Society of American Florists 124th Annual Convention, Palm Beach, Florida

Beautiful Sunrise
Beautiful flowers from Columbia that was presented to me
Where Jill and I were all day!
If not at the pool, we were here!
Jill and I

My wife Jill and I caught a very early 5:30 AM flight from Austin and landed in Palm Beach around noon on Tuesday Sept. 16. We picked up our rental car and headed for the Hilton Hotel on the beautiful Atlantic Ocean and headed right for the beach, you talk about incredible blue water! I enjoyed the beach with Jill for a couple of hours then went back to our room to get ready for a run. I hit the roads around 3:30 PM, I thought it was hot and humid in Austin, my gosh it pales in comparison to Palm Beach!

I did a 10 mile loop around this large inlet from the ocean, thank goodness I was able to get water a couple of times during my run! My 10 mile run went well but I got a large blister on the ball of my left foot, I'd forgotten my orthotics at home and had to wear some new inserts, I developed a hot spot and it turned into a pretty good blister, I won't forget them again!

After my run and shower, Jill and I went out to Charlie's Grill, a small family restaurant that had incredible seafood! A good night sleep, up for a good track workout, and then off to The Breakers where the Society of American Florists 124th Annual Convention was being held.

No doubt The Breakers is the nicest place I've ever stayed before! It's 140 acres right on the Atlantic, which is beautiful! As we were driving down the lane to The Breakers, it was breathtaking! Jill was so excited that she was hyperventilating!

After unpacking we went and toured the grounds, five swimming pools, 18 hole golf course, beautiful white sand beach, and stunning buildings!

We then changed into our swimsuits and spent the next few hours on the beach and near one of the pools, the ocean was so blue and the water was around 85 degrees.

Wednesday night I had a chance to check out the ballroom where I would be giving a talk the next morning as the Keynote Speaker. We then went for dinner with Blanche of Powell, Kohne Associates. She is the one that booked me as the keynote speaker, what a very nice down to earth person! As Jill says, she's adorably cute. After dinner it was back to our room where I finished going over my talk for the next morning.

Thursday morning I was up very early for a nice run and to get ready for my talk. We arrived at the ballroom at 6:45 AM for a sound check and I got to meet some of the great folks from the Society of American Florists.

Things got underway at 7 with a wonderful breakfast and a short awards program, then it was time for my keynote address. My talk went very well and what a great group of folks it was to talk too! I always have butterfly's before I speak and this time was no different, once I started speaking the butterfly's were gone and now it was down to business!

The nice thing about doing a talk early in the morning is I now had the rest of the day to enjoy the beautiful Breakers! Jill and I spent the rest of the day by the pool and the beach and really enjoyed ourselves! I went for a nice afternoon run and then Jill and I dined on some more great seafood!

When we returned to The Breakers, we had the chance to go into the ballroom that was full of the most beautiful flowers and arrangements we have ever seen! The aroma of all those flowers was amazing!

Thursday morning I was up at 3:30 for my morning run along a road that went parallel to the ocean, the moon was almost full and it was gorgeous!

No cars, no people, just me and the ocean! It was then off to the airport for our flight back home to Austin.

I can't thank the Society of American Florists enough for having me as their keynote speaker! Jill and I had a wonderful time! We met some wonderful hard working people, keep up the great work you all do!

Thanks again for the incredible time Jill and I had!

Dick

P.S. Here are all of the pictures Jill and I took. Enjoy!

P.S.S. I can't for the life of me figure out how to make the paragraphs from looking spaced wrong. Please just ignore!