Home

Home again! We left Florida Friday morning, spent the night in Fayetteville, NC, and then arrived  in Street, Maryland last evening. Instead of waking up to a view of palm trees and flowers, we are looking out at snow and many, many downed pine branches.

We connected with more friends and family during our last week in Florida. Our son-in-law's extended family vacations each February in West Palm Beach, so we joined them at their beautiful Marriott timeshare. What a great group of people!!

Up the coast we went to Orange Park, Florida where my best friend from high school lives. I have seen Barbara Marsteller Robinson only a handful of times since we graduated from North Harford High, but we being with her again was just like old times. It was great catching up with her and her husband, and we appreciated their kind hospitality!

It's always good to be home after being away for so long...47 days in this case...but we are really happy we spent January and most of February in the Florida warmth. And...spring is only a month away!

The Good Life

We left Marathon today and are slowly working our way north. Tonight and tomorrow we will stay on Long Key again. Last night was the first time in quite a while that we could turn off the air conditioning. It’s quite breezy here today, and around 70 degrees, as opposed to the 80’s we have been experiencing. Bill just left to see the moon come up, and he put on (GASP!) a jacket. He's still sporting shorts, though:)

We are certainly enjoying the local seafood in the Keys. A popular fish here is hogfish, which I don’t believe I’ve tried until this trip. I had a tasty hogfish sandwich at the aptly named, Hogfish Bar and Grill. Right across the street from our campground outside of Key West was a fish market, so each day we walked there to buy some fresh seafood.

Bill isn’t much a fan of fish, but he did enjoy the fish tacos I made and we really enjoyed the shrimp and linguini I fixed for another dinner.

 

There’s not too much to do where we are right now, so we’ll continue to take walks, read, and I will do some more work on my genealogy research. I bought some steaks today, so Bill can cook them on the grill for our Valentine’s Day dinner. Life is good.

Our neighbor sent us some great pictures of our yard and house after the storm. With the amount of snow Harford County received, it looks like some of it will still be there when we return in 9 days!

Just Hangin'

The main reason we are where we are in January/February is the weather. It's nice to see the sights and Florida attractions, but we are very satisfied to sit around and do what we'd do at home...read, cook, walk, and generally hang out...just not in frigid temperatures. The warmest spot to be right now is Key West, so we have been camped right outside of town for the last seven days. Some days it was too hot to walk during the day, so we'd take evening strolls. We've only driven into Key West three times so far (it's a bit too far to walk).

The first trip in was to pick up our mail that our wonderful neighbor, Karen, packed up and mailed to us. The second time we did some shopping...OK, I did some shopping, and Bill read a magazine outside of the stores. Later that evening we had dinner with Jim and Patty Bertier, who used to live in Harford County, but now reside in Key West.

Today we took our third trip in and had a great time. We toured the Audubon House, which is a misnomer, because John James Audubon never lived there, in fact he may have never visited there. He did visit Key West in 1832, though, and spotted and drew 22 new birds for his "Birds of America" folio. The house we toured belonged to a sea captain, and when the home was scheduled to be demolished so a gas station could be built, a wealthy family succeeded in buying and restoring it. For some strange reason, the benefactors decided to pay homage to Audubon, and many of his first edition prints, are showcased in the house. All the furniture and household items were from the 1800's, and I enjoyed seeing the antique quilts.

 I particularly liked the baby quilt. The blue pottery piece is a "baby feeder".



We also toured the lighthouse museum and walked to the top of the lighthouse (no longer in the water) where we had a great view of the town. Here's a view from one of the windows...you can see the cruise ships in the distance.

 

Speaking of cruise ships, we walked past two as we walked along the shoreline.

 

 

There is a restaurant every few feet in Key West, and we took a chance and had lunch at Old Town Mexican Cafe. We are very glad we did...delicious!

I'm sorry about the weather our friends and family from Maryland and points North are experiencing...really, I am! This is the view I woke up to as I sipped my coffee in shorts and flip flops:

And now, it's cocktails for the sunset...

Paradise

According to yesterday's USA Today, "Frost, ice, sleet, or snow have never been reported in Key West." Lucky us...we will spend the next week in Key West, where today's forecast is Sunny, High 79, Low 74. Sorry about all the ice and snow affecting our friends and family in Maryland and points North! Come on down!

We've spent the last two days in Marathon, which is about an hour north of Key West. Our motorhome is parked right up against a narrow waterway, where we saw two manatees swimming.

 

 

Our gracious neighbors from Georgia, invited us to watch the Super Bowl with them and two other couples. They have a 42' motorhome, with a nice size TV that can be viewed from the outside. What a fun night it was!

 

One of the things we like about Knight's Key RV Resort, is its proximity to the Sunset Grille. It's a short walk away, and much of it is either outside or open to the outside. Here's a picture I took from my seat.

 

 

Our home for the next seven days will be Boyd's Key West Campground. There's lots to do in Key West...there's even a fabric store...yeah!...and as I mentioned, the weather will be FABULOUS!



Still Having Fun!

One of the things I love about Facebook, is how it reconnects you with people from your past. Awhile ago I became Facebook "friends" with Sydney Lemieux, a gal who roomed next door to me in college. I haven't seen her in about 40 years...until a few days ago!

Syd is the assistant supervisor at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, in St. Petersburg, Florida, and she graciously gave us a personal tour of the area. The preserve encompasses five ecosystems, and has six miles of trails and boardwalks. It runs frequent nature programs and classes, and they were preparing for the weekend's program on birds of raptor. A visiting condor captured our attention; in Bill's words, a condor is "the coolest bird ever!".

It was so great seeing Syd again after all these years. We didn't have much time to reminisce, but our 60-year-old minds did manage to bring up some fun memories.

After leaving St. Petersburg, we started to make our way down to the Keys. We drove through the Everglades, and even though it was rainy, we walked a favorite path called Shark Valley. We spotted a few alligators (they were keeping warm submerged in the water) and many birds. Here's a picture of one of my favorites, the Great Blue Heron.

Yesterday we made it to the Keys, opting to stay at Fiesta Key RV Resort on Long Key. Some of the motorhomes camped here are humongous!! The resort is on the water and there's an area where many campers gather to see the sunset each evening. It was a bit cloudy last night...

Yesterday it was sunny and in the 80's here. The forecast for the next 5 days...sunny and 80 degrees. Yes, we are still having fun!!

Not Done Eatin' Either

We are so happy to have Claire and Brenden join us for a few days. We picked them up at the Tampa airport Friday night and took them to dinner at one of our new favorite restaurants Aqua Prime. It just opened in April, and is less than a mile from our rental house, so Bill and I have walked there a few times. Besides being very tastefully decorated, it has an outside eating area and really, really good food. Everything we have had was delicious, from the Berkshire pork shortribs, to the pasta with shrimp and mussels. I also highly recommend the gulf grouper sandwich and the burgers.

Saturday's excursion was to Dunedin, Florida, which has, in my opinion, the best quilt shop in the country. It's called Rainbow's End Quilt Shoppe, and it has over 20,000 bolts of fabric! Claire, I'm thrilled to report, is learning how to quilt, so she and I had a great time choosing fabric to buy. Don't feel sorry for the guys, though...we found them at the local brewery having a fine time. When Claire and I joined them at the bar, they were chatting with a guy from Churchville (small world!). On the way to Dunedin, we wondered how to pronounce the name of the town. Well, we will never forget how to say "Dunedin" now, because when I asked the bartender what the correct pronunciation was, he quipped, "It's Dunedin, like, I'm done eatin, but I'm not done drinkin'!" Too funny.

Sunday started with a bargain breakfast at JD's Restaurant. For $6.50, I had two eggs, three slices of bacon, home fries, and two pancakes! JD's is another restaurant we can walk to...love the location of our house! We ended the night back in Dunedin (alas, the quilt shop was closed) to have dinner at Bon Appetit, which has first class service and gorgeous water views. Bill really enjoyed the Pasta Jambalaya. One of the nice things about this restaurant is you can choose between the small or large portion of most entrees.

Another restaurant I have to mention is Marlin Darlin in Belleair Bluffs. Mom treated us to dinner there the other night. The lobster bisque is to die for, and my entree was perfect. I had "Sea bass, pan seared with wilted arugala, blistered tomatoes, and a pine nut Nueske bacon crunch with red skin mash". OMG was it yummy! My grapefruit cosmo wasn't bad either:)

Although we have been enjoying the local restaurants, we've also cooked meals at the house. My sister Lisa made us an excellent dinner when she was here. Lee grilled NY strip steaks, and Lisa made Caesar salad and smashed small potatoes. It certainly tasted like we were at a first-class restaurant! And as I write this, my son-in-law is cooking up some eggs and bacon for today's breakfast. As you can see...we're not done eatin!

Fun with Family

We are definitely not missing the frigid temperatures and snow Maryland has been experiencing. In fact, we are cozy as can be in a 3-bedroom, 2-bath house on the gulf in Indian Shores, Florida. Although the house is small, the many windows afford extraordinary views!

Our bedroom is upstairs and the full width of the house. Here's the view we have from our bedroom:

 

 



My mother, my stepfather, John, my sister, Lisa, and her husband, Lee, flew down to stay with us for awhile. It's been great having them here to enjoy the warm weather and beautiful scenery with us. Mom and John used to spend winters in this area, so we were familiar with Indian Shores from our visits with them. We were not familiar with this particular house, though, and took a chance and rented it. It is very tastefully decorated and, although not perfect, the views make up for anything that we don't like. There are many restaurants and pubs we can walk to, which is nice.

Lisa and Lee had to fly home this morning, but tomorrow night we pick up Claire and Brenden from the Tampa airport, and they will spend the weekend with us. Fun with family will continue!

Fun with Friends

Our friends from Nashville, Micki and Michelle, are spending a long weekend at the Hilton on Longboat Key, Florida to celebrate Michelle’s birthday, and we decided to join them for a couple of days. Hanging with them always means good food, fine wine, and lots of laughs.

On Saturday, we went into Sarasota and toured Ca’ d’Zan, a Venetian mansion which was the winter home of the American circus owner, developer and art collector John Ringling and his wife Mable. It was quite amazing.

Also on the grounds, is the Ringling Circus Museum. I’m not really a fan of the circus, but I did find the artifacts and history of the circus in America to be fascinating.  We didn’t have time to visit the art museum, in which the most celebrated items are 16th-20th-century European paintings, including a world-renowned collection of Peter Paul Rubens paintings. We will have to return next year.

Last night the four of us drove a short distance to Siesta Key to visit Micki’s cousin and his wife. We had a fabulous dinner with them at Miguel's Restaurant . The waiter made the Caesar salad tableside, and it was to die for! To celebrate Michele’s birthday, we shared a giant…and I mean giant…snifter of Licor 43. What fun!

As our friends are getting ready to go back to Nashville, we are lucky enough to continue our Florida trip in Indian Rocks Beach, where we will spend time in a beachfront home we’ve rented. Let the merriment continue!

Cape Canaveral/Orlando

A few nights ago we camped onthe water at Jetty Park, which is in Cape Canaveral. I loved watching the fishing boats and cruise ships pass by. The next day we decided to visit the Kennedy Space Center, since neither of us had been there before.

Included in the price of admission was a bus tour of the area, which was enhanced by the very knowledgeable bus driver. The bus paralleled the path an immense ATV used to transport the various spacecrafts such as the Apollo rockets and the space shuttles to the launch pad. The vehicle would straddle the median and, when loaded, would travel one mile an hour.

 

After the bus tour, there were quite a few buildings to explore. We were awed by the many artifacts of the space program and enjoyed the various films and displays. My dad worked for Martin Marietta (now Lockeed Martin), one of the general contractors for NASA. He worked on designing various spacecraft, in particular the Mercury Project. In fact, we lived in Orlando from 1957 to 1961, in a section called Pine Hills. My sisters Beth and Lisa were born in Orlando, and I attended first and second grades there. This was before Disney World was built.

Since I’m actively working on my family history, I wanted a picture of my childhood home. I knew it would look smaller than I remembered, but I was not prepared to see that it is now in a rundown, “sketchy” neighborhood. I found this history of the area online:

"The area that would become Pine Hills began in 1953 with the first subdivisions constructed along the newly completed Pine Hills Road north of Colonial Drive. It was one of the first suburbs of Orlando and grew as a bedroom community for the workers of Martin Marietta . At the time, it was an upper-middle class suburb with a country club named "Silver Pines".

Into the late 1980s and during the 1990s, Pine Hills fell into a state of decline. Silver Pines Country Club was closed, and apartment complexes were built on the property in the mid 1990s. The "Pine Hills Shopping Center" lost its long-time tenants and was eventually converted in the late 1990s into a strip mall with discount stores. Much of the housing became low rent and government subsidized. As of 2013, Pine Hills is perceived to be a high-crime area despite community-wide initiatives to solve the problem.”

This is how my childhood home looks now. Oh, well, at least I have some photos of it when it was a lovely place to live.

Go Seminoles!

Today we left St. Augustine, Florida, after spending three days with our friends, Bob and Shirley Carpenter. Bob and Bill have been friends since high school and after retiring, Bob moved to Florida.

Friday night we had dinner at an authentic Spanish restaurant, The Columbia Restaurant ,  but Shirley is an excellent cook, so we enjoyed her meals the other nights. It was fun catching up with each other, and I even got Shirley interested in quilting as she took me to a couple of local quilt shops.

After leaving St. Augustine, we headed south, driving along Highway A1A, which hugs the coast. Our first stop was lunch at Captain’s Barbecue where we had delicious brisket and ribs. I highly recommend this restaurant, but don’t get there too late, as they only make so much each day, and when they run out, that’s it!

I had read in USA Today that Florida state parks are temporarily slashing admission fees to celebrate two college sports triumphs. For January only, fans wearing FSU and UCF hats or shirts will get into state parks for half price. My mistake was telling Bill. He was determined to get this deal throughout our trip, but, of course, he would never spend the money to buy a t-shirt with a logo! Sooooo, he bought a bumper sticker for the Florida State University Seminoles ($1.06). OK, I am going to try to tell this story, but I am having a hard time because I keep laughing.

We wanted to tour Washington Oaks Gardens State Park , and Bill wanted to get the half price deal. So he taped the bumper sticker onto his ubiquitous white t-shirt. ( I will try to get a picture the next time…I’m sure there’ll be a next time…) And, yes, the lady gave us the deal…$2.50 instead of $5.00. Well, at least the bumper sticker has been paid for!

The park was lovely, and if you’re ever in the Palm Coast area, be sure to visit. It was the winter home of  Owen D. Young, who was the Chairman of the Board of General Electric in the 30’s and founder and Chairman of RCA. His wife, who was a self-made millionaire at the age of 19, designed beautiful gardens on their Florida estate. It’s like a mini Longwood Gardens. We walked the hiking trails, where we spotted a Great Horned Owl and a pileated woodpecker. Try to see the owl in this picture:

 

Then we walked on the Atlantic Ocean end of the park, where there are rock formations made by shells, which are called coquina rocks.

We ended up at a deluxe camping spot at Ormond Beach, where we will sleep by the relaxing sounds of the waves and the smell of the Atlantic ocean air. We have the comforts of home, including TV and wireless Internet. There are ocean views from every window of our Winnebago; here’s the view from the front.

 

 And there’s a quilt shop two miles away…that will be our hike tomorrow:)

Road Trip!

Bill and I have finally departed Street, Maryland, and will enter the Sunshine State later today. Woohoo! Although the polar vortex affected most of the East Coast, we enjoyed temps in the 60's yesterday as we strolled through Savannah, Georgia.

One of the nicest parts about traveling the way we do...with no reservations or etched-in-stone destinations...is that we base our journey on what we feel like doing or seeing each day. We had never been to Savannah, and since it's not far off of I-95, we decided to spend some time there.

Using a great app, Hotel Tonight, we scored a nice room in the Hilton Garden in the historic district of Savannah. It's the second time we've used the app; I highly recommend it! The rooms (only in major cities) become available after 9 AM each day. After checking with the front desk and finding out they could not match the app's price, I just booked a room right there from my phone!

Walking around Savannah was a real treat because of its historic architecture and 22 park-like squares lined by huge trees laden with Spanish moss. The streets are mostly cobblestone, and though I was wearing "sensible" shoes, in true Barbara fashion, I took a tumble. Nothing broken, but I have a swollen knee and bruised ego to show for it.

If ever in Savannah be sure to go to the Crystal Beer Parlor, where we enjoyed some brews and pork barbecue nachos http://crystalbeerparlor.com/, and buy some pralines at River Street Sweets http://www.riverstreetsweets.com/.

I didn't take many pictures, but here's a photo that shows evidence of the previous day's deep freeze in the Forsyth Park fountain.

Right now we are just north of the Florida-Georgia border, camping at Crooked River State Park, where it rained all night and is continuing to rain now. The temperature, though, is 67 degrees at 10:30 AM! I'll take it!

Stay warm, friends!