Back to the 70's. . . tennis, anyone???

I was watching the Today Show this morning when Steve Carell came on to talk about his new film,   "Battle of the Sexes", the story of tennis great Billie Jean King's match with tennis crazy Bobby Riggs.  Forty years ago, on September 20th, 1973, 30,000 people gathered in the Houston Astrodome, another 90 million watched on black and white TV, as Billie Jean answered Rigg's sexist rants about the superiority of men over women on the tennis court, by running him ragged for three sets.

Don't know if any of you remember that Women's Professional Tennis is those days came under the heading of The Virginia Slims.  Women were not yet considered "good enough" to be part of the national tennis organization.  I knew that well because my public relations firm was hired to do publicity for the Slims when they held court on Key Biscayne.  That's when I got to meet and talk with Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, and most importantly, Billie Jean King.  (And yes, I actually played tennis in those days, although certainly not in the class of those remarkable ladies.)

I remember watching the much ballyhooed "Battle of The Sexes" on my television and feeling triumphant at Billie Jean's big win.  It was a win for all women in our minds at that time and she was a true hero.

Daughter Andrea was my partner in those days and we both remember working for Virginia Slims and the many remarkable women that graced the courts.  You can be sure we will be seeing the movie as soon as it comes to Charlotte.
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Billie Jean & Bobby cross racquets before the match!

On the road again. . .

Hello, North Carolina.  Goodbye Florida.

I guess I can consider myself a true Carolinean.  Got my new drivers license last week and on Monday, got my new license plates.  Wow!

Have been so concerned about my friends and family still in my ex-state due to Irma, that I haven't really had a chance to concentrate on my new lifestyle.  Plan to get started on that asap.  For those who knew that the closing on my condo was scheduled for today, the 15th, the buyer's been granted an extension to next Friday, the 22nd.  More of Irma's doing, but keeping my fingers crossed that the sale still goes through.  Grove Isle's landscaping and the Club itself, suffered lots of damage, but the condo buildings emerged unscathed, thank goodness, and we even all have power and air-conditioning back.  No TV, apparently, since the cable across the bridge was destroyed, but Comcast is promising to fix things shortly.

Checked in on damage to all my old stamping grounds. .  Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens, The Kampong, Vizcaya. . all suffered damage to the trees and plants, but the buildings came through well.  My friend Dianne, who's a docent at Zoo Miami, says they will stay closed until the major damage to their foliage and some of the animal areas has been cleaned up.  The animals all came through without incident.

Grandson Adam, his wife Amy, and great-grandson Grayson, are back in their Jacksonville home, safe and sound.  Grayson just lost his first tooth!  Major event in a 6 year old's life!

Hopefully, the northeast can say No way, Jose, to the hurricane of that name still out there, and we can get back to a more normal lifestyle.

  Bye for now. . .
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