeky fun I had at my eLearning conference I went to in Orlando, and how I was Twitter-famous with my other eLearning Twitter geek friends. But I wont.

Image by bearclau via Flickr

I could tell you about exploring Old Town Alexandria, VA with my friend Steve and playing in the Peeps store at National Harbor, MD. But I wont.

Or I can share my photos of Charleston, SC and of Boone Hill Plantation. But, no.

I probably could even tell you about the awesome time I had in St. Petersberg with my Alpha Xi Delta sisters. There was plenty of laughs to go around. But I know that that's not where the real story lies.

Instead I'm going to tell you about a chance encounter in Key West that has made all other stories I have ever shared pale in comparison.

On Tuesday, I finished my morning dive in Key Largo and drove down to Key West to complete my southern roadtrip, grab a margarita and a beer and watch the sunset. I arrived at around 5pm and found a place to park my car near the Historic Seaport of Key West. I looked up hotel rooms and started calling for reservations, but no where seemed to have availability. Looks like I would not be spending the night in Key West.

Hungry, and a little thirsty, I wandered along the marina admiring the boats and watching the pelicans wait for fish scraps to be thrown to them. I was making my way towards Mallory Square where I could sit and watch the nightly party as the crowds waited for the sun to set.

On my way there, I came across a building that had many whimsical outdoor sculptures. There was one in particular that amused me. It was of a man painting a group of dancing naked women. Just as I was filming, I hear someone ask me a question.

"Hey, can you take a picture for me?" (If you listen, you can hear it at the end of the video.)


Now, all my life I have loved John Hughes movies. He has made me believe in those 'movie moments' when you happen to turn around and your Jake Ryan is right there, just waiting for you. I just never expected that to happen to me.

I was wrong.

(More to come in Part 2!)