POSTED MARCH 25, 2012
We have not been getting really great internet access so I have not posted anything as I was trying to do pictures. Since we don’t know what we will get, I am posting all of this now and will do pictures separately when we have really good access.
February 08, 2012
Arrived at Whisper Creek RV Resort – Labelle FL
This is in the middle of Florida, between Fort Myers and Lake Okeechobee. We are surrounded by fields of oranges and cows. Have been asked by several people why here rather than along the coast and one word answer is money and location. As we had friends coming from up north and my cousin in Fort Myers, it was another good reason. Also, not that far from other friends in Venice.
It has a grocery store and is home of the Swamp Cabbage Festival – what else could you ask for?
The locals told us about a restaurant in town that had $0.35 wings and beer and wine for $2.00 so there was a nice little nice out (also, they have Happy hour from 1:00pm to 8:00 pm in case we were travelling around.
February 11th, 2012
We had one of our side trips today, decided to travel east on 80/29 and ended up at Ortona Locks which is part of the Inter coastal waterway from Atlantic Ocean across Lake Okeechobee out to the Gulf. We stopped and watched a lock through and it is different than the locks we are used to. There is only one person on the lock and he had to go from one end to the other to open and close. The lock actually opens from the top rather than the bottom – picture attached. The water looks very brown when it comes through but I guess that is because it is very brackish along this way. There were only a few boats through on that day.
On the other side of the lock, they actually have a Corps of Engineers RV sites – water and power. Would be a nice place to stay for a few days.
February 14, 2012
Friends from up north Glenn and Donna arrived in Key West and we went over to the beach to meet them. Distance did not sound too bad to travel at first, but then to go to the beach itself, even at this time of year, was really long – we were on the one side of the bridge for almost 45 minutes, of course we went in at high noon – go figure! We visited with them for the afternoon and then had dinner together and catch up – had not seen since August. Decided we would get together later in the week to take a Catamaran trip to Key West. I had wanted us to go there anyway; this just was a different way to go.
View from above Fort Myers Beach
 |
| G&D Pink Palace |
February 17, 2012
We met up with G&D at 7:00 am for our trip to Key West (traffic great at that time of day). There is a 170’ Catamaran that runs from Fort Myers to Key West – Key West Express, this basically got us two trips in one. We wanted to go to Key West eventually, but this gave us a visit with G & D, as well boat ride across the Gulf and a tour of Key West. Was a very long day but a gorgeous one. This would be a great way for an actual side trip for a few days, take your luggage and stay on Key West for weekend. We went on the Friday of their President’s Day (same as our Family Day) and there were quite a few people going over that were having a REALLY good time. We were on the ship for about 4 hours there and back, but we did not have to drive and I did not have to navigate.
Coming in to Key West harbor, there were several cruise ships also some really beautiful private boats everywhere. (Can’t take the water out of boat people!!) We took a trolley tour around the island, not very big, but was interesting. The guide said that Duval St was the longest street in the North America since it went from Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean, but then did say that the actual one was a street in Toronto he thinks was called Yonge St. We did agree with him. We went to Mile 0 which was cool as well. Saw Ernest Hemmingway home as well. Large garden around it and very yellow, did not go in. Interesting people watching all around. We stopped and had lunch at one of the restaurants there and then back to the boat.
 |
| Atlantic Side |
 |
| Ernest Hemingway house |
 |
| Fort Myers Beach Harbour |
 |
| Coming in to Key West |
 |
| Mile 0 too many people around |
 |
| A small boat at Key West |
 |
| Local architecture |
 |
| Sunset Key West |
 |
| Dawn going into Fort Myers (one of few times I saw it) |
Feb 25 2012
Labelle Swamp Cabbage Festival – Labelle has an annual Swamp cabbage festival. They had a parade, bands concessions of all kinds of food. The unique foods of course were the swamp cabbage cooked up – these are a large palm tree and they cook up the hearts of palm – Ken liked, I did not. They also were selling gator’ bites, did not manage to try that, still a bit squeamish for that kind of food. They had an area as well where they were showing all the old cards and the queen and princess of the Swamp Cabbage were there.
 |
| This says it all (tree to left is the actual "Swamp Cabbage" |
 |
| At the Races |
 |
| and their off.. |
 |
| The WINNER!!!! |
While we were there, I did take a picture of our thermometer to remind us of the warm weather when we get home – hopefully it won’t be freezing.
February 28, 2012
Bert’s Bar
A friend of G & D had mentioned this place so we decided to go here the day before they left for a drink.
We went to Pine Island, FL which is towards Captiva to go to Bert’s Bar; older bar right on the entrance to the Island and several small shops along the road. When we arrived at 11:30 am it was packed which did surprise us. We then realized that there were two Dragon boats on the dock and the group was there for lunch. It was the Punta Gorda Dragin’ Dragons, all age group and both sexes so that was interesting.
We had a nice lunch and then went on our way – they went back to finish packing and we went for a drive along Pine Island – not much to see where we went then we headed home.
 |
| Here we are at Bert's Bar |
 |
| Dragin' Dragons |
 |
| The Pier |
This week wee took a drive east to West Palm Beach. Ken has always said that it will be warmer south of Lake Okeechobee, so I wanted us to go to see it since it was not far away. It is almost dead straight and flat across the countryside to get here. They had rice paddies and sugar cane fields and of course "Swamp Cabbage" really palm trees. Once we got there, found out could not really see it as it had a levee around the whole thing and they just had a few scenic areas at that end but they were bike and walking paths. The levees were built due to the flooding from one of the hurricanes. From there we drove through to Palm Beach – gorgeous homes along 1A, between the intercostal and the Atlantic. Amazing the difference in areas, regions and economics in the same state. Just outside of the area in town, small homes, lots of closed down stores.
Doing same thing here as every other trendy area, tearing down what I would call big homes and building even bigger, tear down a million dollar house and put up a couple of million dollar and bigger. Tried to get pictures, but they are also very well protected.
 |
| Entrance to home |
 |
| Part of a small house |
 |
| Rice paddy |
 |
| Sugar cane field |
 |
| Draw bridge at Lake Worth (Palm Beach area) |
 |
| Swamp cabbage |
March 4, 2012
We headed over to Venice FL to meet up with Mike and Sue for a brief visit on the Sunday and Monday. We had dinner with them, then they went to theater and we visited with another friend, Jeannette, while they were away.
On the Monday, I went to water aerobics with Sue (she leads a group down here at the pool) and Ken and Mike did some minor maintenance around their place, then we did some driving around the area with them, looked at some RV parks in the area as we were planning on coming north this way later in the week. Met up with some more friends of M&S and more visiting.
 |
| Sue in garden by Lanai |
 |
| Ali sunbathing by the pond |
March 6, 2012
Left M&S and went to the Edison/Ford winter estates in Fort Myers for a tour. Another great area; they were great friends and Edison did a lot of his inventing in this location. He had full labs and grew plants, Some 17,000 specimens of nearly 2,200 species were planted at the estate, to make rubber for the tires. The estate was a small house right on the gulf and when Ford bought it, he of course tore down the small one and built his summer mansion - the view at that time across the harbor would have been beautiful – no high rises or bridges across to see.
“The furnishings and architecture of these gracious, rambling buildings are reminiscent of a bygone era.
The original design included a kitchen and dining room in the north wing. In 1906 the Edison's had this part of the house remodeled to serve as family bedroom suites. Visitors used the dining room and kitchen in the newly renovated Guest House. The Main House includes Library, Study and Edison's Den.
Edison initially sold this home to his friend Ezra Gilliland. Edison re-acquired the home in 1906 and remodeled it for use as a guest house for visitors and includes Family and Dining Rooms as well as Kitchen.
This house is the oldest structure at the Estates. A one room section of the house existed when Edison purchased the property and Edison expanded the building over the years to be used by various estate workers.
The pool was constructed in 1910 and now reflects the 1928 remodel with addition of the Tea and Bath House”
The pier was the first structure to be built after Edison acquired the property and was used to bring building materials from barges to construct the Estates. At one time it extended approximately 1,500 square feet to deeper water and was outfitted with boathouses, benches, and a summerhouse.
Henry Ford purchased his home in 1916, providing him the opportunity to vacation with Thomas Edison. The Ford porch, adjacent to the vintage garage, offers a spectacular riverfront view of the Caloosahatchee River. The Ford Catetaker's Cottage was used as a garage and caretaker's home for the Ford family”
The gardens were absolutely beautiful as well and surround the whole area. Another one of these places, so many pictures, only can post so many!
 |
| Entrance to Estates |
 |
| One of the large trees they were growing |
 |
| Cotal fountain |
 |
| Ken in the tree |
 |
| Garden |
 |
| Pier to Gulf |
o
March 10 2012
Back in Venice at RV park just minutes away from everyone so that worked out great. M&S were having a party at their place that evening after going to the drummers. They had company staying with them (Gord and Lindy) and we all went down together.
The park had a BBQ for everyone in the park that Saturday afternoon, then that evening, we met up at M&S and went to Nokomis beach to listen to the drummers. That was amazing on its own, they set up around 4:00 pm with all kinds of different drummers, and then everyone basically surrounds them. Drummer come and go, some of them were there for the whole time. The whole idea is to drum in the sunset. People were getting up in the middle of the circle dancing, performing; it was whatever they wanted to do, young and old. You brought your own chairs, snacks, and drinks and joined in if you wanted to. As the sun was setting, the drumming became more frenzied and came to crescendo just as the sun slid down behind the horizon on the ocean, one of the more spectacular ways of seeing a sunset! They do this every Sunday and Wednesday. It is all word of mouth, people that have lived there for years, did not even know about it.
 |
| The drummers |
 |
| Sue amid drummers |
 |
| Everyone on their feet - starting to set |
 |
| Almost |
 |
| Fantastic! |
From there, we went back to M&S where she had a dinner party for 60 some people; there were people all over the place and food!!!!!! We thought we were going to be the last ones leaving, then the neighbours that had a previous engagement came home and came over – we left and they were still there.
March 11, 2012
The next day, we just spend around the park doing clean up and laundry. M&S dropped over for a drink and invite to Roberta and Amby’s for swim and cocktails on the Monday.
March 12, 2012
We went over in the afternoon to R&A and had a great time. They have a parrot name Michelle (used to be Michael, found out a few years ago that she was a she) Amby had him/her for around 30 years and then they moved down here and the vet figures it was the tropical climate that made her start laying eggs – unfortunately, they need to take them away from her as they are not fertilized. They also have a lab that reminded us of our grand puppy, only she had a shoe fetish – could not leave one around anywhere!
 |
| Ken, Sue, Amby |
 |
| Lindy, Gord, Roberta, Mike |
 |
| Michael/Michelle |
 |
| Shoe thief!!! |
March 13, 2012
On Tuesday, they had a St Patrick’s Day dinner at their club so we joined them for that as well; Ken had corn beef and cabbage and I had chicken - a few toddies and a lot of laughs.
 |
| Gord and his tie |
 |
| Guess who's toe matches his tie! |
 |
| Mad Hatters |
 |
| The gang at St Paddy's dinner |
 |
| Mike and Ken discuss day... |
Wednesday March14th 2012
We went to Venice beach and down to Sharky’s for dinner. This is the only bar on the beach in the Venice area – quite popular and very busy. We lucked out as we arrived before the real rush started so we could walk around the beach for a while and on the pier. Then we went in to restaurant to put our name on line; went to the bar side and had a drink while waiting and watched the ocean and the people going to and fro. Nice beach and nice evening.
Thursday March 15, 2012
Thursday, we met up with my cousin Nancy and her husband Larry who have a place in Ft Myers and we all went to Sarasota to see the Ringling Museum and estate. Last time we were here, had to be almost 10 years ago and the place was under construction as there was major work to be done.
Ca' d'Zan Mansion they have redone a lot of the rooms inside the house now and it is amazing, as well as having a fantastic Museum of Art. “In 1925, Ringling engaged architect John H. Phillips to design the museum. Construction began in 1927, but was slowed almost immediately by the collapse of Florida’s land boom and later, Wall Street’s stock market crash. Financial misfortune and Mable’s death in 1929 might have ended the dream, but John Ringling instead gained a new resolve to complete the museum, borrowing money as needed, knowing that it would perpetuate the memory of his beloved Mable”
Another part is the actual Circus Museum, which was the best part, we think, was the miniatures. The second floor of the Tibbals building, master model builder and philanthropist Howard Tibbals has been working on making miniatures of the whole circus for more than 50 years; there was every facet of the circus from the work trains to all of the people, kitchen tent with dishes and plate, laundry area with clothes on lines, even an infirmary with patients on cots and people putting band aids on them. Then of course, there were the actual circus tents with the animals and entertainers. It was really amazing. From there we went to the larger area with some of the actual circus memorabilia – costumes, calliope, etc.
Spent quite a lot of time going through as there was so much to see in all areas.
Spent rest of day with N&L and had dinner down at Siesta Keys then home.
March 16th 2012
Left Venice and headed to Ocala for a couple of days. Did not do much here, but did check out a couple of other parks in the area in case we wanted to spend time here on way up or down next year. This area was a little lowers as not the main area of Florida for tourists.
March 19, 2012
Left to head to Jacksonville, FL on east coast. On the way, was reading my Florida map book by Dave Hunter (he wrote Along I75 – great reference book for traveling to Florida, totally recommend it if travelling and is printed and written in Canada) he mentioned a speed trap in small town along Hwy 301 between Waldo and Lawtey that had speed traps. They are enforced as he said by the inch – if you are past the sign that shows the speed limit and are going faster, they automatically ticket you, great revenue for small towns. It got so bad someone has erected sign warning of the speed traps – we had passed it before I could take a picture, but did take one to show you all, that yes, I did find Waldo!!!
We found a nice park on Flamingo Lake a small lake that we could back onto so the view was nice and there was some privacy as well.
They have a small restaurant and bar on site so we went there for dinner our first night.
 |
| Fountain Flamingo Lake |
 |
| Sunset on Flamingo Lake |
We had some banking to do so went to downtown Jacksonville and then took a drive to find the St. Augustine Golf Hall of fame that we wanted to visit.
March 22, 2012
On Thursday, we went down to hall of fame for most of the day. It is really an interesting place and is right on the golf course, one of the better PGA courses around. Also has a whole village around it. For the entrance price, we had a chance to take a one hole challenge 132 yards across a LOT of water. Ken hit a great shot but was just a bit short (was pretty windy out there). Mine of course went directly to the water, did not pass go or anything (I should have gone golfing in desert when we had a chance).
We also had 18 hole putting course that was really neat, both did much better with that, I did get a hole in one!
From there we went to St Augustine to do a Trolley tour so that we could see some of the sights and then come back the next day to stop where we wanted.
The great thing about this one, was that the ticket was good for three days so we could really get our money’s worth this time around – the last few we took we only did the one day, so want to try to plan next time we do one, is to have a couple of days free. We walked along George St which is the Spanish area and has some of the older buildings, then went for lunch at Meehan’s Irish pub along the seawall, could watch the boats and saw a dolphin swimming as well. From there we took a walk along the sea wall and over to the old fort.
You will see pictures below that say Hilton HH1 & HH2 - these pictures show the actual hotel - one of the things in St Augustine is no highrises and that any new builds, must blend in with the character so the hotel is set up as cottages along the seawall so not some large Hilton as others are.
We picked up the trolley again and went over to St. Sebastian winery for a tour and sampling. This location only bottles and packages around 200 bottles for the immediate area. The actual wine comes from their winery further south for them to us. Only sells in Florida and Georgia.
 |
| Bridge to St Augustine Beach |
 |
| Hilton hotel |
 |
| HH 2 |
 |
| HH3 |
 |
| Fountain of Youth |
 |
| Ponce the Leon supposedly pointing to Fountain of Youth - but wrong way |
Headed back home.
March 25, 2012
Just sitting around outside in the sun today, nice breeze, temperature 79 deg F and not too hot.
Monday March 26, 2012
Will be heading out again in am – north but not far – still want to keep warm.
POSTED MARCH 25, 2012
We have not been getting really great internet access so I have not posted anything as I was trying to do pictures. Since we don’t know what we will get, I am posting all of this now and will do pictures separately when we have really good access.
February 08, 2012
Arrived at Whisper Creek RV Resort – Labelle FL
This is in the middle of Florida, between Fort Myers and Lake Okeechobee. We are surrounded by fields of oranges and cows. Have been asked by several people why here rather than along the coast and one word answer is money and location. As we had friends coming from up north and my cousin in Fort Myers, it was another good reason. Also, not that far from other friends in Venice.
It has a grocery store and is home of the Swamp Cabbage Festival – what else could you ask for?
The locals told us about a restaurant in town that had $0.35 wings and beer and wine for $2.00 so there was a nice little nice out (also, they have Happy hour from 1:00pm to 8:00 pm in case we were travelling around.
February 11th, 2012
We had one of our side trips today, decided to travel east on 80/29 and ended up at Ortona Locks which is part of the Inter coastal waterway from Atlantic Ocean across Lake Okeechobee out to the Gulf. We stopped and watched a lock through and it is different than the locks we are used to. There is only one person on the lock and he had to go from one end to the other to open and close. The lock actually opens from the top rather than the bottom – picture attached. The water looks very brown when it comes through but I guess that is because it is very brackish along this way. There were only a few boats through on that day.
On the other side of the lock, they actually have a Corps of Engineers RV sites – water and power. Would be a nice place to stay for a few days.
February 14, 2012
Friends from up north Glenn and Donna arrived in Key West and we went over to the beach to meet them. Distance did not sound too bad to travel at first, but then to go to the beach itself, even at this time of year, was really long – we were on the one side of the bridge for almost 45 minutes, of course we went in at high noon – go figure! We visited with them for the afternoon and then had dinner together and catch up – had not seen since August. Decided we would get together later in the week to take a Catamaran trip to Key West. I had wanted us to go there anyway; this just was a different way to go.
February 17, 2012
We met up with G&D at 7:00 am for our trip to Key West (traffic great at that time of day). There is a 170’ Catamaran that runs from Fort Myers to Key West – Key West Express, this basically got us two trips in one. We wanted to go to Key West eventually, but this gave us a visit with G & D, as well boat ride across the Gulf and a tour of Key West. Was a very long day but a gorgeous one. This would be a great way for an actual side trip for a few days, take your luggage and stay on Key West for weekend. We went on the Friday of their President’s Day (same as our Family Day) and there were quite a few people going over that were having a REALLY good time. We were on the ship for about 4 hours there and back, but we did not have to drive and I did not have to navigate.
Coming in to Key West harbor, there were several cruise ships also some really beautiful private boats everywhere. (Can’t take the water out of boat people!!) We took a trolley tour around the island, not very big, but was interesting. The guide said that Duval St was the longest street in the North America since it went from Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean, but then did say that the actual one was a street in Toronto he thinks was called Yonge St. We did agree with him. We went to Mile 0 which was cool as well. Saw Ernest Hemmingway home as well. Large garden around it and very yellow, did not go in. Interesting people watching all around. We stopped and had lunch at one of the restaurants there and then back to the boat.
Feb 25 2012
Labelle Swamp Cabbage Festival – Labelle has an annual Swamp cabbage festival. They had a parade, bands concessions of all kinds of food. The unique foods of course were the swamp cabbage cooked up – these are a large palm tree and they cook up the hearts of palm – Ken liked, I did not. They also were selling gator’ bites, did not manage to try that, still a bit squeamish for that kind of food. They had an area as well where they were showing all the old cars and the queen and princess of the Swamp Cabbage were there.
 |
| At the races |
 |
| And they are off |
 |
| The Winner |
 |
| Yumm Yumm!! |
While we were there, I did take a picture of our thermometer to remind us of the warm weather when we get home – hopefully it won’t be freezing.
February 28, 2012
Bert’s Bar
A friend of G & D had mentioned this place so we decided to go here the day before they left for a drink.
We went to Pine Island, FL which is towards Captiva to go to Bert’s Bar; older bar right on the entrance to the Island and several small shops along the road. When we arrived at 11:30 am it was packed which did surprise us. We then realized that there were two Dragon boats on the dock and the group was there for lunch. It was the Punta Gorda Dragin’ Dragons, all age group and both sexes so that was interesting.
 |
| Here we are |
 |
| The Pier |
 |
| Dragin' Dragons |
We had a nice lunch and then went on our way – they went back to finish packing and we went for a drive along Pine Island – not much to see where we went then we headed home.
This week wee took a drive east to West Palm Beach. Ken has always said that it will be warmer south of Lake Okeechobee, so I wanted us to go to see it since it was not far away. It is almost dead straight and flat across the countryside to get here. They had rice paddies and sugar cane fields. Once we got there, found out could not really see it as it had a levee around the whole thing and they just had a few scenic areas at that end but they were bike and walking paths. The levees were built due to the flooding from one of the hurricanes. From there we drove through to Palm Beach – gorgeous homes along 1A, between the intercostal and the Atlantic. Amazing the difference in areas, regions and economics in the same state. Just outside of the area in town, small homes, lots of closed down stores.
March 4, 2012
We headed over to Venice FL to meet up with Mike and Sue for a brief visit on the Sunday and Monday. We had dinner with them, then they went to theater and we visited with another friend, Jeannette, while they were away.
On the Monday, I went to water aerobics with Sue (he leads a group down here at the pool) and Ken and Mike did some minor maintenance around their place, then we did some driving around the area with them, looked at some RV parks in the area as we were planning on coming north this way later in the week. Met up with some more friends of M&S and more visiting.
 |
| Sue - lanai and garden |
 |
| Ali sunbathing by pond |
March 6, 2012
Left M&S and went to the Edison/Ford winter estates in Fort Myers for a tour. Another great area; they were great friends and Edison did a lot of his inventing in this location. He had full labs and grew plants, Some 17,000 specimens of nearly 2,200 species were planted at the estate, to make rubber for the tires. The estate was a small house right on the gulf and when Ford bought it, he of course tore down the small one and built his summer mansion - the view at that time across the harbor would have been beautiful – no high rises or bridges across to see.
“The furnishings and architecture of these gracious, rambling buildings are reminiscent of a bygone era.
The original design included a kitchen and dining room in the north wing. In 1906 the Edison's had this part of the house remodeled to serve as family bedroom suites. Visitors used the dining room and kitchen in the newly renovated Guest House. The Main House includes Library, Study and Edison's Den.
Edison initially sold this home to his friend Ezra Gilliland. Edison re-acquired the home in 1906 and remodeled it for use as a guest house for visitors and includes Family and Dining Rooms as well as Kitchen.
This house is the oldest structure at the Estates. A one room section of the house existed when Edison purchased the property and Edison expanded the building over the years to be used by various estate workers.
The pool was constructed in 1910 and now reflects the 1928 remodel with addition of the Tea and Bath House”
The pier was the first structure to be built after Edison acquired the property and was used to bring building materials from barges to construct the Estates. At one time it extended approximately 1,500 square feet to deeper water and was outfitted with boathouses, benches, and a summerhouse.
Henry Ford purchased his home in 1916, providing him the opportunity to vacation with Thomas Edison. The Ford porch, adjacent to the vintage garage, offers a spectacular riverfront view of the Caloosahatchee River. The Ford Catetaker's Cottage was used as a garage and caretaker's home for the Ford family”
The gardens were absolutely beautiful as well and surround the whole area. Again, lot's of pictures can only post so many
 |
| Entrance to estate |
 |
| Coral pond |
 |
| Large trees grown for lab |
 |
| Ken at tree - these are the roots |
 |
| Secret garden |
 |
| Pier |
 |
| amazing |
March 10 2012
Back in Venice at RV park just minutes away from everyone so that worked out great. M&S were having a party at their place that evening after going to the drummers. They had company staying with them (Gord and Lindy) and we all went down together.
The park had a BBQ for everyone in the park that Saturday afternoon, then that evening, we met up at M&S and went to Nokomis beach to listen to the drummers. That was amazing on its own, they set up around 4:00 pm with all kinds of different drummers, and then everyone basically surrounds them. Drummer come and go, some of them were there for the whole time. The whole idea is to drum in the sunset. People were getting up in the middle of the circle dancing, performing; it was whatever they wanted to do, young and old. You brought your own chairs, snacks, and drinks and joined in if you wanted to. As the sun was setting, the drumming became more frenzied and came to crescendo just as the sun slid down behind the horizon on the ocean, one of the more spectacular ways of seeing a sunset! They do this every Sunday and Wednesday. It is all word of mouth, people that have lived there for years, did not even know about it.
 |
| Sue at drummers - see circle behind her |
 |
| Drummer - standing |
 |
| Sun starting to set - everyone on their feet |
 |
| another |
 |
| Sunset on Gulf - always beautiful! |
From there, we went back to M&S where she had a dinner party for 60 some people; there were people all over the place and food!!!!!! We thought we were going to be the last ones leaving, then the neighbours that had a previous engagement came home and came over – we left and they were still there.
March 11, 2012
The next day, we just spend around the park doing clean up and laundry. M&S dropped over for a drink and invite to Roberta and Amby’s for swim and cocktails on the Monday.
March 12, 2012
We went over in the afternoon to R&A and had a great time. They have a parrot name Michelle (used to be Michael, found out a few years ago that she was a she) Amby had him/her for around 30 years and then they moved down here and the vet figures it was the tropical climate that made her start laying eggs – unfortunately, they need to take them away from her as they are not fertilized. They also have a lab that reminded us of our grand puppy, only she had a shoe fetish – could not leave one around anywhere!
 |
| Sue,Ken, Amby |
 |
| Lindy, Gord, Roberta, Mike |
 |
| Michael/Michelle |
 |
| Shoe thief!!! |
March 13, 2012
On Tuesday, they had a St Patrick’s Day dinner at their club so we joined them for that as well; Ken had corn beef and cabbage and I had chicken - a few toddies and a lot of laughs.
Wednesday March14th 2012
We went to Venice beach and down to Sharky’s for dinner. This is the only bar on the beach in the Venice area – quite popular and very busy. We lucked out as we arrived before the real rush started so we could walk around the beach for a while and on the pier. Then we went in to restaurant to put our name on line; went to the bar side and had a drink while waiting and watched the ocean and the people going to and fro. Nice beach and nice evening.
 |
| Ken at Sharky's |
 |
| Pier at Sharky's |
 |
| Fishermen and gear |
 |
| Gulf |
 |
| One of the locals! |
Thursday March 15, 2012
Thursday, we met up with my cousin Nancy and her husband Larry who have a place in Ft Myers and we all went to Sarasota to see the Ringling Museum and estate. Last time we were here, had to be almost 10 years ago and the place was under construction as there was major work to be done.
Ca' d'Zan Mansion they have redone a lot of the rooms inside the house now and it is amazing, as well as having a fantastic Museum of Art. “In 1925, Ringling engaged architect John H. Phillips to design the museum. Construction began in 1927, but was slowed almost immediately by the collapse of Florida’s land boom and later, Wall Street’s stock market crash. Financial misfortune and Mable’s death in 1929 might have ended the dream, but John Ringling instead gained a new resolve to complete the museum, borrowing money as needed, knowing that it would perpetuate the memory of his beloved MableAnother part is the actual Circus Museum, which was the best part, we think, was the miniatures. The second floor of the Tibbals building, master model builder and philanthropist Howard Tibbals has been working on making miniatures of the whole circus for more than 50 years; there was every facet of the circus from the work trains to all of the people, kitchen tent with dishes and plate, laundry area with clothes on lines, even an infirmary with patients on cots and people putting band aids on them. Then of course, there were the actual circus tents with the animals and entertainers. It was really amazing. From there we went to the larger area with some of the actual circus memorabilia – costumes, calliope, etc. Spent rest of day with N&L and had dinner down at Siesta Keys then home.
March 16th 2012
Left Venice and headed to Ocala for a couple of days. Did not do much here, but did check out a couple of other parks in the area in case we wanted to spend time here on way up or down next year. This area was a little lowers as not the main area of Florida for tourists.
 |
| road to Ocala |
 |
| Farm land |
March 19, 2012
Left to head to Jacksonville, FL on east coast. On the way, was reading my Florida map book by Dave Hunter (he wrote Along I75 – great reference book for traveling to Florida, totally recommend it if travelling and is printed and written in Canada) he mentioned a speed trap in small town along Hwy 301 between Waldo and Lawtey that had speed traps. They are enforced as he said by the inch – if you are past the sign that shows the speed limit and are going faster, they automatically ticket you, great revenue for small towns. It got so bad someone has erected sign warning of the speed traps – we had passed it before I could take a picture, but did take one to show you all, that yes, I did find Waldo!!!
We found a nice park on Flamingo Lake a small lake that we could back onto so the view was nice and there was some privacy as well.
They have a small restaurant and bar on site so we went there for dinner our first night.
We had some banking to do so went to downtown Jacksonville and then took a drive to find the St. Augustine Golf Hall of fame that we wanted to visit.
March 22, 2012
On Thursday, we went down to hall of fame for most of the day. It is really an interesting place and is right on the golf course, one of the better PGA courses around. Also has a whole village around it. For the entrance price, we had a chance to take a one hole challenge 132 yards across a LOT of water. Ken hit a great shot but was just a bit short (was pretty windy out there). Mine of course went directly to the water, did not pass go or anything (I should have gone golfing in desert when we had a chance).
We also had 18 hole putting course that was really neat, both did much better with that, I did get a hole in one!
From there we went to St Augustine to do a Trolley tour so that we could see some of the sights and then come back the next day to stop where we wanted.
The great thing about this one, was that the ticket was good for three days so we could really get our money’s worth this time around – the last few we took we only did the one day, so want to try to plan next time we do one, is to have a couple of days free. We walked along George St which is the Spanish area and has some of the older buildings, then went for lunch at Meehan’s Irish pub along the seawall, could watch the boats and saw a dolphin swimming as well. From there we took a walk along the sea wall and over to the old fort.
We picked up the trolley again and went over to St. Sebastian winery for a tour and sampling. This location only bottles and packages around 200 bottles for the immediate area. The actual wine comes from their winery further south for them to us. Only sells in Florida and Georgia.
Headed back home.
March 25, 2012
Just sitting around outside in the sun today, nice breeze, temperature 79 deg F and not too hot.
Monday March 26, 2012
Will be heading out again in am – north but not far – still want to keep warm.
FArm
