Pride is a big one. Orange blossoms and corn dracaena in December. Reef diving off the beach any time.

But that's about it.

It's only 2 1/2 hours from me. I should get there more often.

was a two-lane road. My dad had a T-bird he used to run between Ft Lauderdale and Ft Myers at 130mph. Wasn't shyte out there to hit in those days. That was a long time ago. There's such a thing as radar these days. Just sucks all the fun out of it

But I was on a Suzuki GS-750.

On that, a full tank of gas would just get me from East Naples to West Fort Lauderdale.

that would have been right at US441/SR7. I lived just off 441 and the Alley in Lauderdale Isles. Way back when that's where civilization ended. Plantation was like a day-trip. There was wild country between Dad's house and Davie. Sure has grown up and grown together since then. When I came back to take care of my dad I didn't recognize anything. Seems as if you and I have been ships passing in the night for a long while, buddy.

I've lived all over, more places than Hank Snow. There's almost nothing at all like the out-and-proud community in Ft Lauderdale. At any one time there are between 50 and 60 LGBT clubs or bars, endless LGBT businesses (we used to say GOO - gay-owned/operated), and heaven only knows how many LGBT visitors.

It does amaze me how in all that humanity I managed to find the other half of my soul there. Going on 17 years later, I still have the stars in my eyes. Now that's some luck.