Silver Springs

Eating and drinking my way through Florida continues. Sunday before last, we went back up to Lake Panasofkee and actually saw the lake and I took some pictures, but none were exactly a Kodak moment. Habor Lights Lounge and Restaurant had an excellent buffet, good atmosphere and pretty scenery. Last Saturday, we went to Silver Springs. The weather was great. We took three boat cruises and saw a lot of alligators and turtles. We saw big  purple emu eggs that were abandoned due to the cold weather. I got a picture of a palm with a crazy curvy trunk.  One picture is of a bird that looks like he has a crazy hat on his head, but I don't know its name. The little squirrel was sitting in his dish eating the bird's food. Yesterday we went to Leesburg and found a Walmart that had the rag rugs I wanted and also a bread machine. I had excellent fish and chips at the Ramshackle Bar. It's warm, but trying to rain. The bread machine is doing its trial run.

Snow?!

     Well, unless you're hiding under your bed, you know that yesterday there was snow in the air or on the ground in 49 of the 50 states. My in-law's in Pensacola or nearby had snow. Here in the Bushnell area, we had torential rain and chilly temperatures. Carman and I braved it to find a really cute place to have lunch in Lake Panasoffkee which is only about 6 miles north of here. Sandy's Kracker Shack was the name of the restaurant, but the name of the resort is Werda-Hecamiat. That reminded me of our teacher's group at T or C Middle School. We were named the Heckawee's: if you're in T or C, where in the heck are we? We had an excellent fish dinner for $8, and it will take me two more days to eat what I brought home. We plan to go back and take pictures when we get some Kodak weather. The average temperature for this time of the year is 71, and I can't wait for that to happen. It better hurry up! The boys, Marshall and Tux, have been so good during this confinement. They seem to know that they are doing our business during opportune moments, and need to hurry up. See us sleep butt to butt on our couch! I've got to find the race on TV today, otherwise, I may have to bother Carman.

Catching Up

     I didn't realize that it had been so long since I posted. I'm back at Blueberry Hill and alternately enjoying the park and touring with Carman. Our weather is fixing to turn lousy again, but at least I'm not in a snowstorm. Last Tuesday, I took a bus tour to Tampa and Ybor City with a group from the park. When we started out, it was raining cats and dogs for most of the way. As we neared Tampa, it quit raining, and by lunch time the sun was shining. We rode the Gasparilla parade route from the previous weekend. It's a pirate celebration and an excuse to party. We saw a lot of houses, old and new, and since the guide was a native, he told a lot of interesting stories. Ybor City was a place where immigrants came to work in the cigar factories. They were mostly Italian, German and Hispanic. Each ethnic group had it own social club and medical facility. They paid twenty-five cents a month for medical care. We had a great lunch at Carmine's Italian restaurant, and our last stop was the Cuban bakery where everyone bought a three-foot loaf of Cuban bread for $2 plus a lot of goodies. From there we went to the University of Tampa administration building which had been the Tampa Hotel. Teddy Roosevelt stayed there before going off to the Spanish American War. The domes are ballrooms and the stained glass pictures are in the center of the dome. The architecture and preservation of the building is incredible.