Friendly faces

Although we have made some new acquaintances since we arrived 2+ months ago, we haven't really made any "friends".  We are friendly with the two woman that prepare our coffee at the Ornery Attitude coffee shop in the Fishermen's Village and of course, all the wonderful people that work and volunteer at the shelter.  But friends...not really.

This past week has found us visited by friendly faces.  First off, a former coworker, Brian and his girlfriend, Rachel were down visiting his parents.  They are staying just a few miles north of us.   We met last Sunday for lunch at Gators, a sports bar a few minutes from us.  The weather was nice enough to sit outside, although there was a cool wind blowing.  The food was adequate but nothing special and we won't go there again. 


After lunch we went to the shelter and introduced them to our favorite dogs.  Mr. Bill really enjoys Sirus (a big, white American bulldog), Baby (another big, white bulldog with a black eye patch), Roxanne (a black and white pointer mix who has been at the shelter since November) and Will (a brown pitbull terrier that can climb over the fences so has to be in a kennel with a "lid").  My favorites include Tigre (a white and brindled pitbull terrier with a coat like silk), Buddy (a small brindled pitbull) and Diamond (a beautiful black pitbull terrier with a white chest).  Diamond has been adopted since their visit and Buddy was supposed to go home but he was still there today.  You can see all of our doggies here.  From there we stopped at FV and had a cup of coffee outside in the sun.


It was a nice day and a nice visit.


Last week my former husband's brother, David and his wife, Paula came to say hello.  They arrived around noon on Thursday.  We started our visit by going to lunch across the bridge in PG.  I can't remember the name of the restaurant but they advertise the "best pressed cuban sandwiches" which the boys enjoyed and Mr. Bill says that's true.  I had a really good chicken salad sandwich and Paula had a wrap filled with cooked spinach and cheese.  She liked it so much that she got another one on Saturday.

We drove to Ponce de Leon Park so they could see one of the beach possibilities for the next day.  A visit to the wildlife center was enjoyed by all of us.  David, Mr. Bill and I watched one of the volunteers feed the pelicans and share some of his knowledge, which was very interesting.  Paula left early to sit on the beach for awhile.  We went to FV to check out the menu from one of the restaurants that we thought they would enjoy and stopped for a cup of coffee.  We left there and went for a walk along the river to Laishley Park.  They spotted the Laishley Crab House and after looking at the menu, decided they would like to have dinner there.  It was a 30 minute wait, just enough time to hustle back to the car and bring it back.  We got one of the "beepers" and dashed back to FV, jumped in the car and headed back.  Mr. Bill dropped Paula and me off while he and David parked the car.  The beeper went off just as Paula and I started up the stairs.  We were never sure if it was perfect timing or if we had finally gotten back in range.  They treated us to an excellent dinner and marvelous company.

On Friday the weather looked pretty good.  We stopped at the City Deli for sandwiches and drove north to Venice Beach.  There were quite a few people on the beach although there was a cool wind blowing.  Although Paula found us the "perfect" spot by the dunes, I was chilly and kept my fleece on but David and Paula seemed very comfortable.

We went for a walk to the jetty and back before returning home early so that Mr. Bill and I could go to the Rays vs Yankees game.

They went to dinner at Carrabbas while we went to one of the longest games I can remember.  The Yankees didn't send anyone whose name was familiar, except Jorge Posada.  We had standing room tickets so got there early in order to get a space on the rail above the Yankees bullpen.  We went to a game earlier in the week and nearly froze to death because a cold wind was blowing but the weather was warmer on this night.


Saturday brought temps near 80, finally!  Mr. Bill, David and I headed to Ft. Myers for a ballgame...Red Sox vs Orioles.  Again, we got there early and got great standing room spaces with a nice wide rail to lean on along the third base line.  

Paula enjoyed having the day to herself including a nap on the sand at Ponce de Leon Park.  We met near the park after the game.  She and David headed north to Tampa to visit more family; Mr. Bill and I headed to FV for a coffee by the river.  It was great to sit on our swing, basking in the sun with shorts and no need for a sweatshirt.


It was fun seeing friends and family from home.  It was also good to get back to our routine and see our doggies today.  It poured rain this afternoon so I started painting the lanai ceiling and Mr. Bill installed a new kitchen faucet.  It's fabulous!

Thank you very much, Mr. Bill...xoxoxo