Well... by looking at the dates here, you can see that I'm not REALLY a blogger. :)
So much has been going on and, frankly speaking, I was just living it. But I'm catching up.
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May 21st was one of the highlights of last year. Shortly after I moved here, I was in the library reading a magazine about local doings on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. In it was an article about one of Gulfport's premier citizens, "Rip" Daniels, a Renaissance Man and bon vivant, if there ever was one. Descendent of a family which long resided in the area (after the Civil War?), he knows all the city's history and was a player in much of it including the desegregation of the beaches during the civil rights area. He's an all-around businessman, housing contractor/builder and owner/main voice of local radio station WJZD. The article was gushing about Rip's boutique hotel, The Almanette (1514 18th Avenue, overlooking the beach in Gulfport). I was so impressed, I clipped the article for my scrap book.
That would have been the end of it had not new friends, John and Carole McKellar, introduced me to Rip last spring. Impressed with my art, he invited me to see the hotel (gorgeous) and eat in its restaurant (best food I've had since I relocated). Since I told him I'd been hiding out in the house working like a demon on my embroidery and therefore had no social life, he and his wife Dixie hosted a luncheon for me at their home to introduce me to local artists and art lovers. I said the Almanette had the best food but I have to take that back; Dixie's might have topped it. We all had a great time. Thanks, Rip!
So much has been going on and, frankly speaking, I was just living it. But I'm catching up.
- - - - - -
May 21st was one of the highlights of last year. Shortly after I moved here, I was in the library reading a magazine about local doings on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. In it was an article about one of Gulfport's premier citizens, "Rip" Daniels, a Renaissance Man and bon vivant, if there ever was one. Descendent of a family which long resided in the area (after the Civil War?), he knows all the city's history and was a player in much of it including the desegregation of the beaches during the civil rights area. He's an all-around businessman, housing contractor/builder and owner/main voice of local radio station WJZD. The article was gushing about Rip's boutique hotel, The Almanette (1514 18th Avenue, overlooking the beach in Gulfport). I was so impressed, I clipped the article for my scrap book.
That would have been the end of it had not new friends, John and Carole McKellar, introduced me to Rip last spring. Impressed with my art, he invited me to see the hotel (gorgeous) and eat in its restaurant (best food I've had since I relocated). Since I told him I'd been hiding out in the house working like a demon on my embroidery and therefore had no social life, he and his wife Dixie hosted a luncheon for me at their home to introduce me to local artists and art lovers. I said the Almanette had the best food but I have to take that back; Dixie's might have topped it. We all had a great time. Thanks, Rip!
 | Here we are at Rip's: clay artist Princi Graham, me, Charles Graham, our host "Rip" Daniels, Carole McKellar, doll artist Ellen Ellis Lee and fabulous hostess, Dixie Daniels. (Photo by painter John McKellar.) |
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