Fish B4U Fly: November 2015

Eat, Drink,Travel, Fish, Sort Books.

Just like last year.

from John and Brenda Davenport

There were a couple of notable events this year. Mom, Olive Davenport celebrated 100; Morgan Bransky launched her college career; we got all six grandchildren together for the first time!!; Brent got engaged to Jennifer Brown; John immersed himself in unplanned plumbing infrastructure events; and Brenda finally got some of the wall colors changed in Denver.
Abby and Dante both climbed the F&B ladder this year. Abby jumped back to the Hilton ladder as the Executive Assistant Food and Beverage Manager at the Waldorf Astoria in NYC and opened the new La Chine, a "Ritzy Regional Cuisine Chinese Restaurant." Meanwhile Dante jumped off the Hilton ladder to Food and Beverage Director at Savor/McCormick Place, the Western Hemisphere's largest convention center.

The 100 Valentines Day celebration in Nashville brought together a fine collection of the family cousins from both sides; some of whom had never met and were surprised how civilized each other were. Olive will be sending out her own Christmas letter; so, we won’t duplicate other than to say the reconstruction of Park Manor in Nashville really cut down on her walking with a predictable effect on her mobility. She quite enjoys receiving Skype calls on the “magic window” John installed in her room (an iMac). Charlie and Liz are still on duty, but Charlie claims John’s turn must be coming up again.

This year, our international research for places to emigrate if The Donald is elected included the Turks and Caicos and the Czech Republic.

After a very complex money transfer we booked a VRBO on Grand Turk Island in January. Definitely off the Caribbean tourist trail; however, it is definitely on the Off Shore Banking trail. It was harder to get a fishing license than setup a multinational conglomerate. John persisted and scored a bonefish, probably legally, right out the front door of Sea Biscuit, our cottage.

The Czech Republic tour was organized by Overseas Adventure Travel with a little side venture to fish with Jan Siman, a former Czech Fly Fishing Team member. We discovered that the “Iron Curtain”, named by George Kennan, was indeed made of iron and steel barbed wire and concrete bunkers. The Czechs and Slovakians were really undone by Chamberlain, Hitler, and the Russians. It is a testament to these Central Europeans’ resiliency and negotiations that the cities of Budapest, Cesky Krumlov, and Slovanice are so well preserved and the vineyards near Modra have been returned to their former greatness.

US travel included 100 days in Chicago, and a week in Belmar and Santa Fe. We look forward to Brent & Jennifer’s March wedding in St. Thomas and getting Evan as a bonus grandson. Plans for next year include more of the same with Machu Picchu and the Galapagos in January and an unknown destination far from Koch brother doorbell ringers and political campaigns in the fall.

John’s book count is now 10. “Bug the Bug 3-Fixing Fly Fishing Fails” with Eloise on the cover, now joins his other books unread by thousands. Francesca’s book “Greek Mytholagy A-Z” out sold him in all markets.

Overall, the highlight of the year was getting all the kids and grandkids (with Brent, Jennifer, & Evan an exception to be corrected in 2016) together at the beach in Belmar.

Here’s a link for the visually oriented

Via - Photos - https://picasaweb.google.com/103202631667358953084/AnnualUpdate2015

Via - Map

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/albumMap?uname=103202631667358953084&aid=6222209445572861617#map

Via Slide show:

iPhone

iPad

Fred's New Humungous HDTV

Text us when you are flying to or through Denver and we’ll meet you at the airport for some dining or bring you home for western hospitality.

Wishing you a good year with good times. Stay in touch.

John and Brenda Davenport

email or text: jandb.davenport@mac.com bnlbnw@aol.com