| FLORIDA 2004 We spent the night in the Fairfield Inn in Warwick , Rhode Island so we could relax getting to the Providence Airport for a 9 o'clock flight which was unfortunately delayed by about an hour because of bad weather in Detroit where the flight originated. Dick worked a lot, and I did too, on cropping my family photos and getting them ready for the web, both on planes and at ‘down times' during the trip. Our trip on Spirit Airlines to Fort Myers was as basic as the price had suggested but it was only a three + hour flight and Rosie and Phil met us with a picnic lunch ready for the first beach we would go to. We drove in their new gold PT Cruiser convertible with the top down to Englewood Beach where Dick and I changed from our ‘northern' clothes into T-shirts and shorts in the changing house. Then we picnicked at a beach side table. After that we hit the beach where I quickly found my first shark tooth, to be followed by many more at that beach and others in the greater Venice area. I picked up a lot of shells to and thoroughly enjoyed the freedom of beach combing again. From there we went on to Blind Pass Beach and Manasota Key Beach and had a great afternoon that really made us feel like we were in Florida- far from the chilly New England world we'd left. At Manasota Key we watched royal term diving into the surf to catch fish, bothering the ibises that waded patiently a short distance out, while a glowing sunset added a beautiful backdrop for the drama. We drove home to their condo which is lovely and airy. Dick and I had our own bedroom and bathroom off the living room. At the back of the apartment they had a screened lanai overlooking a stream, pond, and golf course. We had soup then looked at pictures of Dick and Rosie's family growing up, before heading for bed around ten. After such a day we were absolutely sure we weren't in New Hampshire any more. December 2, 2004 We were all up by 7:30 - Rosie and Phil long before that. After breakfast and a shower I went to the pool with Rosie where a group of six or seven women from the condo did morning exercises for about fifty minutes. The water was at least eighty degrees and the exercises were gentle, but thorough- everything from stretching up to ‘pick fruit,' to chorus line kicks, to walking across the pool on your toes and back on your heels five times- 40 different exercises in all. The women were all cordial and a lot of information sharing about people in the condo and area events went on. We found out that the big Christmas shopping evening was that night and made plans to go to it. While we were working away, Dick and Phil went grocery shopping to supplement their shelves with things that Dick and I (who were not interested in totally following their low carb diet) would want to eat. When we got back we packed the picnic cooler and headed for Venice . We walked along the beach and up the pier. Then we drove through the town and really enjoyed seeing all the painted pigs (Elvis, Pigcasso, Bacon in the Sun, Sow Jones, a butler) that were decorating the streets, as well as the unlit fanciful Christmas decorated animals including an octopus, peacock, elephant and eight or so other decorations on the Town Hall lawn. We went back to Venice Beach for our picnic, then began to beachcomb that beach- considered the best for shark's teeth in the area- in earnest. On the way home we stopped at a grove store where orange juice was 5 cents for a small glass and they had fruit slices to taste, including the best tangerine I'd ever tasted. Outside they had an ice cream window that served such creations as lime-chocolate twist- which I got and loved, and pineapple which Dick got as well as orange, of course. We spent about an hour back at the condo, then headed off to get to Venice around 5:30 when the Christmas Walk began. The Christmas decorations were all illuminated and musicians played at many points along the streets. Every store also had some Christmas cheer to offer, cookies or punch, or cheese and crackers, or caramel corn, or wine- as well as a lot of unique gifts items, art work and the inevitable shells. Everyone seemed to be happy, with Christmas decorations lighting the scene. We saw two elderly ladies with little carriers for their little dogs between the supports for their walkers. It was a more mature crowd than you'd see in the average city and the offerings in the stores were probably more upscale than the average too. I got a cute little pot for my box collection, made of crushed and molded marble with hippos embossed and painted on it, a shark tooth charm for my bracelet and several gift things, including a hanging with leaded stars, flowers, and wrapped glass nuggets for our hosts. We met Phil's cousin Red and his wife Juanita along the street. We left around 8 to go home for turkey and mashed potatoes, ate about nine and went off to read in bed shortly after. December 3, 2004 We had breakfast, did our water exercises, then packed the picnic things and headed for the John and Mable Ringling complex in Sarasota . First we took the trolley to Ca d'Zan, the family's mansion which had been renovated to it's original splendor o the first two floors. We walked through all the rooms while the guide pointed out things the Ringlings collected in their travels and in auctions- such as the chandelier in the living room that came from the original Waldorf Astoria. Another beautiful chandelier had green crystals as well and hung in the breakfast room. The small bar had Tiffany leaded windows all around. The Ringlings had no children and left the whole estate, including the art and circus museums, to the state of Florida. After the tour we took the trolley back to get our lunch, then ate on the terrace of the Ca d'Zan watching the birds on the bay as we ate. White pelicans were doing their herding of fish and gray pelicans were diving for fish. We were very happy the woman I the gift store had told us we could eat there. The terrace floor was a mosaic of marbles of every color and in need of repair in some places still, but lovely on the whole. We got back on the trolley and went to the art museum where we went through rooms of religious and mythological pictures. I enjoyed the special display of modern art more- Picassos, Miros, and Dalis included. The gift shop there was extraordinary- in a beautiful room with lots of very creative displays. To finish things off we took the trolley to the circus museum which was fun. The large rooms hold a mechanized display with five or six rings of circus activities going on. There art the original beautifully painted wagons that transported tigers and elephants and costumes from the famous clowns and performers. A large side room holds all the various wagons needed for maintaining, powering and housing the circus. When we got home, we had pasta and watched the pictures of Scandinavia and Greece and went to bed. December 4, 2004 With no exercise group on weekend, Rosie and Phil went out for groceries, then we went with them to the fruit and vegetable market which was roofed, but otherwise open air. I got raw peanuts and honey straws and the others got more practical things like broccoli and lettuces. We packed another picnic and left for Myakka River State Park. We watched a video of things the park had to offer, then set out. We drove to an area where a good number of alligators were swimming and sunning, with birds all around and a roseate spoonbill in the distance. Further down the road, we saw two wild pigs, a brown one and a black one, off in a field. We did the canopy walk, crossing a bridge high over the treetops, then climbing the high tower beyond that to see the osprey nests on the power towers in the distance. We stopped for lunch near the river, not far from a sunning alligator who was too lazy to bother us. Then we did a nature walk and the bird walk. By this time we were able to convince ourselves that two stumps in th4e distance were more wild pigs, so it was time to leave. We stopped at Siesta Beach on Siesta Key that had amazingly fine white sand- 95% pure quartz as we found our later. That night Phil's cousin Red and his wife Juanita came for dinner of turkey soup and we played dominoes until after 11. We had a good time but were happy to get to bed around 11:30. December 5, 2004 Phil and Rosie did the household tasks that need to be done, while we read and helped where we could. Then we drove to Nokomis Beach to picnic and beachcomb. We saw a flock of green parrots fly overhead as we ate. I found a good few more shark's teeth including a brown one. Then we drove along Casey Key looking at the huge houses along the seafront. We stopped at an Audubon Rookery, an island not far from the main street where many of the large shore birds build nests. We saw baby anhingas (cormorant like birds that swim submerged so they look like snakes in the water, then must shake and spread out their wings to dry them off), and the mother bird coming back to feed them. Moorhens were swimming in the water around the island. We were told that at dusk many more birds return there, but were pleased enough with what we saw and didn't get to return. From there we went to Red and Juanita's new house, a beautiful airy place with sliding doors from all angles opening out to their enclosed swimming pool. Juanita had gone all out decorating for Christmas and the place was beautiful and peaceful. We had dinner at home, watched 60 Minutes, then we happy to head for bed after the late night on Saturday. December 6, 2004 We were up and at water exercises as usual while Dick walked again and found a nature trail he loved. We went to the local Goodwill store and Dick found a pair of shorts to supplement the single pair he'd brought. Then we went to Spanish Point to meet their in-laws, Bob and Pauline, parents of Jenny who has a place on Squam Lake near us with Rosie's son Matt and their Cambodian adopted son, Mehan We saw the video describing the place which included prehistoric middens (shell heaps produced by early men who lived and ate there) as well as buildings of early 1900's settlers. We were told we could picnic on the enclosed porch of the White Cottage, so carried our things down there. On the way we saw turtle sunning in the water garden and geckos scurrying out of our way. After eating we wandered around for a while, then walked back to the parking lot to catch our tour. We walked with the guide to the memorial chapel, various houses including one with wonderful woodwork that a relatively poor man had made for the richer woman he hoped he could convince to marry him. A reconstruction of the citrus packing house had an orange sorter and Rosie and I had to roll plastic oranges down the shoot and see which of the bins below they would land in. A building had a glass wall into a midden and you could see the various layers of shells there plus a display of artifacts they had found in the archaeological excavation of the area. We found out from their displays that the strange round bone-like object Dick had found on the beach was, indeed, a fossil shark vertebrae- very exciting! There were lush tropical gardens and an aqueduct that sent water down a long channel to splash down a wall with shells acting as waterspouts. We walked along a long wooden bridge and saw a reproduction of the settlers' sailboat as well as other reproduced boats in a boatyard. As we were leaving a group of girls from various area high schools came walking down the path with their eight-person rowing scow held high above their heads. So we had to wait to watch them launch the boat and row off. As we left we saw lots of other high school kids getting ready to go, or using the eight of so rowing machines in a covered area to work out. That night we put up and decorated Phil and Rosie's Christmas tree, then had dinner. We went to bed shortly thereafter and I read while Dick worked on pictures once again. December 7, 2004 On our last full day, Dick and I walked the nature trail he had found before. It was a neat walk and we managed to collect pinecones and a lemon that had fallen off a tree on a golf course. Rosie and Phil shopped and got gas. We spent the morning touring the consignment and thrift shops on a street that paralleled the fancier shopping street in Venice that we had toured on the Christmas shopping night. It was good fun and I found a reindeer leaded glass hanging to give them as a thank you, plus a round one with flowers and dragonflies for myself. Dick went off to take pictures of the decorated pigs on the main street. We stopped at another large consignment shop, The Women's Exchange, in Sarasota , then drove on to Mote Marine. We had a picnic by the water with green parrots chattering in the jacaranda tree above us. We had to move the table away from the nests of fire ants (both Dick and I got a sample bite on the trip- enough to know the sensation and that we weren't very allergic to the bite). When we finished eating we went to the building that houses marine animals in need of recuperation. Mote Marine also has an aquarium building, but we'd all been to those recently enough that we didn't feel the need this time. We saw the tanks of sea turtles, one of whom was completely blind and couldn't be let out into the world again. Then we walked over to the large tank where two manatees- one named Buffet after Jimmy who's a benefactor of the place- swam around chomping out the centers of leafy lettuces that were being tossed onto the surface. All around were volunteer guides, as we'd seen at each place we went- retirees who gave of their time and expertise to help out. Upstairs was the gift shop, then the tanks for dolphins who were being rehabilitated to free. After watching them play for a while, we left and drove up Long Boat Key to Bradenton and Anna Maria Island . As we drove along we saw a huge sand sculpture of a Santa Claus scene and turned back to take pictures. Dick and I did that while Rosie wandered and found other sculptures toward the beach including a mermaid with shells for scales. Our last stop was Coquina Beach , where Rosie managed to find two coquinas to put through their paces since we couldn't find any doing it naturally. They were great fun to watch, delicate prettily colored bivalves who upend themselves in the surf, then quickly squirm themselves down into the sand until they're completely covered. We beachcombed and sunned for an hour or so, then headed home for dinner. We gave Phil and Rosie their gifts, then Dick and I reluctantly packed our suitcases. We sat and talked until bedtime. December 8, 2004 We got up around 7:30 as usual. Phil made pancakes, then Rosie and I went to the pool for exercises and Dick did one last walk around the area. When we got back, I threw my bathing suit into the dryer while I showered off the chlorine. We made sandwiches to eat in the plane, then left for the airport. There were no problems getting through security and I had a TCBY to drown my sorrows as we waited for the plane. It arrived a bit late again, but we were off a half hour or so late. Dick worked on photos on the computer again, then I began the Christmas letter. When we got to the Providence Airport , we called for the hotel shuttle, then layered the clothes back on again. He drove us right to the car and gave us directions, which we unfortunately didn't follow exactly, so ended up in the Providence rush hour traffic we had hoped to avoid. Things got slow around Boston again and we had lots of traffic a good deal of the way. We stopped for groceries and gas, and reached home around 10:00 - tired, but happy for the trip, if not for the ice-covered snow that awaited us at home. Dick started the woodstove, then quickly escaped back to Florida , downloading and working on the pictures we had taken. I turned on the electric blanket, checked my 153 emails (mostly junk), then climbed into a cozy bed; not the warm Florida sun, but the best we could do back in North Sandwich, New Hampshire!
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