Readers of this blog will already know how I spent part of my Canada visit engaged in social networking. But it didn’t stop there.

My wife and I had the chance to meet Glenda Watson-Hyatt in person as well. Glenda and her husband Darrell hosted us for lunch in Surrey, BC. We met at the City Center Brewery.

Glenda is both an author and professional blogger. I came to know her first though through Twitter. Yep, Twitter. She’s a social media maven like me.

Glenda welcomed us with open arms and a smile. I immediately felt like a real friend. As she led my wife and I into the restaurant though, I had to race to keep up. She’s no slow poke.

This lunch proved to be one that Sharon and I were loath to end. The time was one of good food, good stories, and good friends. But it also brought home some lessons for life and social networking about meeting in person.

People are so much more than a few characters in a Twitter message. Sure, people tell you their favorite color or drink, or where they like to eat, or mention their struggles. But until you sit across the table from them at their favorite restaurant, you don’t know the why’s and real what’s of those things. And you begin to understand why sometimes you didn’t get the jokes before.

Hugs and handshakes cement a relationship like few things in life. Yes, you can share your profile, and pictures of your kids and dogs, but that’s all superficial stuff. Stuff your neighbors know and maybe your kids’ friends even. But how many times have you hugged those folks? Hugs, even among gents, are considered a hallmark sign of friendship. Hugs welcome someone closer than any stranger has a right to be.

Appreciation happens. Yes, we say we appreciate each other. But when was the last time you didn’t gripe about picking up your kids, and they’re only ten minutes away. How good does it feel then to have someone travel hundreds of miles to meet in person. Or how much more do you appreciate someone and time with them when you’ve traveled far to share a few minutes with them.

Glenda has cerebral palsy. You’d never know it from her online presence if you didn’t read her blog. She’s feisty and full of more energy than most of us. Her blog is constantly updated, she’s authoring another book, and she’s extremely active on Twitter, other folks’ blogs and more.

She’s the same in person, but wheelchair bound and each syllable a struggle to get out. Meeting her made me feel really humble. I thought I understood the effort she was putting into having such an active life online and off, and now I’m struggling to express myself without feeling to shameful. She wouldn’t want that for me I know.

Glenda hugged me like she meant it. Wow. We’d only ever chatted online with no video sessions and no audio. She’d only heard I was a nice guy, and hopefully thought so from my online presence. But she made me feel welcomed with that hug. Like we were long separated friends. And she had so much energy, it’s hard to tell you that.

Each word was a struggle, yet she shared how happy she was to meet in person. I realized how much our relationship meant to her as well. Not only did she put up with me catching on to her lingo, but Darrell and her had to trek across town in their wheelchairs just to dine with us. Talk about feeling appreciated. To top it off, she gave us a personal copy of her book, I’ll Do It Myself.

Sharing lunch with Glenda was a highlight of my week and vacation. Yeah, we’d exchanged dozens of messages, and postcards even, but wow did I so not know her. Nor did I realize how enjoyable her company would be. Darrell was an added bonus. He not only played translator but was a great lunch companion. Not afraid to make recommendations, nor to put back a cold one with us. You know what I say, the best way to share with friends is over a good meal.

So yeah, chat yourself up, have a thousand friends on Facebook or whatever, but don’t count yourself lucky until you’ve taken that relationship offline as well. This year has been a fantastic series of meeting online contacts in the flesh. There was the MidWest Media Conference, the St. Louis Blogger meet ups, and the Social Media Club St. Louis meet. Then how about the trip to Austin with tweetups, lunches, and breakfast tacos. Oh yeah, and how about the Lo-Fi St. Louis Restart party at the Mad Art Gallery!

To think, the year is just now about half over. I can’t wait to take social networking to the pub, diner, or dance floor next. Where are you meeting your contacts?

     Nanna J and I are taking the big bird out to Seattle on June 10th.  We’ll be flying out of Lambert Int’l Airport in St. Louis in the evening.  We are headed there to see our son’s family, at Ft. Lewis, Wa.  Mostly we are going because of the three granddaughters.

     While we’re there, our plan is not just to visit with the girls but get out and see a few things.  We’d really enjoy hooking up with folks in the area and seeing something we’ve not seen before.  During out last visit a few years ago, we saw the Space Needle and the Experience Music Project, and the Sci-fi museum.  We also visited the Pike St. Market and took the underground tour.

     Looking for ideas in or around Seattle of course but considering the drive to Portland, Or or up to British Columbia. (Would be my wife’s first out of country visit if so.)  We are also open to meeting up with folks one of the days a photowalk, to hang out for drinks, or something in between.

     Drop a comment here, send me a tweet, an email, or call and leave me something here 636-486-4723.  Oh yes, please include links if you’ve got them.

     This was taken in the BigTop Candy Store on S. Congress in Austin. Just wanted to share the goodness with you.  Click on the picture to find more shots from the candy store and from our vacation in Austin.

Austin made me feel welcome in more ways than one.  Heck, they even named a store after my son, Randall’s.  Throughout the week folks were courteous and welcoming.

That and they kept apologizing for the weather.  Yes, when it’s below 70 something or the least bit clowdy, they think the weather is bad.  Heck, it was flooding in our neck of the woods when we left and cold too boot.

Austin brought Nanna J and I opportunities for dining experiences, cultural discoveries, and making new friends.  Simis, a photographer friend,  hosted us for the entire week. My favorite shot of her.

During our visit were were able to not just meet with Simis, but with several other contacts of mine from Twitter. We had lunch out with @Orchid8.

We had breakfast with @mikeneumann:

Dinner with Simis:

And then a whole dang tweetup hosted by Kim Haynes.

Several folks turned out for the meetup and made us feel quite welcome. We didn’t just talk about Twitter either. No, we talked about blogging, social media, photography, and social networking. But beyond that, we had opportunity to talk about each other, Austin, and food. You know that last one is dear to my heart. Ha.

As you can see, just meeting folks was a busy week. I’ll have to do another post about the cultural stuff I guess. Expect a post just about the food as well.

For a visual recap of our week in Austin be sure to check out Flickr. I’ll be adding more pics to that set over the next several days.

In summary, the trip to Austin brought me closer to folks in my network than just being virtual friends.  We talked, we laughed, and we broke bread together.  Those are the makings of a lasting friendship.  Heck, in all the excitement, I made some new friends too and so did our friend Simis.

What are you doing with your next vacation? Seeing the Grand Canyon, or closing the loop with friends? Can you manage both like in our Austin trip?

supermodel SharonOriginally uploaded by .simis.

Portrait of my Sharon, aka Nanna J, by Simis.  Simis is one of my favorite photographers on Flickr and this week she is hosting us in Austin, Tx.

This was taken at the Loop 360 bridge on the outskirts of Austin. We did a whole photo session at the bridge. You’ll see some shots of that later. Look forward to more pictures of hers and ours to be posted here.

20080323 .Sharon and me. day147 Originally uploaded by .simis.

Two sweet ladies meet for the first time. Simis is hosting Nanna J and me in Austin this week. It’s hard to tell who is more excited.  Ha.

Look forward to more pictures of us all over this week. Please click through and show Simis’s pictures some comment love.

My wife and I are alive and well in Austin, Tx.  We had some twists and turns getting here.  Photos to come shortly.

Currently visiting with our host, Simis, from Flickr. She’s both a computer geek and talented photographer.  Please do check out her link.

Yours from Texas,

Todd and Sharon

To the left is the driving map from St. Peters, MO to Austin, Tx with a stop in Texarkana, AR.  Total estimated travel time is 14 hours 20 mins.

Our expectation is to do most of that trip on Saturday, March 22nd, stopping in Texarkana.  This drive should be fairly relaxed as we’ll be taking off before noon and make stops along the way.  Most likely we’ll stop around Memphis and around Little Rock.

My wife and I have never visited Little Rock, so we hope to stop and grab a few pictures there.

We plan to stay in Austin through till Saturday morning.  Plans may change as weather conditions change, and/or other things develop during our stay.

Do feel free to invite us to breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, photography, or whatever.  We are going to staying with a friend, and spending some evenings with her of course.

Some recommendations from friends:

Bob Bullock History Museum

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Zilker Park Rose Garden

Threadgill’s

Salt Lick BBQ

Alamo Draft House

Botanical gardens

Stretch of South Congress between the river and E. Oltorf

Guero’s Taco Bar (shrimp fajitas FTW)

Mars Bar

 If you have recommendations for eateries, hangouts, favorite tourist attraction or whatever, please leave a comment here, DM me on Twitter @tojosan, or email me tojosa/gmail.com.  If you want a postcard, email me or DM with note saying POSTCARD and an address.

Thanks so much for the recommendations so far.  Can’t wait to be in Austin, see the sites, visit with friends, take some pictures and eat at some interesting places.

Spring break looms ahead and with it the opportunity for vacation.  For my wife and I, this will be our first opportunity for a real vacation without a kid along.  So where are we choosing to go?  It seems this time it’s Austin, Texas.

And honestly as to why? A memorial perhaps? Or relatives? Maybe a famous museum or amusement park? NO!  It’s all about social media hookups.

My wife and I have gotten to know a special lady via Flickr, one of our favorite social media sites.  Simis  hooked up with us there about a year ago. It started with sharing pictures, and just a casual visit to each other’s stream, but not long after, we became support buddies for the 365 days project. Over the course of that year, we became much better friends.  This happened at first through sharing pictures, with them being more personal as time went on. It then evolved in to one on one chatting and email exchanges.  Now we are up to greeting cards and exchanging things.

So off to Austin we are planning to go, but lo and behold, I’ve acquired other social media friends there. Not only will we be visiting with Simis, but I think we’ll have more folks to schmooze with than on any vacation we’ve had in the past.

I’m stoked!  In the spirit of that, I’m asking folks to pile on and let me know if they’ll be available during the time from March 22nd through about March 28. Those of you on Twitter and Utterz know how to drop me a line, so please do.  For the rest of you folks, if you’re in Austin, sign your name, drop me an email, or find me on Twitter, @tojosan, and leave me a DM.Hats off to Austin!