WHAT - IT'S FEBRUARY ????

Well, I must say I've been remiss.  I can't believe that it is already February, actually almost March, and in my last blog I said I was going to update on a weekly basis .... well, I also said I was going to walk 30 minutes a day and ride my bike.  So much for going public with my new year resolutions!

We have been busy, I think.  My memory is not getting better, as I expected it would as I age, but rather I concentrate on what happened 10 minutes ago.  I'm sure some of you can commiserate with me on that one.

January brought weather, weather and more weather.  We went from below freezing to a high 70's in the swing of 24 hours.  Bright sunshine to rainy and windy.  I know, I know ... you're feeling sorry for us as you sit bundled in front of the fire, watching the snow pile up!  We've traveled to the south and to the north, to the beach and into space (well sort of), seen manatees and crazy people (our family) and had a ball doing it all.

Early in January we went to Muscle Car City in Punta Gorda. Muscle Car City is a 99,000 square foot museum with well over 200 vintage '50s to early '70s muscle cars.  Featuring classic cars and hot rods spanning 35 years of makes and models. The collection boasts GM Performance Cars from '67 - '70 Z-28 Camaros, '68 - '71 396 Camaros, '64 - '71 SS Chevelles, '65 – '71 SS El Caminos, '58 - '67 Big Block Impalas, '64 - '71 Pontiac GTOs, '64 - '72 Oldsmobile 442s and a huge assortment of Hot Rods and Antique Chevys and a collection of one or more Corvette of each year from 1954 - 1975 and several of each series from 1975 - 2006.   Quite a sight to see!  Lots of auto memorbilia on the walls and for sale in their store.  Also a 50's diner.

Click here for Car Museum photos.

One beautiful day we went to St. Petersburg Beach or St. Pete as the locals call it.  Are we locals yet???  We were headed for Fort DeSoto Park, the closest "dog friendly" beach to us (about 1-1/2 hour drive).  Harley loves to chase the birds on the beach!  Fort DeSoto is made up of five interconnected islands.  The original Fort DeSoto was used as a gunnery and bombing range during World War II.  Unfortunately it was under restoration when we were there so we did not get to tour the buildings.  Named nation's #1 beach in 2005, the sand is fine (called sugar sand) and we found some great shells here!

Click here for St. Pete Beach pictures.

And what is January without a visit to the Tampa Zoo?

Click here for Tampa Zoo pictures.

Another trek took us to Plant City driving past the Airstream Stonehenge -  from Parksdale Farm Market where they serve the biggest (I've ever seen) strawberry shortcakes, to the Keel & Curley Winery where they make the bestest (yes siree my definite opinion) blueberry wine ever!!!  We've been back to both places several times and every time it's a new adventure!

Parksdale Farms harvests over 3 million - that's 3 MILLION - pounds of strawberries every year and we brought home one of the best cantaloupe I've ever tasted (think Rocky Ford cantaloupe, yummmmm).  Bought a baby gator head for Dylan - he loved it and, of course, uses it to stalk his sister.

Click here for Strawberries & Wine pictures.

We again returned to Punta Gorda to visit Fisherman's Village located on Charlotte Bay - yay, shopping!!  Built out on a pier (of course) with lots of shops and dining (heaven), beautiful boats in the Bay, and lots of colorful characters.  And wouldn't you know it on the drive home through Port Charlotte we ran across the most wonderful BEAD SHOPPE!  Even Dick agreed.  The good part .... lots of new and different things to play with .... the bad part, Dick had me over a barrel because I left my purse at home!  But we compromised and he loaned me his credit card - big mistake lol ....

Click here for Fisherman's Village pictures.

Just what is Dick doing with these police officers?  Be sure to read the Las Vegas blog to hear all about it!

Back from Las Vegas we again headed for Lake Suzy which is just outside of Punta Gorda.  Sounds like this is becoming out favorite place huh!  This time the trip was made with about 20 other Cobras to a hang out called the Nav-A-Gator.  The Nav-A-Gator is a way cute little bar and grill that sits on the shores of the Old Desoto Marina.  We have been here a couple of times now.  They have a great weekend singer, Jim Morris, (no, not THE Jim Morris) who performs his own songs Jimmy Buffett style.  .... "Land of Key Wasted" and "Bar Stools and Beach Chairs."  To read about him and catch the lyrics check out:  http://www.jim-morris.com/home.htm.  Coming home from Lake Suzy we had some car trouble - too much gas (no not Dick, the Cobra) and it has been in the shop ever since.  Long story but the short version comes down to a computer - first, guy couldn't get the computer program to work properly, got a new version from the injection company, computer crashed .... still waiting.  To be continued ....

Click here for Nav-A-Gator pictures.

February took us to the Florida State Fair ... I have never seen so many FOOD VENDORS!!!  Fried green tomatoes ... fried bacon ... fried Milky Way .... fried BUTTER - I swear, they should call it the Florida State Food Fair!  319 acres and I'll bet 1/3 of it is covered by food vendors - 1/3 by carnival and the final third with displays.  Not too much on the agricultural side but to be honest we were there during the horse displays.  We did watch one mounted horse event with riot police and their horses.  I guess I never thought about all the training that goes into preparing the horses for the smoke, noise, people throwing things, etc.  It was pretty amazing to watch.  We did get to see a little of the Blue Brothers and some of the rides were fun to watch like the trapeze artists on the helicopter.

Click here for Florida State Fair pictures.

Harley had his first encounter with a very large turtle ....

Our next stop was Tarpon Springs, about an hours drive northwest of Tampa.  Tarpon Springs is home to the largest Greek-American community in the United States.  It's waterfront is a working seaport and shopping district.  Known for it's sponges and sponge diving, there are many restaurants serving traditional Greek cuisine and fresh seafood that dot the street as well as quaint boutiques that sell everything from real sponges to imported goods. The street is narrow and reminiscent of a seaside village in Greece, with delivery trucks parked in the right of way and locals that greet each other in Greek and stop to chat without regard to the traffic.  If you're ever down this way you have to visit J. J. Gandy's for their famous (and very delicious) Key Lime pie!

Click here for Tarpon Springs pictures.

Our last trip for February took us over to Altamonte Springs, which is just above Orlando.  No, we didn't go to see Mickey and Minnie but to visit my Cousin Pat Rader and her husband Al who live in Apopka, just west of Altamonte Springs.  The last time I had seen Pat I was about 5 years old and we have had no contact over the years.

We got into town around Noon on Tuesday.  We were a little concerned because we had not heard from Pat since an email a couple of weeks previous.  I had left phone messages and emailed but .... Come to find out they had gone to their condo in Sebastian, FL which is about a two hour drive south of Orlando.  We decided to drive down and visit with them on Wednesday and I'm so glad we did - what neat people (for relatives lol).  We all had a lot in common and spent the time eating, drinking and talking about what we'd been doing for the last 50 years LOL.  They have a beautiful condo just across the street from the water on the inlet side.  Around 8:30 or so we headed back to Altamonte Springs because we wanted to catch the final Discovery shuttle launch on Thursday.

What a beautiful day for the Shuttle launch.  We decided against heading toward Cape Canaveral after listening to radio reports of traffic situations, so we packed up the car and our sun tan lotion and headed for Daytona Beach.  Speaking of traffic - we hit the interstate at Exit 92 and it took us over an hours to go six miles due to a traffic accident!  Joke was on us!  We landed at Ponce de Leon state park on the southern end of Daytona Beach.  There were a few people so we picked our spot on the water and settled in.  About an hour before launch time, the beach was crowded, with everyone vying for a good spot to view the launch.  I must say our spot was just perfect, we saw the launch, watched the separation, and then it just disappeared.  As fast as the park filled up, it emptied out and we headed back to Altamonte Springs.  What a perfect day.

Click here for Relatives & Blast Off pictures.

Well, that's it for now .... I'm sure I left out something .... I promise not to take so long between blogs next time.  Be sure to check out the Las Vegas blog in the next day or two.

Happy Trails,
Jo, Dick & Harley