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.

Sanibel and Fort Myers Beach

On Thursday evening, Carman and I had dinner at TerraNuestra, a great Italian restaurant, on the beach. Friday, after a Walmart stop, we toured Sanibel Island. It had an old lighthouse, but the weather was foggy, so the pictures are so-so. Since it was warm, we still went to the pool and Tiki bar. We watched some fools see how close they could get to the park alligator. The plant with the candy-looking red seeds is a cardboard palm. On Saturday we had lunch at the Yucatan Bar before we met Sandy and Linda. After hugs and changing for the beach, we had a great time catching up. The water was only 60 degrees, and Mr. Buffalo even thought it was too cold to do much more than wade. Sandy and Joe cooked us a great spaghetti dinner. The highlight was the greens and salad to die for. On Sunday, since the weather was great, we did the refuge on Sanibel. It was disappointing in that we see more wildlife at the RV park than we did there. That evening we had a great dinner at the Parrot Key. Carman had a mango margarita, and I bought some special sauce that they had for fish. Monday morning it was raining like crazy, so I stayed until Tuesday morning, and then headed back up to Blueberry Hill in Bushnell.  

Reunions

     On Sunday the 17th, Lane met me at the RV park in Christmas, and we went to Rudolph's for breakfast. It was so much fun hearing about what Lane has been doing since he left T or C. He seems very happy and has great plans for his future. Rudolph's full of local memorabilia and nicely decorated. Their food is great also. On Monday I left for Ft. Myer's. The traffic got a little crazy toward the end and Garmina got lost. I had to pull into a Walmart parking lot in rush hour traffic and called the park to get better directions. The park is gorgeous. I wish I could stay longer. The manager insisted on parking me perfectly straight, and he even let Marshall help him drive. On Tuesday, Sandy picked me up and took me to Snug Harbar for my birthday lunch. Then we went to her condo and a little shopping mall adjacent to her condo. The picture of the pool is from her 6th floor apartment. The weather was a little cool and breezy, but nice and sunny. Most people still ran around in shorts and bathing suits. Yesterday, I walked to a shopping center and got my nails down and then went back this morning to get a hair cut. It isn't as good as Annette does, but it's OK. There is also a Winn-Dixie close by and I now have my own card to get a discount on my wine. Very important move! The wind is blowing, but it's warm. Carman will be arriving around four, and Linda will be at Sandy's on Saturday. Plans are being made for a great celebration.

Gator Time

      Time to act like a tourist. Carman came for a visit and I gave him a tour of Titusville and in particular El Leoncito where we had some great Mexican food and a margarita. The next day after a great cheap breakfast at Rudolph's in Christmas, we visited Swampy the world's largest alligator and toured the Jungle Adventures Nature Park & Zoo. We got to hold a baby alligator and a snake. Todd the tour guide was great. He's really a science teacher, and he gave us a lot of interesting info aside from being very entertaining. Notice him in the swamp with Gummy, and Gummy sporting my sunglasses and another lady's hat. Today is Sunday and the weather is perfect. I've been waiting a while to say that.

Where's Florida?

     We are all getting tired of talking about the weather and are looking forward to later this week when it will be in the 70's. Yesterday we drove to Silver Springs the hard way, through every little burg and its 15 red lights. When we got there at 2:10, they announced that they were closing at 3. We took pictures of the outer grounds, but it would have been too cold to tour even if we had gotten there earlier. The turtles didn't seem to mind the cold. We took state route 40 to Ormond Beach, and it was very picturesque, in particular, the St. John's River. I want to do that trip again. Today we took pictures of the alligator park and Swampy, and then headed to Cocoa Beach. We ended up at Captain J's again and had a good lunch and went out on the beach. Then we went to Cocoa Village, and bought souvenirs and some jewelry for my wine glass. I didn't know such a thing existed, but I love it. Then we toured a Great Blue Heron Refuge, which is really the Titusville Waste Treatment Facility. Just when we were sure we would never see a live alligator, there he was. The bobcat posed beautifully, and the armadillo was busy eating. The birds are used to having their pictures taken, but I'm always hoping to get a really spectacular shot. Diane leaves in the morning for cold PA, as opposed to cold FL. Oh well, we had a really great time.