Florida Conference Day 0

Clueless

May 03, 2024

So I am down in Florida for a conference in West Palm Beach. The conference starts today, Friday May 3, 2024. I was all very impressed with myself. I was all prepared. Arrived a day early to relax and get situated. Rented an AirBNB home about a 20 minute drive from the convention center. Many positives with the home. It has a nice little backyard with a pool, so it is private.

I will definitely be working on my Vitamin D and circadian rhythms while here.

So while we stay down an extra week after the conference we will have a quiet area to relax and work a bit. We have a kitchen so I can do all my own meal prep and cooking. If you do not know me by now I do prefer my cooking with healthy ingredients as opposed to having to eat out when traveling. Here are some food pics so far.

Organic Grass-Fed Ribeye with some buttered onions

Whole Organic Roasted Chicken made entirely in a Lodge Cast Iron pan for 60 minutes in a 400 degree oven. Seasoned with garlic salt, onion and garlic powder, Italian seasoning. Some melted butter at the end as well.

Branzino grilled in butter topped with a fresh homemade salsa of tomato, onion and garlic olives.

Grass fed baby lamb chops.

I hope to get to a fish market today and get some fresh fish for tonight. It might be grouper as that is common down here. Maybe I’ll let you know in a future Conference update….

When traveling and eating at the mercy of restaurants, all the processed foods and seed oils are not the healthiest. So when the cost of a hotel room + eating out is just about the same as renting a house, well, that makes the decision pretty easy.

So many positives to start our trip.

Now, why did I call today Day 0?

Day 0 was slated to begin at 7:30AM today, Friday May 3, 2024.

I woke up a little before 6AM to get ready. Was in the car by 645AM. Wow! Just so efficient and productive.

Drove the 20 minutes to the convention center, half the drive on I-95 North. Did you know on I-95 down here there are 5-7 lanes of traffic each way? Along with some very speedy weaving drivers, so if you are down here, driver beware.

Pulled into the Convention center parking garage in West Palm Beach. $5 for 1st 2 hours then a $1/hr thereafter. That’s much cheaper than Philly, New York and Boston parking garages. And the garage was empty. Wow! That should have been the 1st clue.

Walked into the Convention center and asked where the lectures were being held today. That should have been the 2nd clue as they told us not in the Convention center but in the Hilton hotel right next door.

So we walked next door to the Hilton. There were a dozen or so exhibitors outside a few ballrooms where the presentations were being held. But not all the exhibitors listed in our program. That should have been the 3rd clue.

While trying to find the room for the first lecture, I saw a breakfast buffet with eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, fruit, coffee and tea. Hmmm. I luv breakfast food but with Intermittent Fasting I prefer to not eat this early. But why was the breakfast buffet out for just about everyone there. That was not part of past conferences. That should have been the 4th clue.

So I ignored the food and found where the first lecture was. The room was not that big and there were not many chairs set up. Hmmm. How are a thousand or more attendees all gonna get seats? That should have been the 5th clue.

So finally I asked someone working for the A4M conference where the first lecture was. She said today was for the PRE-CONFERENCE attendees only. The regular conference that I signed up for starts tomorrow, Saturday, in the Convention center.

Yes, that was the FINAL CLUE.

Sooooooooooo……

I guess I have another somewhat free day to relax and enjoy the Florida weather.

Don’t worry though.

I will provide another recap when I actually do attend some of the presentations.

I will leave you with a few nice pics as any trip to Florida without sky and palm tree pics is a wasted trip.