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Marc and Deb come down every year to visit Marc's daughter in Bradenton for the Super Bowl. Happily, we were able to make plans to spend the afternoon together.
They arrived around 3:30, after visiting family members in Pt. Charlotte. We visited for awhile, then headed to Fisherman's Village for a late lunch/early dinner at Shorty's Brewhouse. This is a restaurant/craft beer establishment that was new last year, although we never tried it and Punta Gorda is their only location in FL.
We sat inside, because the sun was low and there was no shade outside. However, the doors were all open so it was like sitting outside and there was a nice breeze. Everyone agreed, it was a great meal! Deb had pizza, Marc and Bill had the special burger and I had a spicy Hawaiian chicken wrap. I can't believe I didn't take pictures.
From there we drove to Ponce de Leon park and caught a nice sunset. We took selfies, which was quite hysterical because there were too many of us, Marc is very tall, Deb and I are very short and no one had long enough arms. Our first attempt was pretty sad, we nearly missed Deb completely and I didn't want to playground in the background. Oh well. The evening sun was nice.
Finally, after much repositioning and laughing, Marc held the camera and Bill pushed the button. In fact, I think that's his finger in the left hand corner. Good grief.
The sunset was worth the trip. I took these three...
and Marc took these two.
So glad we were able to spend time together.
Thanks for stopping by...
;o)
Tulip and I have been friends for 40 years but we haven't seen one another since 2000/2001. We were neighbors in Colorado when our two boys, Greg and Steven, were born. She always kept me supplied with Coke, to which I was totally addicted, as was her husband, Terry, and chocolate chip cookies, always without nuts!
Tulip lives in Wyoming with her husband. For the past three years she has spent two weeks in Clearwater, FL taking a Spiritual Direction seminar. We tried to get together last year, but the weather was awful so, sadly, we cancelled. This year the weather was perfect!
We picked her up around 1:15, bought sub sandwiches at Publix and drove a few minutes to Kapok Park, a local park suggested by Siri ;o) The park was located in a quiet neighborhood and was previously a flood prone mobile home park until the city purchased it in 2002 as part of a water management project. We ate lunch at the only picnic table in sight, then walked along the boardwalk.
We couldn't decide whether or not these cypress trees were dead but the Corkscrew Swamp FB page said the cypress trees got stripped of their leaves during the hurricane and they had produced new ones, which have turned color although it's the wrong time of year for them to have leaves.
Someone before us threw bread into the water and the turtles were very interested.
From there we drove toward Clearwater Beach, although we stopped when we found this nice path along the water.
There were a lot of bushes along the water, with occasional breaks and we spotted this pirate ship party boat through one of them.
We picked an open spot a little farther along the path and sat for awhile. Tulip doesn't see much salt water in Wyoming ;o)
Time was short so we headed back to the car and dropped Tulip off around 5:00 but not before finding time for a selfie.
It was so nice to have this time together after so many years, but it seemed like we were together just yesterday. Hopefully it won't be another 17 years before we are together again!
Not to be forgotten...Bill was the perfect chauffeur and chaperone and is always the perfect companion!
Thanks for stopping by...
;o)
We headed into Portland for the Greek Festival and ran into a good friend, James Vander Schaaf, Anna's husband. We enjoyed spanakopita, Greek salad, good conversation and memories of Anna.
We brought home some baklava and Greek wedding cookies for later.
Thanks for stopping by...
;o)
We met our friends, Archer and Karen Ann, in Venice for lunch at Trattoria da Mino. It's a cute little place and the food was very good. We planned to spend some time together after lunch but their tiny little dog, Rocky, wasn't feeling well and they wanted to get back to him so they headed home and we stayed in Venice. We did some window shopping and got gelato; I wandered through the quilt shop.
I swear this is some of the best gelato ever!
From there we drove the short distance to Venice beach and sat for awhile on one of the benches. The beach was quiet and the water was emerald green. Venice beach is a beautiful beach where lots of people like to pick up shells.
Once we got home, we sat on the deck long enough for Titan to enjoy a frozen treat. It was 85* and too hot to sit in the sun for very long.
We took Titan for a walk along 41 after dinner and caught sight of a beautiful sunset.
Thanks for stopping by...
We met Archer and Karen Ann through the AWS. They were both volunteers and Archer was a member of the Board of Directors. Over the course of my three years as the Volunteer Coordinator, we became friends. Generally, we try to get together once a month or so, when we share a dessert and play cribbage.
They are snowbirds, like us but unlike us, they own property and are residents of Florida. Up until this year, they owned a house in Destin, which is way too far to travel to get together. However, this fall they moved into their own "apartment" within an adult community in Sarasota, which is only an hour away. So now, we can see one another during the winter months, too.
We agreed to travel to Sarasota first so that we could see their new place and then go to lunch. They are living at The Fountains at Lake Pointe Woods, which is a community that residents buy into and includes independent living through skilled nursing care. They bought a small (800 sq. ft.) apartment which has high ceilings and two large windows overlooking the pond, making it appear larger than it is. The grounds are lovely and the amenities include several eating areas, a pool, movie theatre, library and much more. This is the kind of place Bill and I will NEVER be living in...way too expensive for us. Karen Ann did reveal that their monthly fee is based on the square footage and for the two of them it's $2400 A MONTH! That's nearly $30,000 a year, nearly as much as my annual income.
Well, I digress. They gave us a nice tour of the facilities, we loved on their two dogs while we chatted about what has been happening in our lives since we last saw one another (Oct/Nov) and we headed out to lunch in their brand spanking new hybrid Lexus, which is so damn clean it looks like they just drove it off the lot.
They had selected a nice little cafe on Casey Key, an island near Sarasota. Within 20 minutes we arrived at The Casey Key Fish House.
It sits right on the water and although it was cool, the sun was out and it wasn't terribly windy so we opted to sit on the outside deck. It was really nice being outside in the company of good friends.
Obviously, it is located next to/in the marina but it was very quiet.
The food was very good...crab cakes, fish tacos and blackened grouper sandwich. The only down side was our tab was $51 for lunch! for two of us! Yikes! Luckily, it was mid afternoon when we ate so we didn't need to eat dinner.
There was a Great Blue Heron that stopped by and perched on a nearby boat and we noticed this group of pelicans perched in the trees.
Trust me, there's a lot of pelicans there.
From here, we went back to their place briefly before heading home. Next month, they are coming to visit us. The "tour" of our place will take five minutes but we will need to spend a lot more than five minutes cleaning the car because ours looks lived in, not just purchased.
Thanks for stopping by...
;o)
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