In contrast to how fast this year went by, the last few weeks of 2014 have been a little quieter and slower paced for me. This has allowed me to reflect on how many great new places I have been and how many experiences I have been able to enjoy with amazing friends and family I am fortunate to have. This year big trips took me to Alaska and Ireland; I traveled to remarkable American cities such as Denver, Chicago, and Charleston, while making the usual stops into Atlanta (and not just the airport!) Both work and personal trips took me all around Florida: from Pensacola to Miami and everywhere in between (and I mean everywhere in between). Yes, this year was a year that I went from sea to shining sea…and then some. But seeing the world reminds you there’s no place like home.
My Home State Takes 3rd!
At the tail end of each year, the U.S. Census Bureau releases population estimates. And just this week they announced that Florida had passed New York to become the third most populous state in the Union. Technically that happened in July (or possibly earlier). Between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014, Florida added an average of 803 residents per day bringing us to over 19.9 million residents.
That is amazing when you consider this: In 1910, Florida had a mere 753,000 residents and was 33rd among states. At that same time, New York, the most populous state, boasted 9.1 million residents (12 times that of Florida). It’s amazing what air conditioning and economic freedom will do for you. In 1900, 67 percent of Floridians were born here. Today, only 36 percent were born here. I’m proud to be one of them!
Florida Governor Rick Scott re-elected
With all the good news about Florida, it’s not surprising that we re-elected our Governor, Rick Scott. What is alarming is that the margin of victory was way too close for comfort. Just think: we were only 66,000 votes away (of nearly 6 million votes) of flip-flopper Charlie Crist being elected Governor. Neither man seemed to be popular with Floridians – for a variety of reasons. But to me, Governor Scott has been one of the best Governors our state has ever had. He just gets to work and has been the model of public service. When he took over as Governor, the unemployment level was nearly 12 percent. Today it is down to 6 percent. In 2010, during his first run for Governor, he promised that more than 700,000 jobs would be created in the private sector in 7 years. Florida has now added that many jobs in less than four years. And Floridians want to keep working. After all, that’s why so many come here.
The James Madison Institute tells the Florida Story
At the end of 2014, I finished my seventh full year at The James Madison Institute (JMI). It’s unbelievable how quickly time flies when you’re having fun and trying to save one of the last hopes for liberty left in this country.
As noted above, people continue to flock to Florida. And in 2014, we at JMI spent much of our time telling the Florida story. The theme of JMI’s 2014 Annual Dinner in April was “Live Free or Move… to Florida.” Speaker of the House Will Weatherford and Senate President Don Gaetz joined us to speak about the good news coming out of Florida. Two of our other dinner speakers included Stephen Moore, Chief Economist at the Heritage Foundation and former member of the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board; and Travis Brown, author of the book, How Money Walks: How $2 Trillion Moved Between the States and Why it Matters.
Travis documents that money goes where money is treated well – and people follow the money. We talked about the largest untold story in America right now: a great migration of people is moving from places that don’t value freedom to places that do. There was a day when New York and California were viewed as “dream states.” Today, people are leaving those places and coming to states like Florida, Texas and even frigid North Dakota.
We brought Travis to several other places around Florida during the year, including Naples in November. We also traveled the state with Jesse Panuccio, Executive Director of Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO). This means I heard him speak seven times in four days including in Tampa, Orlando, West Palm Beach, Davie, Miami, and Coral Gables. Earlier in the year we also brought him to Jacksonville. During this “Florida Pro-Growth Tour” we distributed this DEO infographic about the Florida economic turnaround story.
JMI lost an important part of our family this year. Our founder and long-time board member J. Stanley Marshall passed away in June at the age of 91. He was a former President of Florida State University (1969-1976) and started JMI in 1987. I was privileged to get to know him during my first six years at JMI and he continues to be missed. More than any of the other policies he advocated, he was a champion of school choice – something that didn’t exist in Florida when JMI first started. Because of his vision, at the time of his passing, more than 1.5 million Florida schoolchildren were experiencing some level of school choice. Our goal is for every child and every family to have that choice and we are honored to be a part of his legacy and carry on his vision.
Our long-time Policy Director Bob Sanchez also retired this year. He is a wealth of knowledge and did incredible work for JMI and the people of Florida. We were fortunate to add some new policy staff to JMI in 2014: VP of Policy Sal Nuzzo and Director of Public Affairs Travis Keels. They are off to a great start and I look forward to seeing what more they have in store in 2015 and beyond. Don’t forget to stay informed and sign up for e-mail updates from JMI at our website: jamesmadison.org.
Disease, Warfare, Race Riots
Is it 1968? No, it’s 2014, but some people are still consumed with fighting each other and stoking the flames of racism and hate. The terrorist group ISIS chopped the heads off of Americans in Iraq. We were outraged – but not enough to do much about it. After a controversial police shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, racial tensions flared up there and the usual race baiters continued to stoke the fires. I pray for the day when everything isn’t about “race” or the color of your skin.
The biggest story of the year was the Ebola outbreak. Although thousands of people were killed by the disease in Africa, there were “only” a few Americans who caught the virus and (to my knowledge) “only” one who died. With that said, it still consumed the thoughts, prayers, and precautions of many Americans. This inspired TIME magazine to rightfully name the Ebola Fighters TIME’s person of the year.
Big trips to Vancouver, Alaska, and Ireland
I had some amazing travel experiences in 2014. I didn’t think I could top visiting China the previous year. But I may have just done that.
In June, we took a long-anticiapted family vacation to Alaska. We started with two nights in Vancouver and then hopped on a cruise to Alaska via Princess cruise lines. The trip included my parents, my brother and his girlfriend Ann, and my friend Jesse Dyer and his parents, Craig and Suzanne. The scenery we experienced was just breathtaking and the outdoor excursions were fun: we hiked up a mountain, kayaked near a glacier, took scenic bike rides, visited the towns of Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway, and took one of the most scenic railways in the world, the White Pass. Alaska was also a new state for me: brining me to 44 of the 50 states.
In case you’re wondering which states remain on my bucket list: New Mexico, Nebraska, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Hawaii. I am placing these six states on high priority and I’m ready to travel there with any who are ready to join me!
As if Alaska wasn’t enough, I then persuaded my mom to join me on a magical trip to Ireland in October. We joined one of my favorite bands, Scythian, to help them celebrate their 10-year anniversary as a band with a tour of Ireland. With 90 others, we toured the country by day and went to Scythian shows by night. We were able to experience the cities of Dublin, Killarney, and Galway. We were able to see the Blarney Castle, kiss the Blarney Stone, and take in magnificent views around the Dingle Peninsula and at the Cliffs of Moher, both on Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way.
For me, another highlight was visiting the home of my favorite adult beverage: Guinness! Before I arrived there I actually completed the book, Arthur’s Round: The Life and Times of Brewing Legend Arthur Guinness. My brother Tony had actually picked that book up for me when he was in Ireland about five years ago and I finally got around to reading it before my visit to Ireland. But it was especially nice to see the amazing views of the Irish countryside. And it was especially nice to visit there with my mom. She had never been there before either and this country represents half of her heritage – and one-quarter of mine. Thanks to this very special trip, my mom and I will always have the special memory of our time together in Ireland!
America, you’re beautiful
As always, my travels seem to also take me around our own beautiful country.
In April, I visited Chicago for a meeting of The Philadelphia Society, a conservative academic group that I remain a member of. During my trip there, I got in early enough to take in an Opening Day game at Wrigley Field with my friend Joseph Corey to see the Chicago Cubs take on the Philadelphia Phillies. Coincidentally my friend Eric Smith and his girlfriend Joleen were also in Chicago that same weekend. I met up with them on Friday night only to discover Eric had just proposed! It was great to be able to celebrate this occasion with them.
Also in April, I visited Charleston, South Carolina. This was only my second time to Charleston and both were for the same reason: I was invited on a development directors retreat hosted by the State Policy Network, an organization that helps free-market state think tanks like JMI be better at what we do. Even though most of my time was spent in meetings, we did get a chance to get out and walk the city, do some shopping, eat at some amazing restaurants, and enjoy the quaint little streets of historic Charleston.
In September, I traveled to Denver, Colorado with nine of my colleagues from The James Madison Institute to attend the State Policy Network’s annual meeting. This was my seventh year in a row at the SPN annual meeting, which holds this event in a different state each year to bring together staff members from all the various free-market think tanks in the country. While we were there sharing ideas, they held a special event for us at Coors Field, the home of the Colorado Rockies.
Rock Boat!
In February, I went on my third Rock Boat experience. Although we spent four nights on the Norwegian Pearl, it’s not your typical cruise. It’s an experience. After going on it in 2010 and 2011, I had missed it the two previous years, but was glad I got on the best one yet in 2014. The ship traveled from Miami to Norwegian’s private island in the Bahamas. I immediately rebooked for 2015 and I’m looking forward to my fourth Rock Boat on January 24-28, 2015. We sail out of Miami to Cozumel, Mexico. And the lineup looks incredible once again. I have a feeling this will be the best one yet. Then again, aren’t they all?
Rock by the Sea Charities
The Rock Boat shouldn’t be confused with Rock by the Sea, but sometimes people do confuse it. Maybe it’s because they both rock with a crossover of many of the same bands taking part. However, Rock by the Sea is all for charity (and not on a boat!) and I was happy to serve on the board of this organization for the fourth year in a row.
2014 was another successful year for Rock by the Sea. We donated tens of thousands of dollars to deserving charities: the Pediatric Brain Tumor program at the Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando, Camp Sunshine (a camp for kids with cancer) in Atlanta, and Cops for Kids in Tallahassee. We did our big event on St. George Island in May, as well as smaller events in Tallahassee in March, in Gainesville in October, and in Atlanta in December. I was able to be at all of these and they were an absolute blast. It was also great that my longtime friend Kristen Moran traveled down from DC for Rock by the Sea events on SGI and Atlanta, and that she is now a regular Rock Boater as well! It was also great to see Eric and Joleen make it to their first Rock by the Sea event and that my friend Ilya Shapiro has come down from DC three years in a row now – this year bringing his wife Kristin.
For the first time since I’ve been involved, I was not able to make the “Rock by the Tee” event we do in September (a lighter version of the big event in May, with a golf tournament mixed in) – mostly because of other work-related travels. But I never miss the big event in May! And this past year, there was even a great big bonfire on the beach at the end of the night – with many of the musicians taking part in it, singing songs until the wee hours of the morning – a memory I will never forget. As I told one of my friends after, we will probably never be at a better bonfire than that the rest of our lives.
If you’re looking to come join us in 2015, we will be holding the big event back on beautiful St. George Island, FL on May 14-17, 2015. If you buy your passes before January 2, 2015, you get a special “2 for 1” deal. If you’re interested in volunteering please let me know. Volunteers attend for free. And you can join me and Jaime Garner in that effort – she’s a regular now!
Travels around Florida
I traveled around Florida plenty as part of my job with The James Madison Institute – and those travels always remind me we live in a beautiful state with so many different parts. During my trips for JMI, I mostly visit with supporters, introduce our work to potential new supporters, and also take part in many of the events we hold around the state. Through my work at JMI, I meet lots of donors, entrepreneurs, scholars, authors, and personalities. Many of these people have interesting, entrepreneurial stories about how they are living out their American Dream. Some are also very philanthropic. In addition to pursing their own dreams, they have big hearts to help others. It’s such a privilege to meet so many interesting people.
Of course, I had other travels that took me around the state for personal reasons, including visits to South Florida to see my parents and other family. It is always nice to stay with them in Delray Beach while I’m also in the area for work.
This year, I also seemed to spend quite a lot of time in Jacksonville. I stopped off there in April on the way back from Charleston to visit with friends and check out the One Spark event that showcases entrepreneurial ideas (call it a mini-version of Austin’s SXSW). I also went back in May for the wedding of my friend and former roommate Dan Dawson. Then, in June, I traveled back for a soccer match between the U.S. Men’s National team and Nigeria, just a week ahead of the World Cup.
In October, JMI held a Freedom to Innovate “hoppy hour” event at Intuition Ale Works in Jacksonville, and I stuck around that weekend to celebrate Halloween on Jacksonville Beach. I was fortunate enough to visit with my friends Adam and Nikki Guillette. I think I am their most frequent houseguest now. They live in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL – not a bad place to visit. In fact, after all my travels around the state, I constantly say I think that may in fact be the best place to live in Florida. I am looking forward to seeing them once again for their “holiday” party on January 2.
In March I visited my friend Mark Wadsworth and his family in Pensacola. I have known Mark since we played tennis in South Florida when we were just ten years old. He has been proudly serving his country in the U.S. Navy for more than a decade now, and more recently, he is also chasing three kids around the house (or helping his wife Liz in that effort).
Mark learned that I had run a 15K (9.3 miles) at the end of 2013 and invited me to join him in running the Rock N Fly Half Marathon (13.1 miles) at the U.S. Naval base in Pensacola. The only drawback was he only gave me about 10 days notice! But an opportunity to run my first half-marathon with rock music playing at every mile mark and on the same Naval base that is home to the Blue Angels? It would be un-American not to take this opportunity. So, we did it. I completed my first half-marathon and in pretty good time (something like 2 hours, 1 minute, 50 seconds, but who’s counting?) That’s it though. Don’t expect me to do another one. I don’t know how anyone does that distance twice in a row to complete a full marathon. You won’t see me doing that. I have to keep my body in shape to keep playing more tennis!
In August, I went down to Orlando for a fun Labor Day weekend. I was able to spend a day at Disney with my friend Ryan Meerdo. He is a good decade (or more) younger than me, but has worked at Disney for a few years and sort of reminds me of myself when I was his age, working there. We did just about everything we wanted to do at the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom in one day. I wasn’t sure how busy it would be on the Saturday before Labor Day, but perhaps it helped that it was the first Saturday of college football. Hat tip: that may be a very nice time to visit if you’re looking to avoid the crowds.
I also went down there that weekend to see one of my favorite bands, Scythian, perform at Raglan Road in Downtown Disney. They played four nights there and I was able to be there for two of them, enjoying the shows with my longtime friend Laurie Sparks. My friend Ryan Chambers and his then bride-to-be also joined us one night. And it was great to see my friend Joe Lindsley working as Scythian’s band manager. It was also a treat to see them in Orlando just before that trip to Ireland that took place a month later in October.
Dolphins, Canes, and Noles
The fall of 2014 kept me busy, but I was able to get in some time to watch some football – in person! I was invited to a skybox at the Miami Dolphins game against the Kansas City Chiefs in mid-September. JMI board member Fred Leondhardt joined me. We were able to go on the field for the pre-game warm-ups and also go to Club Liv at Sun Life Stadium (yes, only in Miami can you enjoy a nightclub while “watching” a football game – this is why the Dolphins haven’t been back to a Super Bowl in more than 30 years. There are too many distractions in Miami for the fans).
I went back to SunLife Stadium in November to see my Canes take on the FSU Seminoles. The Canes surprisingly led the #1 Seminoles for most of the game, but fell short in the last three minutes. It was nice to at least see some of my Seminole friends sweat – and even nicer that I was able to once again enjoy the game from a skybox at SunLife Stadium. I had never been in a skybox in that stadium before and all of a sudden, twice in one season! I remain thankful for those generous invitations.
I found myself at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee for two other college football games this year. I saw the Noles take on Notre Dame in October and the Gators in November. The FSU-Notre Dame game was such a thriller that I said after the game it might have been one of the top five college football games I’ve ever been at (and neither of them were “my” team).
In November, it was nice to have my high school best friend Sean Gross come to Tallahassee for a visit. He is a FSU alum but has been living in Denver the past five years and had not been back to Tallahassee in more than a decade, which means he hadn’t been here during the past seven years I have lived here. So, he got in some quality time – a full five days. We ran the Tallahassee Turkey Trot 10K together, celebrated Thanksgiving at the Mike & Katie Williams household, caught a movie, partied it up in Tallahassee, and took in a great football game between the Gators and Noles. Sean had a heck of a travel experience to get here, but once he did, the weather all weekend was spectacular.
Tallahassee: my home of seven years
After all my travels across the state, across the continent, and even overseas, there is no place like home. I probably spent way too many nights outside my own bed, but it’s so nice to get home to the familiar surroundings of your own home. One of my roommates, Matt Farrar, moved out of my house this year. But one of my other very good friends, Jesse Dyer, moved in after he graduated from law school in Miami and came back up to Tallahassee for a job. And then there’s that character Nick Loffer who continues to live here between spreading freedom around the Florida panhandle and beyond. He’s a product of that great migration – from Ohio to Maryland to Florida. And now his parents have followed him to Tallahassee.
Speaking of which, it’s also nice to live in a tight knit community like Tallahassee where there is virtually no traffic and, instead, I have less than a 15-minute commute to the office and plenty of parks, bike trails, trees and plenty of other natural surroundings. And people are usually pretty nice. After all, it’s the South and you have to go to North Florida to live in the South.
One of my favorite things about being here in 2014 was helping my friend Mike Manley put together some house concerts this year. He has a great big yard tucked back on an end of a street where he doesn’t bother neighbors with live music. On each occasion we had 30-50 people come out to enjoy music performed by Melodime, Nick Gill, Walker Webb (of W2), Flagship Romance, and Rushad Eggleston (of Tornado Rider). On cooler nights, Mike lights up a bonfire and it is just a great time. There were many great moments in Tallahassee this year, but those times at Manley Manor were among some of my favorite in 2014. I enjoy being in Tallahassee and, while I always seem to be the traveling man, I do really try to stay here and enjoy this community as much as I can.
Special Congratulations to:
My brother Tony and his fiance, Ann Koreisha. Yes, you read that right! On December 17, Tony proposed and Ann said yes. Considering she visited the Gonzalez household twice in the past year and took a family vacation with us, I guess she’s ok joining the family. They plan to get married in 2015, which means I’ll finally have a sister! Welcome to the family, Ann! Tony and Ann continue to live in San Francisco. He has a dream job as a sports writer for the AP and she works for one of the biggest companies on the planet, Google.
Last year, I started a new tradition with naming some of my favorites things from the past year. The tradition continues below:
Favorite new band / musician: The honor goes to Paul Pfau, who I actually first got to see perform and get to know in 2013, when he was just filling in as a guitarist for Melodime at Rock by the Sea. He told me then that he had his own music and his own band. I looked up his website when I got back from Panama City in May 2013 and listened with enthusiasm to his bluesy sounding jams. We invited him to donate a song to our Christmas album in late 2013 and come play with his own band at Rock by the Sea in May 2014. He was an instant hit with the crowd, especially those guitar solos! I’m happy I will be spending this New Year’s Eve with my favorite new band of 2013 (Melodime) and my favorite new musician of 2014 (Paul Pfau) along with Rock by the Sea board member and musician Steve Everett. They are joining forces for a New Year’s Eve show in Vienna, VA and they will all be playing on the Rock Boat at the end of January as well. Check out Paul’s music at his website: http://www.paulpfaumusic.com
Best Book I read: As an avid reader, this is always a tough one, but I can only pick one. Earlier this year I completed the latest novel by Tom Wolf, Back to Blood. It’s a lengthy book (704 pages) but reads fast. The book takes place in modern day Miami (the city of my birth!) and Wolfe describes Miami as perhaps the most interesting city in the world. In fact, he says it’s the city of the future because of all the ethnicities that converge in this suburban metropolis. Wolfe takes on all sorts of facets of American life and pulls them into characters with varying ethnic backgrounds: Cuban, Haitian, Russian, French, etc. While the novel is obviously fiction, Wolfe is a spot-on cultural critic and fleshes out the realities of life in modern day Miami through a thrilling tale of sex and love, crime and punishment, class and race.
Best new TV show: In 2013, I named Dexter as my favorite new show (even though it’s been off the air a while). I am still watching it on Netflix and am about to complete season 7 (of 8). It still remains my favorite, but I need to bring you something new. Earlier this year I continued to watch a drama on the History Channel called Vikings (which started in 2013). It is done in the style of any HBO or Showtime television series. It is a historical fiction and is set during the early middle ages, when the Vikings were exploring lands to their west. Most of the show centers around the main character, Ragnar, a warrior and explorer with a complex set of emotions and experiences. Season 2 finished up earlier this year and Season 3 is set to begin. You can rent the DVDs through Netflix or stream it on the History Channel’s website in time to catch up for Season 3 which begins again on February 19. As I write this I just realized something: between Dexter and Vikings, I sure do like to watch violent stuff. But trust me, there’s more depth to these shows than one might think at first glance.
My favorite new place: Again, this is a tough one. But I keep telling people that perhaps my favorite city in the United States is Charleston, South Carolina. I am a big fan of history and I love old towns with great architecture, well-kept buildings, and old city streets. The people are friendly, the food is great, and it’s right on the water. I’ve only been there twice – and only for work – but it’s a charming little city and one that I’d like to visit again and again.
Best movie I saw: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1. I am a big fan of the Hunger Games series. This is technically part one of the third book (so it’s the third movie in the series). The story continues to follow the lead character, Katniss Everdeen. She was a two-time survivor of the Hunger Games, which are games that feature a representative from each of the thirteen districts of a large nation-state in a dystopian future, not far from our own. Katniss becomes the symbol of a mass rebellion against the totalitarian capitol, which features elites who are far removed from the plight of the average citizen in the districts. This movie has a strong message for us today about liberty and representative government. But in and of itself, it’s quite the thriller and I’m looking forward to the next part of this series.
Each year seems to go by faster and 2014 was no exception – and the calendar for 2015 already seems to be filling up. I remain thankful God continues to keep me healthy and safe through all my wonderful experiences, allowing me to see the breathtaking beauty he has provided for us on this planet and meet incredible people that continue to restore my faith in humanity. I remain hopeful that He continues to provide opportunities for me to enjoy more adventures with family and friends; to continue legacies we inherit from others and enjoy building our own traditions as well. See you in 2015!
You lead such an adventurous life! Glad your family is such a big part of it! We always enjoy spending quality time with you! Here’s hoping 2015 is a another exciting year and soon begin working on those remainng states as well as other new interests!