Both David and I have basal cell carcinomas so spending many hours in direct sun is not recommended. In addition to that worry we have had a persistent red tide which has been around off and on this winter. We have not spent much time at the beach so yesterday we lathered up and headed to the beach for about an hour and a half. The signs were up for red tide but there wasn’t any noticeable issue with it as far as we could see. There was a large strip of seaweed with many dead fish in it but thankfully no odour. The water was beautiful and it was wonderful to spend time in one of our favourite spots.
Dave golfs 4 days a week here and actually joins the club as that is the most financially sensible option. Before Covid he usually participated in the annual club championship tournament which is a match play format. He has been in the final many times. This year he joined the club again and entered the tournament and won his division (flight). The prize is this great golf bag and bragging rights.
On Sunday we enjoyed a couple of hours of music at Centennial Park. About 300 people gathered in the sunshine to hear the sounds of Karen Carpenter. A local gal covers her music and it was a great way to spend some time in this beautiful city.
Our Largo friends invited us to meet them for lunch at the Madeira Beach Legion so we were off on another day trip. We met Joe and Patty Arseneau and Ross and Victoria Bruce at the Madeira Beach Legion. It is by far the most appealing location for a Legion. We even got to see a few dolphins swim by. While I teased them that it was our third trip north to see them, it was well worth it.
It was a gorgeous day for the 33rd Annual Venice Antique/Classic Car Show. Although we aren’t really the biggest car people, it was great to stroll through Centennial Park and see the beautiful cars. Here are just some of the over 200 entries!
Now that the time has changed we are trying to do sunsets more often. We can have supper and pop over to Service Beach (1.2 km away) for the experience. It is always interesting to see how many people make the nightly trek.
Hurricane Ian was a very destructive storm and when we arrived here mid November things were far from ok. While the major damage was south of us, 4 trailers in our park were destroyed, many lost roofs, and even more lost lanai and carport structures. As Dave and I biked around the park we noticed more and more damage. Along with our Nova Scotia friends we were very lucky to have had minimal damage. We lost the last 2 one foot panels on our carport and two adjacent ones were badly mutilated. So we knew we were going to have to replace the 4 feet and the gutters and end caps. We ordered the panels in November and were told that they would take as long as 4 months to get here. They in fact took 3.5 months and were installed by Dave with help from Earl and me (holding the ladder). We were very blessed that it was such an easy fix as many people still have blue tarped roofs and missing carports, overhangs and lanais.
Getting to celebrate my birthday in Florida sunshine has always been a big plus – but when the sun doesn’t cooperate you make the best of it. We have been blessed with 75 degree F and higher for most of the time we have been here but a cool spell has landed and we are getting used to cooler temps. On my birthday there was also a full cloud cover so no beach for me. I did enjoy the many cards, emails, messages and phone calls so all was not lost. We played our weekly game of Sequence with Liz and Earl and the girls won! I loved my raspberry elegance cake and my beautiful flowers. Today we were greeted by sunshine but it is cool and windy so we made a few stops on the Island to see some things that I wanted to visit. The mermaids and seahorses that have graced the downtown area for 2 years were all removed and are on display at the Venice Art Center. They are being auctioned off soon so we went to see the display. Because you have to walk through the art gallery to see them, we also got to see some interesting art pieces in the main gallery. I really loved an egret painting -$1800 and too big for my suitcase, LOL. We also went to the Pier at Sharkys for a short walk – windy for sure!!! On our way home we saw two large elephant statues on display just a block from our place. They are at a new market and might either be for sale or as part of their decor. Time will tell. I am feeling blessed for this great life shared between two favourite places in the world – Venice and Nova Scotia.
Today we travelled north to Fort DeSoto State Park to attend the annual Nova Scotia picnic sponsored by the Canadian Snowbird Association. Danny drove and we met Ross and Victoria Bruce and Joe and Patty Arseneau there. We had all set ourselves up for the event when a large black cloud travelled over head and decided to dump a lot of water on us. There was a race to the shelter where the band was forced to shut down their amps and electrical hookups. This downpour cut the picnic short but we stayed under the roof and had lunch and a nice chat with our northern buddies. We also ran into Jim and Sharon Westlake! I actually won a door prize ( Igloo cooler). When we first came to Florida in 2005 over 600 people attended this event. Over the years it had dropped to about 400 but this year the first since Covid and a new venue (and a date mix up), it was very small. Hopefully with word of mouth it will grow into a better attended event in the coming years. We were happy to meet up with our gang and even got to see Frank and Sharon from the Land of Evangeline Family Campground where we had camped for over 25 years.
Dave and Dan fill up the car for our picnic.
Ross and Victoria Bruce and Patty and Joe Arseneau
The shelter where the band was set up. Dan and Dave taking our cooler and chairs to set up.
The first gathering since Covid was a 60’s/70’s event at the clubhouse. The organizers provided fried chicken, rolls and pies from Publix (grocery store) and we all brought salads as sides. The band was actually quite good – they played music from that time but after a break they played a sampling of music they were practising for a St. Patty’s Day show – with the fiddler we felt like we were in downtown Halifax. The lead guitarist is a guy who lives in the park. The band is made up of snowbirds who actually met each other at open mike gigs here in town and then formed a “winter time” band.
Adventure Logan 