Took the red-eye flight across the country to make it here in the late morning for another convention.  Surprised myself by sleeping through most of the flight.

Weather is fantastic! Warm, humid and rainy.  A lot like Seattle, except much warmer … a couple days later … Weather here is wacky.  Cool day, then a sudden heavy downpour which almost immediately goes away.  Granted I’m not watching the weather news at all.

Fabulous meal at Le Coq Au Vin – kicked off the meal with seared ahi appetizer, a half portion of the cassoulet and polished off the grand marnier souffle for dessert.  This place is so good, I came back the next night.  This time, started off with the chicken sausage gumbo followed by the lobster topped grouper (this was amazing).  Their creme brulee was just average by comparison.

Capped off the last dinner of the week at Capital Grille – a high-end steak chain.  What do you expect? Excellent service, great food.  The lobster & crab cake appie was quite impressive and delicious.  They have dedicated wine lockers for regular patrons – one of them was listed as Warren Sapp (retired NFL player, I assume).

With all the traveling I’ve been doing lately (the year started slow), I found myself moving up in the United frequent flyer ranks …. wahoo! made the Premier Executive level which means I get to board sooner.  That’s about the only perk I need aside from free upgrades.

I accompany my CTO on occasion.  With the global services status he has, I get treated like royalty just by virtue of traveling with him.  Amazing stuff.  It has also spoiled me when I do not get to ride his elite-flier coattails.  Among the nice benefits – instant priority upgrades, automatic flight re-booking (multiple) if any connection is delayed.  And of course, you get to board before everyone else … and I mean, everyone else.  Am not sure what it takes to get to that status level but it practically means living on the road.