's MotD Tue Nov 13, 2007

[Guest guest]

's Daily Message TuesdayNovember 13, 2007HEADIN' SOUTH!

Well, I`m packing for another road trip! This week, I`m going to Tampa/St. sburg, and New Orleans.

My first stop will be to do a class for another Senior fitness extravaganza. The nice people at Humana Health Care, who brought me into Louisville, Kentucky for their Senior Olympics recently, is now bringing me into Tampa/St. Pete for a big walk and exercise class. This is gonna be a really big event. I mean, you know how many Seniors live in Florida!

When I was very young, one of my very first "road trips" was with my family to visit by Uncle Milton who lived in Sarasota, Florida. Since then, I`ve been back to Florida many, many times.

Florida is such a beautiful state and, like California, it is God`s country. The weather is always so gorgeous and, like California, it seems everything grows in Florida. Anytime I`m able to visit this gem of a state, I get very excited about it.

The expo will take place at Tropicana Field, where the Tampa Bay Rays play baseball. There will be over 250 booths, many of them performing health screenings for things like blood pressure and cholesterol checks.

I`ll get there early and take everyone for a brisk walk to get things started. After the walk, I`ll do some meeting, greeting and photo-taking before leading everyone in a mini-aerobics workout to get their bodies moving.

After my good-byes, it`s off to the airport and Southwest Airlines for a short-hop flight over to my hometown, New Orleans.

I was in New Orleans back in January to lead a walk-a-thon and tour the facilities of East Jefferson Hospital. I`m going back to do another appearance for them. The event will take place at New Orleans Audubon Park. Oh how I wish you all could be there.

Audubon is a beautiful park on St. Avenue in New Orleans oh-so-lovely and historic Garden District. I`ll lead a nice walk with everyone followed by a little exercise class, too.

Afterwards, I`ll spend the rest of the weekend with my brother, Lenny and his wife, . We`ll walk through the historic and romantic French Quarter, reminiscing about old times. Of course I`ll stop in some of my favorite old shops and say hello to everyone. We`ll cap the night off with dinner at my favorite restaurant in the French Quarter, Arnaud`s.

Whenever I dine at Arnaud`s, I always almost expect my parents, Leonard and Shirley to meet me there. I even order some of the favorite dishes they`d have when we used to go there as a family. I know they`ll be there with us in spirit, so I want them to be able to try a little of whatever I choose from the menu.

On the way back to the hotel, I`ll stop at the Praline store I used to work at and have just a teeny nibble.

This will be my last trip to New Orleans this year. I keep the city in my prayers, every night. New Orleans is still making it`s recovery following Hurricane Katrina. It is a slow recovery, yes...but the city is coming back.

I know New Orleans will flourish again. The population will continue to come back and it`ll end up better than it was before the hurricane.

While I`m away, uhh...Y`ALL better behave and keep taking good care of yourselves. I think I'll have a little dish of Shrimp Creole in your name, too!

Love,