Vacation in Florida

Having a lot of free time in retirement is great. Planning what I want to do and having the time to do it couldn't be better. Living in Florida this time of year is wonderful. Nice weather, people coming to visit....

Ok so this time of year is when family from up north where it is cold and crappy come for a visit. I have not been writing my blog for a while because we have had out of town guests. Some staying with Jan and I and others staying with Patty and Bill. We have been going places and eating out checking off some of my quest also.

A few days ago we visited the Hog Island Fish Camp for dinner. This is a nice seafood restaurant in Dunedin. It is rather small so if you can, make reservations. I had the broiled hogfish with asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes. It was really very good the fish was topped with a parmesan and panko crust with a lemon sauce over it. yummm! Check another restaurant off my list.

Last night I made gumbo for the group. It was really good but this recipe does take some time. Making the roux cannot be rushed. But everyone agreed that my time was well spent. I am going to make this again with a few changes.
Today we went to a ball game at Spectrum Field to see the Phillies play the Pirates, Jessica has been with us just so she could go to the game and play Mound Ball. Vince brought copies of the rules for everyone and Jessica became our rule guru. We all had a great time.

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Alarm Clock

Now that I'm retired each morning really is a new day. In the past most days have been planned out well in advance. Get up shower, eat breakfast, go to work, repeat till the weekend. Weekend, do what I could not get to during the week. Now I got a more open schedule. I find that my mornings consist of getting up when I open my eyes. Then fixing coffee and drinking a cup. While I'm doing that I decide what I want for breakfast. Jan is not as infatuated with breakfast as I am and can get by with just a bowl of cereal. But I need something cooked and more coffee. So I start the morning with no more plan than to fix a nice breakfast and have coffee. I watch the news, read the paper, and eat breakfast. Some days I mix it up by eating out on the patio. My signal now to start my day is when I reach the bottom of my cup of coffee. As you can see I'm now at that point. Today my plan is to get out all the suitcases out and see which ones we will be taking on our upcoming trip t...

Trip Way South to the Everglades

The first week of February Jan and I took a trip down to Everglades. Other than driving through the Everglades on Alligator Alley Jan an I have never visited the Everglades. For this trip we rented a class "B"rv. We had been wanting to try one and this fit the bill. This one is made by Winnebago. It is like driving a really big van. Inside there is room for two to sleep, shower and cook dinner. On top are several solar panels that keep the batteries charged. I was also surprised to find the mileage acceptable, 16 to 17 MPG. We camped at the Everglades Flamingo which is the southernmost tip of the Florida peninsula. This is semi-primitive camping, no hot water in the showers. But other than that is is a very nice campground. the sites are very large and spread out. We never felt that the other camper were too close. At night the lighting at the campground is very subdued and we could see lots of stars. The first full day in the Everglades we had planned a boat t...

Finally Hot Springs Arkansas

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