May, 2000

Dear Dolls,

I went to Florida to shoot a pilot for NBC called Good Guys/Bad Guys written by Julie Martin and Tom Fontana. I was in Miami for the first time, what a beautiful city. 'Mayya' on Lincoln Boulevard, that's my food tip for the week. We stayed in a beautiful hotel called 'Grove Isle Resort'. They welcomed our dog, I shall be indebted to them forever.

Shooting was fun, it was a wonderful cast of actors which included Dana Delaney and Jon Seda and it was directed by a wonderful woman named Leslie Libman. It was a woman writer/producer, a woman director, and a woman line producer... SISTERS ARE DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES! It felt great to be surrounded by so much estrogen. Things got done, you know what I mean?

While I was in Miami I drove to the end of Key Biscayne with my family just to see Stiltsville. Stiltsville is a community of houses (large ones at that) built in the middle of the Bay of Biscayne. They have withstood hurricanes and are now in danger of disappearing forever because of a battle between Floridian environmentalists and the Floridians themselves. I don't know how I feel about this. It's beautifully surreal and I feel that it's the way that I'd want to live. Out in the middle of the water communing with fishes. Nothing but salt air, water and sun. It's worth a visit. I'm all for the environment but in this case if this is Floridian culture before tourism took over it is a testament to American ingenuity. I mean how the hell did they build houses in the middle of the water? And why? And who were they? And did they have to buy the water? I still see Stiltsville in my mind.

We drove home from Florida using my trusty book Road Trip USA. We stopped in St. Augustine, a beautiful city, considered the oldest town in the country. Santa Fe, NM would argue with that. We camped in a State Park on Little Talbot Island and continued our journey into Georgia seeing the 'Littlest Church in America' (a twelve seat charmer). We had lunch at 'Altman's Pizzeria' where on the walls they were selling this artwork made out of driftwood. I know this is not unique but it was so well done. I however did not buy a piece because we are trying to scale down. Our next camp spot was Jekyll Island, Georgia. Jekyll Island is beautiful but disappointing. It's a suburban neighborhood. I learned three things camping this trip:

1.) Always reserve your campsite
2.) Make sure you can have a wood burning fire.
3.) Always camp in State Parks. You get the wilderness you want.

We made a beeline home with stops in North Carolina with friends Tom & Judi Stapleton and watched the Oscars in Aberdeen, MD. How abou t those Oscars? I sat through the whole three and a half hours. ENOUGH! I love my road trips.

I love this country, it's so beautiful and so weird. Apropos of nothing, I'm going to start reviewing the plays that I've seen. I'm rambling...

Love, Patti

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