Roadtrip: Myrtle Beach '09, Part I

Fiance Diane and I journeyed from the Boro on Sunday afternoon to Myrtle Beach, for the South Carolina Public Defenders' annual convention.



Robert checks us in to the Beach Cove Resort on Sunday Afternoon. He promised us "endless fun".






See? It's right there on his sleeve.










...and on the shampoo and soap. They better not let that stuff run out.







Endless fun? That's a lot of pressure. I guess we'd better get started. Mostly, we were hungry. Weren't sure what we wanted, so we settled for Mexican. That ought to be fun.




Our only standard for the evening libations, was that our drinks be at least the size of our heads. It wasn't easy, but we drained out tankards.













The view from my room on Monday morning was gorgeous.









Limping into the convention center, I craved a cup of Java. What? No coffee? Geez, Louise. What kind of seminar is this?


I've been to, like, a bazillion criminal defense, trial attorney, and government C.L.E. (continuing legal education) classes. Not a lot of surprises.

The keynote speaker, Sister Helen Prejean, at least, was quite good. She wrote "Dead Man Walking", about an inmate on death row. The book was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and was adapted into a movie starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. I told her that, because of her speech, I'd do a better job on my death penalty case. She seemed pleased. I neglected to mention that my mom was also a nun. 'Course, she's a Catholic nun and mom was an Episcopal nun.

Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking and our keynote speaker, signs my copy of her newest book, Death of Innocents. She was awesome.


Part II, to follow.