When I page through the December issue, I feel especially connected to it because it reflects so many of my in-person experiences. It reminds me how important it is to move past emails and texts and phone calls and Zoom calls and actually show up, face-to-face.
I learned so much from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (FXE) manager Rufus James as he toured me around the impressive, sprawling facility. This warm and gracious army vet shared something about aviation I should have known: that virtually every national airport we use today came into being in order to aid in the war effort during World War Two. Facilities we blithely pass through to transport us for recreation and business were originally built to save democracy. I found that very moving.
The day before my tour, I had used FXE for one of those frivolous only-in-South Florida experiences: flying to Staniel Cay in the Exumas for a day of ocean-based adventures, from caving in the incomparable Thunder Grotto to swimming up close and personal with nurse sharks and personable pigs.
More refined was my cruise on Scenic Eclipse II between Bermuda and Miami, when the gastronomical highlight was an 11-course tasting menu at the chef’s table—an interactive meal that required our participation to put the finishing touches on everything from burrata to Wagyu beef to foie gras. You couldn’t just be a passive eater; you had to participate.
We also got down to business for this issue: I had the pleasure of conducting a live interview with economist Tom Jalics from Fifth Third Bank for our latest CEO Connect. These evenings can be pretty social, and this one certainly was, but it was also notably substantive, as Tom, in his easy, accessible way, held forth on topics such as the inverted yield curve and the impact of interest rates, as he advised “to take what the market is giving you” in terms of short-term bonds and CDs.
And finally, everyone who attended the cover shoot can agree that there’s nothing quite like being in the company of unguarded, effervescent Susan Renneisen, the live-wire vice president of community affairs and special events at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino—and her wardrobe. This had to be the first time we’ve featured feathers, silver heels and a rock-star ensemble in the magazine. You had to be there.
