Republican Convention -- Part 1

It’s impossible to pack all the FUN we had at the Republican National Convention in just one blog post, so I’ll take two. This first one is dedicated to the things we did “away” from the convention center.  The RNC put us up in a beautiful hotel, Safety Harbor Resort and Spa. It’s located right on the Tampa Bay, about 20 minutes from downtown Tampa.  It was perfect in every way.  Most of our meals were provided and included guest speakers and “surprise” guest speakers.  We drove to Tampa—took us 10 hours.  We drove right towards Hurricane Isaac, but then it avoided impact with Tampa and headed west.  We just had strong winds and rain. Although we drove to Tampa, buses were provided to get us everywhere we needed to go. So we walked around the beautiful little city of Safety Harbor, enjoying cupcakes and ice cream, but then took the bus to attend outings away from the hotel and to attend the actual convention.  It was all good!  If we had a bucket list, which we don’t, attending the RNC would be on it. So here's some pictures of our time in Safety Harbor.  We honestly loved every minute of it.

It took us 10 hours to drive to Tampa - well worth the drive.

Registering - yes, that's an elephant ice sculpture - Russ is ready

Love our hotel room!

Russ with Rep. Ryan Haynes, who Russ was an alternate for

Registration Room

Hurricane Isaac blew on past us.

The city of Safety Harbor renamed their Main Street for the week we were there.

I'm so proud of my husband.  He deserved this special opportunity to attend the RNC!

Surprise speaker Frank Luntz of Fox News was one of my favorite speakers - he brought these two paintings with him.

Luntz gave this one of Pres. Reagan to Chris Devaney, TN Republican Party Chairman; the other was auctioned right there.

Ready for one of many wonderful meals that were provided for us. This was a breakfast on our first day.



Appetizer for dinner in the Barnoff Theater

I practice taking a pix of myself.  :)

Our dinner group at the Barnoff Theater

Desserts were oh so good.

TN Governor Haslam posed with me.



                

Craig Romney surprised us at brunch one morning.



Stay tune for Part 2 of the RNC -- coming soon!