Alex is in college (that just sounds weird in my head). But before we sent him off to college, we had to finish off his final High School related responsibilities.
Anyway, we flew into Tampa and rented a car, this time it was a Nissan Altima or something like that (not like the flame orange Charger we rented a couple years ago). Nonetheless we cruised around the Sunshine State in style! Oh, so to recap Alex rows crew with the Triangle Rowing Club. You may have seen his video he and his buddies made (i.e. pay $45 to a group in Africa to sing) to cheer him and his time on. Actually, that’s what made rowing so incredible for Alex. He seriously made his closest buddies on that team.
Okay, so back to Nationals. It was HOT! As in temperature. But also Alex’s rowing team was HOT too. As in they rocked on the water, and when I say rocked I mean they didn’t actually rock, because that would tip the boat, but they went fast! This year I watched from the opposite bank of the river (doesn’t mean anything I guess if you haven’t been there before) where I didn’t have to pay $80 for a spectator ticket. I saw the race just as well, or better, too. And let me say I miss being part of the rowing community. This was Alex’s last race :( 
The sad thing about Nationals was Alex had to miss his graduation ceremony (more on that in another post as it all worked out!). BUT the cool thing was that they recognized senior rowers there and gave him a certificate. Okay, so you’re wondering how did Alex’s boat do at Nationals? Better than they expected, so I’m told. They placed 25th overall. Now mind you when I say they placed 25th at Nationals what that really means (at least in my head) is that they are the 25th fastest boat in their category in the whole United States!! Mic drop...
Nope, not done talking here. So as cool as that was to place, we also had a great time hanging out with friends. Mostly Alex just loved hanging out with his buddies while I went back to the hotel (no tears for me, I actually enjoy just relaxing away from people sometimes). He played mini golf at one point. I think he might have gone to the beach too. Several of us parents with our rowers did go to a Japanese restaurant together though, so there’s that.
I’m sure I’ll remember more of the details later. Like what it was like walking around the venue (that reminds me, one of the rowing parents had an extra ticket she gave me so I went inside the paid area after all - I forgot about that till just now). I didn’t really do much except buy a couple pieces of rowing merch for Alex - which I hope he still wears with pride, even though I told him Medium was NOT his size (lol).In closing, I will just say adieu. I will miss you TRC and all the cool people I got to know either by name or by face. And for those whom I remember both your name and your face, you made the greatest impact of all.
Robert.
No comments:
Post a Comment