The Long Road Home

We decided to take a different route home and go along the Gulf coast. We cut across on Alligator Alley and made a stop in Captiva, where we used to have a condo.

There's nothing like the beach in Captiva! We ate lunch at one of our old favorite haunts, The Mucky Duck. From there we drove up to Tampa and spent the night downtown on the waterfront. That made up for our budget-trip down.

The next morning we drove the rest of the way home from Tampa. It seemed like it took FOREVER. We cut across Florida and got back on I-95 in Jacksonville. When we got onto I-26 traffic was backed up and it was stop and go all the way to Columbia, SC. Once we got through that we hit a huge hail storm in Spartanburg. The hail was the size of marbles. We got off the expressway and took refuge under cover at a gas station, along with everyone else. It looked like it had snowed. When the hail let up we took off and the tornado sirens were going off. I kept one eye on the sky. As soon as we got into North Carolina we got off I-26 and took back roads the rest of the way. It was a relief to get home.

Islamorada Beach House

This is the Islamorada Beach House. You can see our chairs lined up down below. It was nice to have that covered area to sit under for some of us fairer-skinned beach lovers.

Me and Nancy in our bathing suits.

Robert enjoying the sun.

Oops!

HELP!

Don to the rescue.

Hot tub buddies.

What the???

Too much fun in the sun.

Robert sea kayaking.

A slight mishap.

Our last sunrise.

Islamorada Beach House

We arrived at the beach house in the afternoon. Just in time to see the 2 bald eagles next door. They came everyday at least twice a day and were fun to watch.

Our first sunrise.

Views from the house. This deck was one of our many places to sit and enjoy the ocean.
Nancy had to have an emergency pedicure so we killed time at a near-by tiki bar. This was Don's first time in a tiki bar.

We also went to a big outdoor-gear store where they had this boat which was the sister-boat to Hemmingway's boat.

We drove down to Key West for a day and rented an electric cart to drive around in.

Jeeves drove us around for the day.

We visited the Hemmingway House & Gardens.





We met Charlie Chaplin.

Robert & Don enjoying the gardens.









We did the other touristy-thing and went to the southernmost point.

The Road to Islamorada

Last month we took a trip to the Keys to get away from the stress of our winter in the mountains. We rented a beach house in Islamorada with Nancy & Don (aka Da Yoopers.) We decided to make a road trip out of it and drive. (It had nothing to do with the fact we could bring as much wine with us that a Honda Pilot could hold.)
When we left home early in the morning it was in the low 30s. COLD! Once we got into Florida we stopped at a rest area and stripped down and put on summer clothes. How good it was to feel the air on my toes! I wanted to stop in St. Augustine and get out and walk around. Robert wouldn't stop because it was too crowded. We drove down the coast and found a public beach and he let me out so I could run like a dog.

It was great to be on the beach again!

The only way out of the parking area was to drive on the beach for awhile to the exit. I had never driven on the beach. I don't think it's the best thing for the environment.

We decided to go the budget route on the way down and booked a cheap hotel off the interstate in Vero Beach. At least it was clean. We did look out the window in the morning to see if our car was still there.

We put the "Ho" in HoJos.




The pool looked inviting but we didn't have time for a swim.

We found a place on the beach for dinner. My first oysters of the trip!

The next day we took our time driving down to the Keys since we couldn't get into the rental house until 4:00. I found where I want to live next. Palm Beach!

One More Time

OK, enough is enough. This was about 2 weeks ago. We didn't get as much snow as other times so it was cleared sooner and we weren't trapped for too long.

You can see the snow wasn't as high on the birdbath as in the past.

Now, here are some signs of Spring.

Notice the sun is rising further to the East. It used to come up between the gap in the trees and it's moving over.

Now it's not even in the gapl

Crocus is blooming!

Witchhazel is blooming. I normally don't leave tags on the shrubs like Minnie Pearl plants. However, those who know Robert (aka Dogwood Dick) know I have to do this so he won't chop them down.