Day one
I felt weird all day: from the drive to the airport through the drive to Freeport. I’m going to Florida to see Teresa, who’s doing her best to become a more independent traveler, but I didn’t make it to our first day of training. The “feeling weird” turned ugly after I arrived at the hotel. I will spare you all the details but day two was less than remarkable.
Day three
I met Teresa and her husband at their home in Freeport, Florida. My hotel is in Santa Rosa Beach, which is not that far away in miles, but there’s a bay between us and only one bridge. It’s about a 30-minute trip down 98, across the bridge and back the other way. It’s also tourist season in Florida so traffic is not light. Very few Florida license plates in this traffic but I’m glad my rental is one of them. People will think I’m a local. Maybe. Knowing where I’m going would help me look local.
Teresa and I went to a shopping center in Freeport where she frequently shops and meets for lunch with her kids and grandkids. We negotiated the parking lot, which is an evil place. Any parking lot… evil. The best bet in a parking lot is to choose the route that keeps you out of the middle of a parking lane. Even if it takes you a little out of the way, parking lots are evil places, and you would do yourself a favor by staying on the fringes of it.
We made it safely across the evil parking lot and into Publix, which is my favorite grocery store, mostly found in the southeast part of our great country. I’ve written about it before but they’re incredibly friendly and helpful inside. They have some products I can’t usually find in Texas grocery stores. My favorite Italian cracker Tarrali is one of those products. I helped support the Italian economy this week for sure.
When indoor orientation was completed, we ventured outside to work on traveling to other shops in the shopping center and back to the car, across the evil parking lot.
Day four
The hotel is full of families on vacation. Lots of mothers and fathers carrying beach umbrellas, chairs, coolers, towels and other various plastic objects as well as their children. I see them in the morning, full of hope for the day at the beach. I also see them at the end of the day, sunburned, weary, sandy and mostly not talking to each other. It looks like they had fun or tried their hardest to do so. I certainly hope so.
Teresa and I went to a collection of outlet shops that are VERY popular during the tourist season. It is also very hot and humid in Florida this time of year. I know, big surprise, right? Anyway, a veritable multitude of sweating people trundling along with their shopping bags, slowly moving from air-conditioned store to air-conditioned store made for a very challenging travel environment.
We had a late lunch at 98 Bar-B-Que, a place Teresa and her husband frequent. Very good BBQ. I had pulled pork and mostly used Carolina sauce, which is a vinegar and mustard-based sauce. I thought about drinking it straight from the dispenser but thought better of it. My mother taught me better social skills than that.
I don’t use all the social skills Mom taught me when I’m working with clients, specifically opening doors. Clients need to know how to locate and operate the doors for themselves. Especially on car doors, the already-open door can be a health hazard to people who can’t see them and don’t know they’re open. If you get the urge to open the door for someone who is visually impaired, please feel free to do so, just tell them what you’re doing as you’re doing it. Knowing the door is already open allows a person with a visual impairment to plan accordingly.
Mom used the movie Rocky to emphasize this and other skills. When Rocky first started dating Adrian, he did everything wrong. He would open a door for her, then walk through first. He walked on the inside of the sidewalk, instead of between Adrian and the street, things like that. He wasn’t being rude; he just didn’t know any better. I bet you never thought Rocky would help teach proper behavior in dating relationships, huh? Thanks, Mom!
We did a night lesson tonight down at the beach. The beaches here in the Destin area are sugar white and so beautiful. The breeze right off the water makes the climate feel a lot better than it did this afternoon.
As I’ve written before, night lessons aren’t about learning new skills. Traveling in low-light situations is not any different than at any other time. Rather, it’s a confidence issue. A lot of people with visual impairments don’t travel much, or at all, at night because their vision reduces even more, and they don’t feel comfortable doing it. So, I always suggest we do at least one night lesson while I’m on the road, just to show people that it can be done safely if they choose to do it. Teresa was a real trooper, not wanting to do it, but doing it anyway.
Day five
We spent the day at another shopping center that Teresa frequents, taking a break for lunch at a local pizzeria, Grimaldi’s, that Teresa and her husband really like and I see why. Very good pizza. The shopping center was not nearly as crowded as the outlet mall the day before, but it was still plenty crowded and full of uneven surfaces, shadows across the sidewalk and columns in the middle of the walkway. Challenging to say the least. Hot, humid, blah, blah, blah. It’s an old story, I know, but it takes a toll. We make a plan for tomorrow and get into some air-conditioning for a while.
One of my favorite authors, Rick Bragg (author of It’s All Over But the Shoutin’, Ava’a Man, The Speckled Beauty, The Best Cook in the World, etc.) once worked for the St. Petersburg Times and the Miami Herald. He was from northern Alabama, but took many vacations to Florida, much like the families at the hotel. When working for the newspapers in Florida, he spent a lot of time looking for a grouper sandwich. Almost fished to extinction in the ‘60s and ‘70s, grouper is not that easy to find, for Rick Bragg or myself. It’s on a lot of menus but is not always available. I have found that to be true so far this trip. I’ve had some good food and some good seafood, but alas, no grouper sandwich. Yet.
Day six
On the last day of training, Teresa and I went to her old neighborhood and did some Juno work. Juno work involves walking with an empty harness to simulate walking with a dog. It’s not 100% accurate but it does give the client and the instructor useful information that helps decide whether a guide dog will be useful to that particular client.
After that, we meet Teresa’s husband for lunch at another one of their favorite local places. Guess what? There’s a grouper sandwich on the menu! But, alas, it is not available today. My search for the grouper sandwich will have to continue. I have the mullet sandwich and it’s very good. But grouper is in my sights until I get it. Rick Bragg, if you’re reading my blogs, I suspect secretly you are, please let me know if you find one. I’ll get in touch with you if I find one first.
I’m not writing about my travel day tomorrow. Unless, of course, something remarkable happens. I’m off to Charlotte and Jacksonville, North Carolina on my next trip. Working with a client the first part of the week in Jacksonville, then attending and presenting at a conference in Charlotte. I wonder if grouper is a gulf fish or an Atlantic fish?
