Atlanta Boat Show 2009

We went to the Atlanta Boat Show yesterday. Since we're in the middle of renovating the BUB we thought it would be a good chance to get ideas on the newest trends in interior finishes and maybe score some bargains on the long list of electronics we need to update.

Normally the boat show is packed and the lines for the best exhibits are an hour long, but this year it was almost eerily empty. The biggest disappointment was there were no mega yachts or million dollar houseboats on display and there were even a few empty vendor booths. Unfortunately there was only one vendor selling electronics and he wasn't in a very generous mood so we didn't bring home any bargain electronics

But we did score a pair of $50 boat sneakers for $9.99.

Oh, and Shelby got a new hat:



...and we ran into our friends and fellow boaters Raif and Linda who are getting married on their boat this summer.

Plus we got to get up close and personal with Miss Geico. Even though we aren't really into boat racing, we recently watched a documentary about the engineering that goes into racing boats and Miss Geico was prominently featured since she is the fastest boat in the world. Seeing this thing in person was impressive--the boat is HUGE and obviously built for speed.

Not to mention it is very, very, very neon yellow.

Miss Geico's throttle man, Scott Begovich there was signing autographs. The documentary also spent a lot of time talking about Scott and how impossibly hard his job is, so meeting the best trottle guy in the universe was kinda cool. I always imagined boat racers would be weedy little guys so they'd fit in that tiny cockpit better but Scott is a BIG guy.

He asked to have his photo taken with me:

....and then he asked me if I had any advice so I gave him some pointers on fast boating based on my experience puttering around the lake in our diesel powered floating condominium. I also suggested some carpet and drapes and maybe a lamp or two to make Miss Geico a little more comfy inside:


He begged me for more decorating ideas but I told him I really needed to get going. Afterwards he rushed back to the table where he had been signing autographs and jotted down some of the tips I'd given him.

Or maybe he just wanted to go back to sitting beside the cute blonde in a bikini and her impressive hooters ability to keep the autograph line moving.