I arrived Saturday morning to see the aftermath.. Police were directing traffic through intersections, since the stop lights were not working.
Some store fronts were demolished, and the inside was even worse!
Thanks goodness, and I still am shocked, our hotel (Adams Mark) seemed to be the only hotel on the strip with electricity (Air Conditioner, lights, ATM machines and more) and the Ocean Center also seemed to have all power.
Eating Saturday night was a challenge. The BBQ house had the waiting area full and dozens of persons outside waiting for hours. After driving nearly 2 hours up and down the strip, I found a restaurant way out West that was open - Steak and Shake - and we had no problems there.
One complaint I had, aside from the uncontrollable natural disaster, was the ATM machines in the hotel and ocean center. The maximum withdrawal was $200 and the charge was a $2 fee.
What if one needed 5 or $10,000 ?
That was a joke, in my opinion, so I held out and looked for another ATM Sunday morning. By this time, all the ATMs in the hotel and Ocean Center were either empty or not working.
After driving up and down the strip for over 2 1/2 hours and running into every hotel and motel with no lights and more, I finally found a bank seemingly hidden back off the strip.
I found the ATM, which was not marked - would've missed it if I hadn't drove through it.
The max was $600, then it wouldn't let me take another $600, so I had to choose $500, and continue going lower and lower until I had close to $2000 - that was all I got.
I actually almost lost my card at Publix because the ATM had only 3 working buttons/numbers and I couldn't get it to spit out my card for over 20 minutes.. it came out by accident. I was not about to leave my card there.. was looking around trying to spot the guy waiting for me to leave with a sack in his hands... lol
Other than this, there were some absolutely stunning animals at the show. Unfortunatley, from what I understand, many vendors did not sell many high priced items, mostly common balls and boas.
I know I certainly found tons of 'common colombians' which were anything but common.
Even picked up one beautiful female from Tom Crutchfield that was just PUKING with color.
Ran into and spoke with Jeff Ronne, Bill Parks, Jim Peters, Josh Guererro, Ben Cole, Peter Kahl, Hans Winner, John Martino, Hermin Soler, Lee Barrie, Tom Crutchfield, and many many others.
Was a pleasure to meet you and see you all again - hopefully next year the conditions will be a bit more favorable.
Also took a few pics but do not have the ability to post them here.
My girlfriend held the two headed Cal King and was ecstatic!
I also have pics of her with an adult bearded dragon and of her kissing a large Tegu. This was her first experience with any shows and so many animals! She thought my 100 Boas was impressive... lol
I know I had intended to meet many of you and buy several of you a beer! Sorry this didn't happen and I look forward to it again next year.
Thanks and take care all, Joe Rollo - BciJoe
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Thanks and take care - Joe Rollo
'Tis not the stongest of the species that will eventually survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change' Charles Darwin
