Virginia Beach, VA
February 2008

Many Meetings

Hosted by Jennie Z

Next: The Nickel Tour

That Friday I finally got to meet Jennie’s husband, Chad, who had been away in Washington DC. (He said we couldn't photograph him because it was a matter of national security or something...hehehe) A lot of their friends were meeting at a place called Blackfinn, which is at Waterside in downtown Norfolk. That’s Waterside behind me in the photo.

It was a little hard getting a good photo here because we were in the parking garage across the street, and it was FREEZING cold up there on the balcony.

Jennie and Chad bought us a pint of Smithwick’s, which was really good beer, but unfortunately Tiki kept drinking it all and wouldn’t share! And he’s a real lightweight too.

By the end of the night he ended up flirting with the statue of the mermaid downstairs. (He’ll kill me when he reads this! LOL!)

These are some of our new friends. I can’t remember everyone’s name (I guess I drank too much of the beer too) but several of those guys were in the Coast Guard. I can also see Leslie (in the back with the glasses, toward the left) who has been a good friend of Jennie and Chad for a few years, Terri (with the glasses in the front) and Jackie (the blonde in the center) who are new friends, and Steve (whose face got partially cut off—oh no!) who is a lawyer. He said he’d represent us if we got into any trouble while we’re in Virginia, which was really kind of him! You never know when you might need a good lawyer.

A few of those beers later and Jennie also seemed ready to be photographed...hehehe.

Geez...I guess I really did have one too many.

The next morning...lol.

The next morning we were really not in any mood to go to a political party meeting (at the time, 8:30 AM seemed WAY too early for a Saturday) but we were told they’d have coffee and bagels, so of course we went along. The delicious coffee and breakfast went a long way towards helping our uncharacteristic less-than-cheerful-post-partying attitudes.

Normally we try to stay neutral and not get involved in politics but these fine people in the Tidewater Libertarian Party made us the guests of honor for the day’s meeting!

They mostly talk about things like civil liberties, tax limitation and property rights which are all pretty important whether you’re a gnome or human being. I know I would not want my beautiful garden in Hawaii taken away to build a fancy new condo high-rise! By the way, that guy in the yellow shirt on the right side is Chad. (So much for national security..lol) Somehow he managed to avoid all of my other photos until this one.

They have a couple websites that they asked me to post, but I need to add a disclaimer: THIS GNOME AND TIKI AMBASSADOR TEAM DOES NOT SUPPORT ANY POLITICAL CANDIDATE. (UNLESS THEY THEMSELVES CHOOSE TO RUN FOR OFFICE OR PERHAPS ONE INVITES THEM TO VISIT.) Thank you!

www.libertarian.meetup.com/375/

www.tidewaterlp.com

(Photos: Jennie Z./ Dialogue: Jennie Z.& Tony V.)