Tallahassee Dec. 7-9

Our first full day of our journey began when we woke up in a cabin-type house nestled in a heavily wooded and desolate neighborhood in Tallahassee, Florida. The temperature was in the 50’s. Large oak trees towering into the gray, cool skies were still shedding their brown leaves. The smell of burning wood from the fireplaces still lingered in the air. The environment reminded us more of “the South” than Florida. Wow, what a change of pace from the heat, humidity, beaches, cement and plastic surgery scenery which surrounded us only yesterday in Miami.

In this serene and sleepy setting, all eyes were focused on the podium placed in front of the Florida Supreme Court. And we stood right in front of it. We watched the spokesman for the Court announce the ruling overturning the lower court’s decision not to manually recount the votes.

As we felt history being written only 15 feet in front of us, to our left stood a man named Paul, a congenial and gregarious former United States Air Force pilot who felt the urge to voice his strong beliefs in favor of Bush. In between our conversations of life, politics and religion, Paul indicated that his “secret” of living life without regrets was to look inside oneself in order to make decisions that you truly feel are right. In front of us stood David, a successful restaurant owner who lives in Florida, Colorado and surfs in Hawaii. David believed that one must live life aggressively, but to tame it with humility.

We spoke with Sgt. Johnson and Sgt. Tompkins of the Florida Highway Patrol who together, have more than 40 years police experience. A proud, tall and soft spoken man in his mid to late 50’s who also serves as a preacher on Sundays, Sgt. Johnson was born and raised in a poor tobacco farm house where he left to serve in Vietnam. Sgt. Johnson’s “secret” in living without regrets is that he makes decisions and sticks to them. Sgt. Tompkins believed that one should not look back after making a decision since one would spend most of their energy in the past rather than focusing on the present and future.

We met Mike, an ABC cameraman, standing in front of the Florida Supreme Court building. A friendly and practical-minded individual, Mike believed that life is a series of “whys”. As long as one follows the “Golden Rule”, always telling the truth, one will live life without regrets.

We ended the day by going to dinner and a jazz bar with three bright and introspective students at Florida State University, Kevin, Stacey and “Jex”. Life, philosophy and love were the topics of choice between the martinis and jazz riffs. In the jazz bar two students from FSU Lindsay and Bethany share a bottle of wine. Lindsay’s “secret” to no regrets is when something bad happens think of how it could be worse. For Bethany the “secret” is to be introspective and follow your own values and goals. As the evening came to a close we met Lindsay’s boyfriend and we could see their love for each other.

It seems that we experienced an eclectic mix of emotions, topics, and scenery on our first day on the road. From waking up in the woods to standing in front of the Florida Supreme Court or completely immersing ourselves in conversations about love and human nature in a jazz bar, we began our journey on the road . . . to no regret.