Adventure Logan

The Rookery

This evening we headed for the Venice Rookery which we haven’t visited since 2012. It was great to be there again and to get to show the Sanfords the interesting sights. Birds by the hundreds arrived for the night. It is so much fun watching them jostle for a branch and settle down. While you wait, large flocks suddenly appear and swoop around before gently gliding toward that little island. We had forgotten how much we enjoy the sight – we will have to come back again this season for sure.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Well it is hard to get used to very warm weather (80+ all week) but we managed. Christmas Eve we headed to Himachi Grill for Chinese supper and then off to Munroes for the evening.

This morning Daniel and Karen got a great Christmas surprise with the arrival of their son Chris and his girl friend, Milena. So we were blessed with the addition of 2 for Christmas dinner making the total  10. It meant adding a table – no problem – 2 chairs – no problem – 2 place settings – no problem, as well as, some of the fun decorative items that were needed. Since I am known as the “queen of stuff”, I was able to put my hand on a larger tablecloth, placename holders for 10 – different from the set for 8 and another set for 6 – (and the same for napkin rings) so I mentioned to Dave that he should now understand the importance of having more than one of something. LOL

That young turkey (20 pounds) cost $16 and was delicious!

Gathering outside on Christmas Day is a bonus for sure. This picture was taken at 5:45 and it was still close to 80 degrees.

The table set for the gang.

Marilyn, Garth, Florence, Carol, Dave, Karen, Daniel, Milena, Chris and Danny

Concert Night

On Wednesday, Marilyn, Florence and I headed to Venice Theatre to see Sounds of Christmas by the Ditchfield Family Singers. It was a great show with lots of great Christmas music which we were happy to hear and which got us in the seasonal spirit.

The singers include the parents and 3 sons and a daughter – and 3 daughters-in-law. They have lovely voices and the arrangements of the pieces were very interesting. I checked out their website and discovered that the parents were both born in Canada. They all live in the Sarasota area and during the year perform around the state as the family singers, the father and 3 sons also perform and compete as a barbershop quartet and the father performs as a solo act.

The oldest son has four sons who are already part of some of the family performances. This little guy (7 years old) did a great job as did his 13 year old brother.

Merry Christmas

Dave and I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. We feel blessed to have you in our lives and hope that the season is a happy and healthy one for you.

Downtown Stroll

Every December the downtown merchants have a Christmas event on Venice Avenue. Basically it is billed as a stroll and that is what you do along the street while you listen to music and pop into the stores. There is usually a large crowd and tonight was no exception. The 8 of us headed down and since it was really very warm and humid we especially liked the blasts of cold air whenever we went into a well air conditioned store. There were lots of treats – fudge, caramel corn, Belgian chocolates, wine and pretzels to name a few. This year there were new Christmas lights on the huge palms at the Harbour Drive end of Venice Avenue – impressive.

The windows are always well decorated too! This cute tree made out of shells and the tree made to looks like coral, as well as the plaque are some samples of sights we saw during the stroll.

There were numerous musical groups – this one on the flat bed truck was really good.

After we finished our tour, we met the guys at the Daquari Deck for a few wings and a cold drink.

Sanfords are Here

Last week Florence and Garth arrived and are staying in the park for a month!  We are looking forward to the Christmas season with them.

We have done lots of eating out so far – N’tinos and Altheas (now called Abbey’s on Miami), Red Hat at the Pavillion and The Clock for brunch.

Sunday brunches are fun!

We have planned to bike everyday for at least an hour. So far so good. Florence is keeping us on target!

Then there has been shopping – IMAGINE THAT – Bealls and of course, Goodwill. As usual, we seem to manage to find some super bargains.

Venice Boat Parade

We haven’t missed the annual boat parade (7 of them not counting 2015)  but this year we had decided not to go – then a golfing friend of Dave’s – Jim – invited us to his house in the waterfront community called The Bellagio . This was the first time we didn’t have to take a trunk load of lawn chairs to Nokomis 24 hours before the parade. So this was a new vantage point and some new people to meet. Had a great supper – choice of 3 soups (chicken noodle, Italian sausage, and a Mexican soup), and 3 desserts (apple pie, berry pie and lime pie) – along with salad and rolls. Delicious.

Elaine, Sue, Danny and Marilyn

Kathy, Jim, Eddie and his wife

Bob, Dick, Jim, Carol (the golfer table LOL)

Then we walked down a path near their house to the Intercoastal where we set up our chairs. It was a new location for us – actually the end of the parade – about 1/4 mile from the Circus Bridge where the boats turn around and head back. We got to see the boats twice as they circled back.

Carol and Marilyn

Bob and Dave

Jim, Jim, Kathy (Back)                    Elaine and Dick (Front)

As usual the boats were well decorated – I took shots although it is hard to capture clear shots of moving targets – I tried. Here is a sampling of the entries. I am including them so that you can get a sense of the fun and of the effort the owners make to cover their boats with lights. We all really liked the medium sized boat that is made to look like a train. It had loud and very realistic train sounds!