Month: March 2017

EG Simmons Regional Park, Ruskin FL

Today we got going early to drive to Dunedin, Fl., to meet Jan Hogan, a friend of Penny’s from Fountain St. Choir, and her husband, Dennis. To get there, we traveled south to I-275; it runs over Sunshine Skyway, a 19 mile series of bridges and causeways across the mouth of Tampa Bay. It was spectacular scenery under azure skies and lots of fishing and sailing boats on the vast expanses of water on either side of the road.

The town of Dunedin (done eden) is quaint; lots of pedestrian traffic filling the streets and walkways for the St. Paddy’s Day festivities. We strolled out on a 1/4 mile long pier where we saw dolphins making their way through the water! Then, lunch on the patio was pulled pork BBQ, homemade coleslaw and a beer. They were a genuine couple and we hit it off immediately.

Returning to our campsite in the mid afternoon, we grabbed a nap then headed for the pub again to watch the Zags win a berth in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen! Next up is West Virginia on Thursday.

EG Simmons Regional Park, Ruskin FL Happy St. Paddy’s Day

Went to Mass this morning; the priest was born in Ireland. He had a strong Irish brogue and told some great St. Patrick stories for a sermon. Great fun!

Acoustic cafe started just after I got back. It dropped down to 41 this morning, so it was nice to drink tea and hear music from Grand Rapids before getting outside. The winds had calmed and our time here was short, so we spent the early afternoon riding to our favorite spots and walking around soaking it all in. There are three promontories: Sunset Point, Hunter’s Pass, and Panther Point. Also, interesting are the beach and boat launch where many birds hang out waiting for fishermen to clean their fish.

It was time to prepare the feast, so I prepped the cabbage, bacon, onion and slathered the corned beef with mustard and brown sugar. Penny prepped the potatoes and carrots. We synchronized our dishes so everything finished close to the same time. ’Twas a wonderful dinner, if I do say so me self! Life is good!

EG Simmons Regional Park, Ruskin FL

In the lunch hour the winds diminished a bit, so I got out for a short, hard ride. It was good to get some exercise. After a shower, we headed to the pub to watch the Zags win their first round game. They struggled to score and trailed through the first half, but they loosened up in the last period to win by 20 points.

The corned beef needed to be boiled and drained, then compressed to squeeze out the fat. So we did that and since we ate so well at the bar, we had another strawberry sundae for a bed time snack. Penny’s without ice cream. Can you tell we didn’t give up eating and drinking for Lent?

EG Simmons Regional Park, Ruskin FL

This afternoon, Penny and I ventured out into the wind to explore a sports bar in which we might watch the first round basketball game between the Gonzaga Bulldogs and the South Dakota State Jackrabbits tomorrow. The Beef O’Brady’s Irish Pub seemed a perfect spot considering Friday is St. Paddy’s Day; they have lots of TVs and assured me they’d show the Zags if I requested it. We then picked up a RedBox movie, Moonlight, for tonight’s entertainment and picked up needed ingredients for the traditional Irish feast.

The movie was a poignant story of a young black man growing up in an environment of bullies at school and a drug addicted mother. He somehow survived this cruelty and found love in the end. Similar to the pathos of the book I just finished, it reminds me that life is tough and it is a wonder how the human spirit can endure the hardships it encounters. Love wins in the end!

A late night snack of ice cream, strawberries, bananas, almonds and chocolate syrup topped off a lovely day!

EG Simmons Regional Park, Ruskin FL

The rain ceased, but the wind continued to howl. It woke us at 3AM; we went outside and retracted the awning to keep it from being dislodged from the trailer. Even without the awning, the wind buffeted the camper. I couldn’t sleep, so I sat up reading at the kitchen table which was wiggling back and forth because the outside wall it on which it mounts was being flexed by the wind gusts.

Hoping to bike ride, we opted for walking in the afternoon. The wind made even walking difficult! We did cover a few miles and found nice subjects to photograph.

Then, we shifted our attention to our plan to meet Penny’s brother, Dan, for dinner and beer and music. In Sarasota, about an hour south of here, we met at The Blue Rooster, a supper club. Jimmy Fadden, a founding member of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, played the suitcase drums, played harmonica, kazoo, and sang. He was joined by two talented musicians and singers, one on standup bass, the other on guitar. So, it was acoustic blues to which the crowd responded favorably. Lots were dancing and singing along. The food was scrumptious as a bonus!

About 10PM, we headed north towards home to the Cortez Clam Shack in Bradenton. Dan joined us there as well even though it was farther from his home in Punta Gorda. On Tuesday nights, they have the Clam Jam, when numerous musicians share the stage. At times there were too many guitarists, but other than that great tunes emanated from the stage. Lots of people were dancing and having a good time.

We said “Adios” to Dan just before midnight and traveled north on the deserted Hwy 41, otherwise known as Tamiami Way; i.e., Tampa/Miami. We arrived safely at the camper and went straight to bed.

EG Simmons Regional Park, Ruskin FL

It rained most of the day, so I finished The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. I really enjoyed that book. Penny had picked it out of the book exchange here at the park, but I picked it up and couldn’t put it down. A brilliant description of pathos in the small town lives of both the black and white families of the 1940s south.

When we got to church this morning, the parking lot was full. People were streaming out of the doors. I thought, “there’s no 7 AM Mass, is there?” Then I realized we are so out of touch, we forget about Daylight Savings Time. We missed the 8AM Mass!

The Apollo Beach Art Festival was interesting with over 100 artists displaying their crafts from photography to jewelry to plants. It was a nice variety and fun to wander through all the rows of booths. Living in a small trailer is a good excuse to not buy anything, no matter how much you love it.

Gave some blood on the way out of the festival.

EG Simmons Regional Park, Ruskin FL

We brought fresh strawberries and cottage cheese for breakfast that we shared with Dan and Joel. Lindy was at work and Joel had to leave to do another gig in the afternoon; he wanted us to stay another night since he was not working tomorrow. But, we had not planned to stay two nights because there was an art show in the park at which we were staying. And, we are moving our camper down there next Sunday for the John Schindler 90th B-day party on the 25th. We plan to “open up” their fifth wheel for them before they arrive, i.e., activate the water and drain systems, clean and set up patio tables and chairs, wash windows, etc.

This year, John and Shirley had stayed in northern Michigan as an experiment to see if they could tolerate the winter weather. The verdict is they could not. Then, both of them needed surgery. John is still recuperating from his hip replacement and needs an OK from the doctor to travel to Punta Gorda. So we will be pitching in to help them out.

When we got back to Ruskin, we drove out into the farm lands where Goodman Farms has a produce stand/snack bar. We replenished our strawberry supply and each had a strawberry shortcake with ice cream and whipped cream. Decadent!

EG Simmons Regional Park, Ruskin FL

It has been a pretty quiet week; we are close to our ultimate Florida destination and are doing lots of nothing much. The weather has been beautiful and we are sure enjoying it. We are doing bike rides, some together and some on our own. In the evening we ride to Sunset Point, where we can watch the sun set over St. Petersburg across the south end of Tampa Bay. I have ridden to weekday Mass once and drove the truck another time. Other than that, we are enjoying being settled for two weeks. The solitude of our natural surroundings is a sanctuary allowing us to transcend “the world of 10,000 things” and focus on the genuine.

The motto of Florida’s state parks is The Real Florida; we scoffed at it when we first saw it last year. That was before we saw the unabated development of much of the coastline here. The reality of those developments is a sea change from what is being preserved by our national, state and regional parks. We must do all we can to preserve what is left of “pristine” America. Frankly, there is little that is pristine; vast amounts are “wilderness”, where vehicles are prohibited limiting human corruption.

This afternoon, Penny and I drove Punta Gorda, Florida, where her brother, Joel, and his wife. Lindy, live year round. Another brother, Dan, winters there and her parents, John and Shirley, normally do as well. Joel plays in a popular old time rock n’ roll band, the Gotta Luv It band. They had a gig at a waterfront venue, Hurricane Charley’s, so we took this opportunity to see them play. It was about an hour 45 minute drive; the place was packed and we had to wait almost an hour to get a table. But, we enjoyed the show, had dinner, listened to two sets, and then joined Dan to watch Bill Maher on HBO before crashing at Joel and Lindy’s for the night.

EG Simmons, Ruskin, Fl

Just enjoying the warm weather and living amongst the variety of creatures here.