My fabulous trip to Florida!

Joke #2: Why didn’t the astronaut eat breakfast?!

Finally back home and settled from my wonderful trip to Orlando, Florida! Throughout my past three years of pageant memories, this trip was quite possibly my most favorite experience. It was a time of bonding with Peggy, Breann, Reina, and all of the other state contestants. We had time to relax and enjoy each other’s company and time to explore and shop as well!

As excited as I was to leave that Wednesday morning, the 5 am wakeup call was not at all appreciated, especially because I didn’t begin packing until about 11 pm the night before and was up until after one in the morning! I was even less excited when I had to order decaf coffee instead of my regular, fully loaded, morning cup of Joe. I didn’t realize that flying could dehydrate you. Also noting the fact that it was already one million degrees at our destination, I reluctantly made the “healthy” choice.

Airport security was no breeze either. As I am far from a flying veteran, I was unaware that you could not have liquids in your carry on bag greater than 3 fl oz. I had packed all of my brand new makeup to come on the plane with me, and most of it was more than 3 ounces. I of course was caught, securing myself a baggage search. Fortunately I only lost my Mac brush cleaner and was allowed, with a reminder, to stow the rest. As pleased as I was that I only lost one item, it took most of the vacation to get over the great loss… I’m lying; I am still not completely over it :) For the most part, the rest of our travels went smoothly. We had just a slight plane malfunction which did not instill much confidence in our pilot or the aircraft and a hiccup with the rental car. Peggy, Breann, Reina and I got a wonderful lesson of how to be patient, flexible, and gracious that day, yippee! Haha


With all of this excitement, lack of sleep and caffeine, you would have thought that Peggy and I would have just collapsed on the beds of our hotel room when we got in, well past 11 pm, Eastern Time. *Random Fact* This was my first time leaving the Pacific time zone! Well not with night owls like me and Peggy! Not only did we not immediately go to bed, we stayed up until almost one in the morning, chatting, watching TV, and complaining about the lack of cell phone service and wireless internet in our hotel. Memories :) This became the pattern that we followed for the majority of our time there. It took both of us about 7 of the 11 days we were there to fully adjust to the time difference.


The first few days of our adventure were spent with Breann and Reina, helping to finalize last minute details for the national teen competition. There definitely wasn’t much to do; Reina was so calm and well prepared! I just loved getting to spend all that time with her! She was busy with paperwork and competition preparation immediately following her crowning that I barely had any time to get to know her. Boy was I missing out! She is such an outstanding girl and is just perfect for the role of Miss Washington Outstanding Teen. Of all of us there, Reina was by far the most calm and collected and she made all of us proud with her stellar performance and attitude throughout the entire competition!

Once our girl was all checked, I officially got to see a side of Peggy that I had only heard of. She is the most stealthy person I may have every met and I quickly discovered how she got the nickname, the crafty 1! She knew just how to work the system and staff of the MAOT program so that we could see as much of Reina throughout the week as possible. I was so amazed and encouraged to know that she will also be sneaking around Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas to see me and offer her great love and encouragement during my upcoming pageant week.

Sunday night the three of us made our way to Regalia for a special meeting with David and Carry. Just like my experience with Brad Brotherton, this is a sponsorship that I heard people rave about but I could not fully comprehend until I actually experienced it. We spent nearly four hours trying on dress after dress, looking for the single evening gown and talent costume that would perfectly fit my personality on stage at Miss America. David and Carry made me feel like royalty in their store and worked with me as if they had known me for years. I don’t know if it was the lack of sleep or the dreadful humidity that made me all sensitive and emotional, but I was holding back tears as we left their store. The experience completely overwhelmed me. It is unbelievable how many wonderful and generous people there are associated with this organization and I can’t get over how lucky I am to be a part of it!


(The tears may also have been a result of laughing so hard at how high Peggy jumped and how loud she squeaked when she came out of the door in Regalia and was met by a lizard on the door frame :) Oh how she makes me laugh!!


The very next day I got to meet my new roomie for the rest of my time in Orlando, Kara Jackson, Miss Idaho. I was stoked to get to meet all of the other state titleholders that I will be competing with and just ecstatic that I would get to spend so much time with Kara and actually get to know her. She and I stayed up just as late as and even later than Peggy and I did the first week which is hard to believe! We talked life, pageants, boyfriends, and Sex and the City for hours and hours and I was so sad that I only got the week with her!

This was also about the time that the rest of the contestants began showing up. I didn’t realize how many 52 were until I tried to learn and memorize 52 faces, names, and states. There were more awkward moments than I could count as I asked the same people multiple times if we had met yet, which we of course had I just did not remember. By the end of the week I think I mastered ¾ of the girls and I was quite proud of myself for that personal victory :) I was no comparison however to Miss New Jersey who managed to learn every titleholders name and state without any help of a program book or list of pictures. Truly impressive!

Our adventures together technically began on Tuesday evening with the first night of preliminaries for the MAOT pageant, where I also got to meet Miss America Katie Stam for my first time!! It was so exciting and overwhelming both to meet Katie and see Reina perform her talent on that fantastic stage. Officially though, our festivities began bright and early Wednesday with a photo shoot at Seaworld and VIP visitation to Universal Studios. Oh my gosh!! This day was the most fantastic and filled with the greatest memories of my entire 3 year pageant experience. I had such a blast getting to hang out with the other state contestants. We all had so much instantly in common and more fun than should be legal running around that park! We had the greatest tour guide to top it off. He had so much energy and enthusiasm and gave us the inside scoop on all of the special buildings and rides in the park. He even walked us to the front of the lines at all of the major rides in the park. It was truly a day I will never forget, for more than just the wonderful experience…. The heat and humidity that day will also be quite difficult to erase from my memory. I have never experienced nor do I want to ever again experience weather like that :) hahaha










The next morning was another early one, starting with a photo shoot at 7 am down by the hotel’s pool. We were promoting the wonderful new sponsor, Nature Quest and participating in some TLC filming with Miss America Katie Stam and CEO of the MAO board, Sam Haskell. I was so pleased that they scheduled us to be with such wonderful people that early in the morning, it helped me fight off those grumpy, early morning feelings that I would have normally had to deal with :) Later that day I had the opportunity to participate in a personal interview with TLC. It was a different experience and was my first chance to go through some Q & A since my Miss WA interview. Though it was not judged or for a title, it gave me the same rush of anxiety and butterflies in my tummy! I was glad for the experience and am so interested to see how they piece all of our activities and interviews together to make the TV special in January!

Later that evening all 53 of us got dressed to the nines and headed out to a fundraiser at the Siegel mansion. I have never been in a house that spectacular in my life. Inside and out it was the most beautiful home I had ever seen, including Mrs. Siegel’s two story closet! It was bigger than my bedroom… I could have gotten lost in there just in the shoe section :) It was a wonderful evening filled with meeting and greeting many of the Siegel’s guests, lots of fun, and FUNdraising! The generous Siegels ended the evening with a presentation of a 25,000 dollar donation to the Miss America Organization.


Saturday was the final night of competition. All of us contestants were so excited for our girls and could not wait to see the outcome. I wonder if I will ever get tired of the anticipation of the competition and excitement on the face of the winner…. Nope I don’t think I will! The night ended up being 14 year old Miss Wisconsin’s. She was so beautiful and did a fantastic job throughout the entire competition. I am so excited to see all the great things that she is able to accomplish over the next year, at such a young age.



The only sad part of the evening was that it was the last night all 53 contestants would get to spend together. I did my best to get as many phone numbers as I possibly could and cannot wait for the reunion in January!



On our final day in Florida, Mike, Peggy and I traveled to the Kennedy Space Center. I had no idea what to expect but was so pleasantly surprised! I was absolutely fascinated by all of the exhibits and loved every second of our tour. I must admit however that the highlight of the day came on the drive home. All week long I had been scouring the swampy water on the side of every road we drove on looking for an alligator. Everyone talked about how abundant they were but for all my looking I was never able to spot one. Until that glorious final day, when on our drive home from the space center, hot and exhausted from the hours in the hot sun, I spotted the ferocious creature sticking just the top of its head and snout out of the water. It was totally an exciting moment for me! hehehe. Thank you again Peggy and Mike for sharing that wonderful day with me!! :)

Well that closes out this adventure… Ready for the answer to the joke?!?!

Answer: He wanted to wait until launch time!!

Is it killing ya?! Oh geez I just crack myself up!

Once again with love and laughter,

Devanni Partridge
Miss Washington 2009