The Keys

Right now we are in Key West...wow! I will get back and blog soon...just too busy and exhausted by the end of the day. Met friends at the Key West Yacht Club who showed us around Key West today...Had beers at the Green Parrot while listening to a group do bluegrass music, did a walking tour including Duval street and the old town, ate at a Mexican restaurant, the on to a drag queen show...Pics will follow! What a wonderful place this is to be!

Wednesday

I felt young today as Phyllis and I went to the convention center to a senior health fair...blood pressure-check, diabetes test-check, back/body scan-check...yes, I am alive and breathing!!! We walked the bay and took some pics then drove back to the house and joined up with Kent to go to see Avatar 3-D...wow...if you haven't seen this, go! It may not be for everyone, but it had a good message, the scenery was spectacular, and the special effects were grand-I was ready to cheer at the end. All three of us can see a sequel in the future.

A good evening of interesting table talk after dinner rounded out yet another great day! It has been a wonderful visit here at Seminole Lakes with Kent and Denise. This morning the palms are swaying in the breeze and the egrets, ducks, and herons are active in the diamond-sparking lake! Phyllis and I are headed a few miles north for Port Charlotte to stay with Deb and Jim LaPierre. Tonight we are going to a Porto Fino's to hear Eddy and the Edsels...Kent and Denise will join us so it's not quite good-bye to this area; just shifting GPS position! We certainly do not want to wear out our welcome! Another great day in the neighborhood we call Florida!

Tuesday Tidbits

The party took a toll on my stomach...I ate and drank way too much... so I didn't join Phyllis and Denise for a yoga class this morning! Since Kent had some business to attend to, Phyllis, Denise, and I decided to go to Matlacha...a Pine Island artist community. Even though it was a bit cool, the sun felt wonderful as we wandered our way in and out of the various shops of eclectic art. We ended up at one end of the strip eating lunch at Moretti's...my fresh shrimp and their basa fish salads satisfied our lunch cravings. More shop visits on the way back to the car and some homemade key lime and coconut ice cream finished off our visit.

We went back to Punta Gorda and after visiting Denise and Kent's neighbor who makes jewelry, we set off for Fisherman's Village, an open area shopping plaza on the Gulf. We stopped by Pat and Elaine's real estate office and our new friend Jan's bookstore/giftshop before stopping for drinks at Smugglers Captain's Table. It was a great view of the sunset before heading home to a grilled pork dinner and salad. Phyllis and Denise went to bed early while Kent and I stayed up to watch and discuss the CNN Google program...Kent and I are both enthralled with the world of technology!
Another late night...but a great one here in Seminole Lake Village!

Monday Musings

While Denise went to yoga class on Monday, Phyllis and I did a 2-3 mile sweat-walk here in the neighborhood. It is definitely getting warmer! Shopping Bealls Monday discounts took most of the afternoon...after a scary checkout with no wallet to pay for my loot, we returned to the house to find that I had left it on the dresser. Back to the store and I finally was able to claim my many "needed" items. Denise made hors d'oeuvres and off we went to Pat and Elaine Martin's home for a dinner party...and what a party it was! We were overwhelmed with the beautiful home, great food, interesting drinks (including a Bellini-champagne topped with peach juice), and lively conversation! I took a tour of the home and have added some pics...couldn't get the boat and canal as darkness set in early! What a great evening!

Heading South Again

On Sunday, with heavy heart, Phyllis and I packed up the Black Bullet and left Carol and John to head to Punta Gorda. We did take a detour to Clermont to visit Phyllis's nephew Kenny, his wife, Chein, and daughter, Bethany...What a great visit with them in this rural hilly area that is only 20 minutes from Disney and Universal. Maybe next year we will stay in this area a day or two. We went to Mimi's Restaurant where they gave us huge muffins to go because we had never been to their establishment...what we didn't need was more carbs...Dr.Oz is still in our heads!!!

Where did the time go? We talked so much that poor Bethany was almost an hour late for a birthday party...After dropping her off, we went back to the house, took some quick pics, and headed south again...We knew that Denise and Kent were waiting supper for us. As it was, we pulled in around 7:30pm. After a few drinks, we had a great dinner salad, green beans, and chicken on the grill...Exhausted, we settled in this beautiful house for the next few days...It was still a bit chilly to sit on the screened in porch area overlooking the lake...what a beautiful setting! It was great waking up to beautiful weather Monday morning! We slept in while Denise went to her yoga class and Kent worked on his computer. Ah, this is "The life of Riley"!

Spanish Springs in the Villages

We finally hit our first Bealls outlet on this trip...didn't buy a lot, but we have the shopping bug again after seeing all the bargains to be had! Discounts are better on Mondays when we get another 15-20% off, so we held back! We went to see Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin today in "It's Complicated". I haven't laughed so much in a long time while viewing a movie! A classic car Cruise-in was in Spanish Springs today, so there were throngs of intresting people around...I love people watching! We had a great dinner at Katie Belles...actually upstairs in The Cattle Baron restaurant. I had shrimp and scallop linguine which was superb...the steaks and chicken dinners looked good too. Dinner was accompanied by Danny and Johnny Dynamic Duo singing those "oldies" that make you a sing along whether you can carry a tune or not! The rain started as we were ready to sit in the square and watch the dancing and the group performing there. Tomorrow we will pack up and head south again. I believe we are taking Phyllis's nephew,Kenny, his wife, Chien, and little girl, Bethany, out to lunch before we head to Punta Gorda to stay with Denise and Kent Marcy. It is always hard to pack up and leave when there is so much more to do in an area, but the Belle Tour must continue...

Friday with Carol

Our bed would not release our bodies this morning...we slept in once again-maybe we should try to get to bed earlier than 1am! John took off early for his 7:23am tee time-much too early to be up and out, even for Florida. We girls all enjoyed a lazy pajama-clad morning. Carol, the ultimate hostess, fixed us a breakfast of granola and fresh fruit in yogurt, scrambled eggs with mushrooms, and freshly squeezed orange juice-served in champagne glasses. It doesn't get much better than this! We decided to take in a movie today so we went to "Up in the Air" with the irresistible George Clooney, and afterward enjoyed drinks at a restaurant where we could sit outside in the sun and watch the "Village-world" go by! It did get up to at least 75 degrees so it was comfortable! We went back to the house to prepare for dinner with Kent and Jeanette, friends of Carol and John, who now live here. The marinated and grilled scallops and veggies with a tossed veggie/romaine salad was paired with a nice Sangria...Dr. Oz would have approved of this fine cuisine! The evening ended with all of us playing "Loaded Questions-Adult"...very suggestive questions to which everyone writes answers and the player must guess who wrote what...as Phyllis would say-"Very interesting!" We were all glad that John won since he is the most competitive and would call foul at the drop of a hat if he didn't win! It's about time for bed as the clock is approaching 1am...what a great day...