I Do Again Again

The first half of February was pleasantly warm, on average.  There were some relatively cool days (and evenings), and one day we had a lot of rain.   But some days the temperature was in the high 20s C – lovely to be back in t-shirts and shorts!

Walking and wildlife

As usual we’ve done a lot of walking.  There are barrier islands along Florida’s west coast, so to head west you need to cross a bridge. We walked over to Siesta Key one day; another day we crossed the big Ringling bridge to St Armand’s Circle, and then continued down to the park on City Island.  We also explored the display of ‘Celebrating Diversity’ posters on Bay Island, and walked to Hart’s Landing and back through town.

 

When we visited Rothenbach Park, there was a fair amount of wildlife.  Just after parking the car, we had a strange metallic knocking.  It transpired that a woodpecker was having a go at the casing on a telegraph pole – thankfully without success.  Later that morning we saw some sand hill cranes (from a distance) and some deer, as well as the inevitable vultures.  At Celery Fields, there was a different selection of birds, including hooded mergansers, purple martins and a common snipe.

Last Friday we went to Oscar Scherer State Park. We did most of the trails and saw little wildlife. But as we were driving out of the park, we spotted a gopher tortoise at the side of the road; it decided to cross just as we approached, so we (and the car behind us) had to stop and wait patiently until it reached the other side. 

On Sunday we went to Anna Maria Island.  We’d arranged to have lunch with Candy and Dick at the Sandbar, and decided we should be able to fit this into our normal AMI walk.  Unfortunately the weather was not good.  On the way up to City Pier in the trolley, there was some rain.  By the time we’d visited a flea market and had our coffee, it had stopped, but there was heavy cloud and a strong wind throughout the day.  Walking down to the Sandbar was not too bad, though there were fewer people than usual on the beach. 

After a pleasant lunch with our friends, we continued our walk, but the wind got worse.  We’ve never seen the beach so deserted!  We almost gave up when we reached the Manatee Beach Café.  But while drinking our coffee (we’d left a flask in the car) we actually saw glimmers of sun, and decided to carry on.  One thing we learned was that we could not complete our day in the usual way, because the Beach Cafe was closing at 4pm – we hadn’t realised that everything shuts for the Superbowl!  The Coquina Beach Café was also closed, but we were able to get cocktails at the Bridge Tender Inn.  On reaching Manatee Beach we drove straight home, and had tea in the warm! 

Evenings out

We tend to go out on Friday and Saturday evenings, and there is no shortage of places to go in Sarasota.  On Friday 4^th we did the ‘First Friday on Palm’ walk (art galleries and shops open late, providing free drinks), followed by dinner at a new restaurant on Main Street. The following day we went to the Florida Studio Theatre to see a new play called America in one room; we were not impressed by the first half, but thought the second much better.

Last Friday we walked to Southside for a ‘pub crawl’.  Unfortunately there was no room at the bar which does cocktails we enjoy, but we found another place for pre-dinner drinks and had dinner at the Pacific Rim, one of our favourite restaurants.  On Saturday we went with Rich for a performance of Tosca. It is great to have an Opera House within walking distance of our home.    

       

When at home…

When we’re not out and about, we find plenty to keep us occupied at home.  On Thursday Ian had an online meeting about the ‘Refugees and mentors’ programme which he is involved in; he is now busy drafting questionnaires, with Sandie’s support. 

We have also been busy planning future trips.  We have finalised arrangements for our ten-day camping tour of the Everglades and the Florida Keys, starting Feb 23.  A week ago we dug out the itinerary we created two years ago for a camping trip north, to Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina.  Because of covid, it did not happen in 2020, or 2021.  We started planning to do it this April, and spent some time making adjustments to fit everything in. 

Then we got an exciting phone call from Claire.  She has recently got a new job as a flight attendant with BA, and had been waiting to be given a start date. We assumed it would be in the spring, but in fact it is not until June, which means that she and her family can come to visit us in the Easter holidays!  So our second camping trip was abandoned, and we turned to investigating transatlantic flights etc.  We look forward to seeing them all in April.

Valentine’s Day

In 2018 we took part in the annual ‘Say I do again’ event at Siesta Beach.  We decided to do it again this year.  We arrived in time to walk up to Point of Rocks and back, and have a drink, before the fun began at 4.30.  It was sunny, but once again cool and very windy, so we wore warmer clothes this year!  Other people’s clothing varied: some ladies wore their wedding dresses and/or veils, others were in jeans.  We did the circuit of the settings arranged for photos: unfortunately some had been positioned so that the sun was behind us, and the photos did not come out well. 

The brief ceremony was again led by a lady judge; the words we all repeated were simple and moving.  Afterwards we walked into the village for dinner.  We’d planned to walk along the beach, but decided that the road would be more sheltered.  Still, we were able to get some views of a beautiful sunset on the way.