Phipps County Campground is next door to the Port Lucie Locks and Dam. This man made canal leads from the Atlantic Ocean thru this extremely northern edge of the Everglades and into Lake Okeechobee. From there the canal passes one of our other favorite places to park – WP Franklin Lock and Dam (SPFB) and out to the Gulf of Mexico at Ft Myers. Improvements have been made to Phipps Park and it was our parking spot for a few days – just to get us thru the weekend. The campground folks said the park was full but they would accommodate us by allowing both trailers to park on the same spot. It was tricky but we managed!
The park backs up to the canal and is within sight of the Florida Turnpike and Rt 95. Stuart has several nice beaches and our day was spent exploring – the beaches, the quaint “historic” downtown area and a good-sized flea market. Even tho we came away empty-handed from the flea market and the marine salvage store, our tummies came away full after a great lunch at Manatee Island Grill an open aired seafood spot right on the dock in the harbor!
Sunday was our moving day again. It was time to part ways with R&N since they were headed inland to Davenport. We lucked out and moved around the corner to the Lock and Dam campground. There are a total of 9 camping spots and only ONE “walk in” space that is available for 3 days at a time. H and I watched many an interesting vessel lock thru and head west! While we were parked there we also went out exploring again! We discovered Hutchinson Island – one of the many barrier islands that protect the mainland of this sandstone peninsula called Florida. Beaches, grass, palmetto and mangrove covered dunes; lofty condos and marinas dot the long skinny island. Towards the southern end of the island the map showed a “lookout” which turned out to be Gilberts Bar – House of Refuge. The “house” is one of only 9 commissioned in 1875 for U S Life Saving Service. Keepers provided shelter, food, clothing and transportation to survivors of shipwrecks and storms at sea. In this area, the coastline is a jagged outcropping of huge rough rocks that would remind you of lava boulders in Hawaii that are subjected to the voracious wave action of the sea or the enormous boulders on the coastline of Maine!
Steadily we’re moving up the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean. This time a hop and a skip up to Sebastian Inlet State Park for a few days before hopping and skipping up to Manatee Hammock, a Brevard County Park and Campground, just south of Titusville. The park is situated off Rt 1 and borders on the Indian River. On the other side of the river is the Kennedy Space Center with its easily visible tall white Assembly Building standing proudly on the horizon. The park is woodsy, with narrow roads that wind around tall pine trees and spreading live oaks, which have blanketed the ground with their tiny shiny brown leaves. There is a lovely pool but since the water temp was a chilly 64 degrees – no one was in it. Some silly soul also posted a sign on the enclosure wall that stated “ Swimming Prohibited – Beware of Alligators”. On the waters edge is a long fishing pier extending out into the river and the resident Blue Heron was stationed on the railing, keeping guard this VERY windy afternoon! As we inched our way out onto the dock, slowly as not to scare (HA!) him away, H kept on snapping his picture. We got eyeball to eyeball with this windblown-feathered soldier before H lost the staring contest and we moved to the other side of the dock! While in Titusville we visited with my dear high school girlfriend Lois and her husband Dave. Out to dinner at Boston’s Beef and Seafood one afternoon after the morning was spent exploring parts of the islands and walking the beach. Most places along the coast there is just one barrier island but in this area there are two that stand together – Cocoa Beach and Merritt Island. Between them and the mainland are the Banana and the Indian Rivers. There is a canal that has been dug (imagine that!) and a lock has been built to subdue the tide and the waves and allows the larger boats a short cut from the ocean to the rivers. Over this canal there is a high bridge. The road leads out to the Cruise Lines Parking lots and Shipping Docks. The bridge is almost high enough but still has to be opened for the tall working vessels that use the channel. H and I were compelled to watch over several tugs and barges that struggled to maneuver against the currant and lock thru. There were also a half dozen manatees milling around in the lock, seemingly trying to assist in the operation!
One day was spent out on north end of Merritt Island where the Kennedy Space Center and the Shuttle Launch are located. Way too crowded and too late in the day to attempt taking a tour but we did stop and visit the Astronaut Hall of Fame and Museum where the full sized model of the shuttle Inspiration is on guard. The size is amazing! We learned that the Delta 5 Rocket was to be launched on Thursday evening from the Kennedy Air Force Station, adjacent to the actual Space Center. We postponed our departure one more day and invited R&N to come up to watch it with us from the fishing pier at the campground. We froze for one whole hour out on that dock while the launch was moved back by 5 or 10 minutes at a time. At 6 30pm it was cancelled - due to high winds aloft. Oh well – it was dark and we were cold and hungry - out for seafood we went!
Friday morning the winds were calm and we headed west! We’re going to Moss Park!
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Palm Beach Area
It was a long day, moving from the Glades up the edge of Fort Lauderdale, past Delray Beach where H’s Aunt Ruth used to live and up to Lake Worth. LOTS of traffic, a roll over auto accident, road construction and H’s CB radio that wasn’t working, didn’t help the stress. John Prince County Park has a golf course, soccer fields, fitness trails and miles and miles of paved bike trails. Lake Osborne and the attached canals that connect it to a half dozen other small lakes take up 2 sides of the campground. The third side is a VERY active county airport and a state college campus is across the road. The 14-day, short-term campsites are right along the lake and the two traveling brothers were assigned 2 close by spots in a small circular area. The other five of the seven sites had Quebec license plates on their vehicles. On the first day we were too tired to care. H and R needed their “Happy Hour – right away! On the 2nd day we took off to go explore the area – we needed to be sure of where the Tri Rail Train station was for the following day! H directed and Ron, obediently drove down to Delray Beach past the home where their Aunt and Uncle used to live and then out and up A1A along the narrow winding road, lined with 10 foot tall manicured hedges that protected and hid the mansions and estates of the “rich and famous” in Palm Beach. Since we had already attended the 100th Anniversary of the completion of the Flagler Railroad down on Pigeon Key, we used R&N’s GPS and located the Museum and Mansion of Henry Flagler. R parked the truck and the 4 of us approached the intricate black wrought iron gate that adorned the front fence to find out the museum was closed on Mondays. Go figure. Disappointment didn’t linger long after we climbed back into the truck and set the GPS to find the zoo in West Palm Beach – we were out exploring and now we were hunting for wild animals! The biggest wild animals there were a fat fuzzy lazy black bear, 3 half grown tiger cubs, a huge black Tapir and a young Jaguar whose coat was soft and spotted but his teeth said he wasn’t in the mood to be petted. The number of monkeys, brightly feathered ducks and long legged tropical birds was unreal! And did you know that if you rattle the animal feed handle they will all come a flapping! Great way to get up close pictures! In the Glades we watched Spoonbills while they swooshed their beaks thru the water, sifting for food. At the zoo we watched bright coral Flamingos with their entire heads upside down under water looking for bits of seafood for dinner!
Next day was our train trip to Miami. The Tri Rail Train is a double decker passenger train that runs from West Palm Beach south to Miami and back. Of course – SPFB! H prefers to play train tour guide on the weekend when us old folks get a reduced rate but we weren’t going to be there on the weekend. Ron and Nancy had wanted to do this trip! On our last trip, I didn’t remember how creepy the bus ride was from the train out to Miami Beach. The city map shows the area as “Little Havana”. Lunch was out on Lincoln Mall – just like the last time. The Panini and pizza was good but the people watching was even better!! N mentioned the “Art Deco” area so H led the way, via the boardwalk that followed the edge of the beach. Eventually we climbed back on another bus that took us back over the turquoise water. Up the steps and onto the people mover thru town to the Government Center where we climbed another set of steps to the Metro rail. Back to the Tri Rail station and we finished up our transportation chase with a northbound trip back to Lake Worth. We were exhausted!
Next day was our train trip to Miami. The Tri Rail Train is a double decker passenger train that runs from West Palm Beach south to Miami and back. Of course – SPFB! H prefers to play train tour guide on the weekend when us old folks get a reduced rate but we weren’t going to be there on the weekend. Ron and Nancy had wanted to do this trip! On our last trip, I didn’t remember how creepy the bus ride was from the train out to Miami Beach. The city map shows the area as “Little Havana”. Lunch was out on Lincoln Mall – just like the last time. The Panini and pizza was good but the people watching was even better!! N mentioned the “Art Deco” area so H led the way, via the boardwalk that followed the edge of the beach. Eventually we climbed back on another bus that took us back over the turquoise water. Up the steps and onto the people mover thru town to the Government Center where we climbed another set of steps to the Metro rail. Back to the Tri Rail station and we finished up our transportation chase with a northbound trip back to Lake Worth. We were exhausted!
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
South Florida
Long Key State Park – SPFB!! The days were sunny and WARM! We donned our water shoes, grabbed the snorkel bucket (the white bucket with the glass bottom!) and have gone out exploring the ocean bottom for “treasures”! I have some new ones to bring home! This year I found a Sea Urchin. It looks like a Sand Dollar on steroids! Last year we saw a Batfish and we’ve seen one twice this year along with Manta Rays, Puffer fish and Boxfish! It was so easy to get the orange bubbles into the calm sea since last year the canoe never left the top of the Jeep the entire time we were here. Our new underwater discovery was the Flower Pot Sponges that looked just like the big black plastic pots that bushes and trees come in from the tree nursery and Barrel Sponges that look just like a big squatty barrels! Showing Nancy the world of under water sea treasures (via the snorkel bucket!) was fun! Most of the seashells we picked up had to be returned to the exiting tide area because they had hermit crabs in residence! One evening I gave a big yell and N came to my rescue to help corral and then take pictures of a big Blue Land Crab that was side stepping across our patio rug trying to get to the protective cover of the Mangrove jungle on the other side of our “condo” before being discovered! And the sunsets behind our “condo” were phenomenal, especially when the peach and coral colors reflected off of Ron’s trailer!
Our next moving day was stressful - - - 3 miles up Highway 1 to Fiesta Key Resort. Last year we parked along the canal but this year they gave us the “cheap seats” closer to the road and up against the mangroves. We were scheduled to park right next to R&N, however – the sites were SO narrow and there was a palm tree planted too close to where the trailer was to sit so we moved over one spot – leaving an empty site between us and R&N making the neighborhood more spacious! Thankfully the park did not fill up and no one was crammed in between us! No cell service and no wifi still but the swimming pool was great and the little store had a good supply of ice cream cones! H was happy in spite of it all!
Up the road and out of the Keys, past the fields of strawberries and sweet corn where the irrigation sprinklers were spewing long lines of wet spray over the young tender plants. Over and down to the end of the southern most road in the Everglades – Flamingo, so we could park for a few more days before we started our eventual slow trip north. The objective for these few days was to rent a boat and venture out into the dark waters of the glades. Now, a 16ft skiff with a 40 horsepower motor should have moved us along with no problem. Should have! As long as we were traveling in a “no wake” length of the long narrow channel, we did ok. We passed the pontoon tour boat when they stopped to see a Crocodile. They passed us when we stopped to get shots of the next motionless croc! They passed us several times after that because once we were out in the larger lake area, and the boys threw the throttle wide open, the water logged vessel sludged up to a whopping 6 mph. We plowed across the choppy waters to the next channel and regretfully turned around to head back to the marina because we were running out of rental time. “Exploring the Glades” was not to be. The young man who assigned us this abused tub told us to just call the marina IF we had problems and he would come right out and get us. Yeah, right. Both attempts to reach him ended up in a never-ending circle of recorded nonsense messages. But – we made it back and our attempts to explain the woeful quality of the vessel fell on deaf ears.
Time to move on again came too quickly but we still had time to stop at one of the turnouts on the road back out of the glade and watched several Roseate Spoonbills swish their long spoon shaped bills back and forth in the water looking for a fishy tidbit for lunch. The dark water of the pond, surrounded by pines, palms and mangroves was so peaceful and calm but H was ready to be on our way. There was plenty of time before we were to park one more at the casino for the night, so we headed to Biscayne Bay National Park for a picnic lunch. Nancy got another stamp for her National Park Passport Book! The afternoon was way nicer than the night we spent parked in the expressway lane of the parking lot at the casino. It was the weekend! The casino was packed with people and smoke from all the cigarettes they puffed on. The parking lot was also crowded and got more so as the night progressed. Some dummies even parked within 3 feet of the front bumper of the truck. Two “good old boys” with their big trucks and trailers carrying airboats! H was tempted to just unhook their unlocked trailers and roll them back so we could pull forward. Good thing it was Ron who was parked behind us so when he pulled out – we could back up and get out.
Keeping to the outskirts of Miami and Fort Lauderdale we edged our way up Rt 27 and then Rt 441 thru all the traffic congestion and traffic lights. It seemed like an all day task but we finally made it to John Prince Park Campground in Lake Worth. We have electricity, and cell phone service, and wifi!
Our next moving day was stressful - - - 3 miles up Highway 1 to Fiesta Key Resort. Last year we parked along the canal but this year they gave us the “cheap seats” closer to the road and up against the mangroves. We were scheduled to park right next to R&N, however – the sites were SO narrow and there was a palm tree planted too close to where the trailer was to sit so we moved over one spot – leaving an empty site between us and R&N making the neighborhood more spacious! Thankfully the park did not fill up and no one was crammed in between us! No cell service and no wifi still but the swimming pool was great and the little store had a good supply of ice cream cones! H was happy in spite of it all!
Up the road and out of the Keys, past the fields of strawberries and sweet corn where the irrigation sprinklers were spewing long lines of wet spray over the young tender plants. Over and down to the end of the southern most road in the Everglades – Flamingo, so we could park for a few more days before we started our eventual slow trip north. The objective for these few days was to rent a boat and venture out into the dark waters of the glades. Now, a 16ft skiff with a 40 horsepower motor should have moved us along with no problem. Should have! As long as we were traveling in a “no wake” length of the long narrow channel, we did ok. We passed the pontoon tour boat when they stopped to see a Crocodile. They passed us when we stopped to get shots of the next motionless croc! They passed us several times after that because once we were out in the larger lake area, and the boys threw the throttle wide open, the water logged vessel sludged up to a whopping 6 mph. We plowed across the choppy waters to the next channel and regretfully turned around to head back to the marina because we were running out of rental time. “Exploring the Glades” was not to be. The young man who assigned us this abused tub told us to just call the marina IF we had problems and he would come right out and get us. Yeah, right. Both attempts to reach him ended up in a never-ending circle of recorded nonsense messages. But – we made it back and our attempts to explain the woeful quality of the vessel fell on deaf ears.
Time to move on again came too quickly but we still had time to stop at one of the turnouts on the road back out of the glade and watched several Roseate Spoonbills swish their long spoon shaped bills back and forth in the water looking for a fishy tidbit for lunch. The dark water of the pond, surrounded by pines, palms and mangroves was so peaceful and calm but H was ready to be on our way. There was plenty of time before we were to park one more at the casino for the night, so we headed to Biscayne Bay National Park for a picnic lunch. Nancy got another stamp for her National Park Passport Book! The afternoon was way nicer than the night we spent parked in the expressway lane of the parking lot at the casino. It was the weekend! The casino was packed with people and smoke from all the cigarettes they puffed on. The parking lot was also crowded and got more so as the night progressed. Some dummies even parked within 3 feet of the front bumper of the truck. Two “good old boys” with their big trucks and trailers carrying airboats! H was tempted to just unhook their unlocked trailers and roll them back so we could pull forward. Good thing it was Ron who was parked behind us so when he pulled out – we could back up and get out.
Keeping to the outskirts of Miami and Fort Lauderdale we edged our way up Rt 27 and then Rt 441 thru all the traffic congestion and traffic lights. It seemed like an all day task but we finally made it to John Prince Park Campground in Lake Worth. We have electricity, and cell phone service, and wifi!
Friday, January 20, 2012
To The Keys
Route 27 is a long, long road that leads from Highlands Hammocks State Park in Sebring, down thru Lake Placid, around the bottom corner of Lake Okeechobee and then down towards Miami. We started out driving thru grove after grove, row after row of square topped dark green trees, laden with bright orange fruit! By the time we rounded the corner of the lake we were driving thru extensive fields of various stages of sugar cane - from its earliest young grassy shoots to the fields of tall thick and shaggy cane ready for harvest. Not missing – again – was the accompanying clouds of dark gray smoke that burns off the residue from the fields. From Rt 27 and south on Rt 997 the fields went from cane to truck farms of tomatoes, strawberries and sweet corn. Then the tropical plants and flowers came next.
Near the corner of Rt 997 and Rt 41 we stopped at a gun club for the “boys” to blow off some steam and shoot some rounds of skeet. Both said they had fun but didn’t shoot their best. Oh, well. Nancy and I took a break from sitting on the hard cold picnic bench, where we had perched to knit and to watch the guys point, yell “PULL” and then shoot at those innocent orange clay “pigeons”, by investigating the collection of multi colored empty plastic shell casings in the nearby trash barrel. The bright colors are now on N’s cell phone as her screen saver!
The Miccosukee Bingo and Gaming Casino offers free overnight parking for RVer’s and there were several besides us that were taking advantage of it. We were also told about a pretty good meal of steak and lobster tail for less than $10 that we also took advantage of! When H and I park at a casino overnight, we usually make our “donation” of $1 to one of their machines and then leave. This time it was the poker machines that we all 4 ended up sitting in front of. H made his usual donation. My donation kept working it’s way from $1.12 up to $2.80 and back down several times before bottoming out. Nancy’s disappeared also. Ron on the other hand took home $10 to replace his “donation”. AND we had each signed up for a “Players Card” which gave each player a coupon for a Buy One, Get One Free Meal”! Breakfast was going to be from their buffet line in the morning! Back out in the blacktop parking lot we settled in for the night with the lights on the casino acting as a glowing green and blue nightlight, along with all the sparkling stars above. The following morning the grackles woke us up with their raucous chatter and line dancing on the roof of the condo! A custom made omelet and fresh fruit breakfast from the buffet really got our day started and soon we were headed for the KEYS!
Route ONE can be as long as I 75 and the mile markers that run the length of this chain of islands, which are joined by causeways and 42 bridges, start out at 112 and end at “0” in Key West! The island of Marathon is at MM 50 and we parked at MM 58 in the Jolly Roger Travel Park. The park is old and the rigs are parked as close to each other as cereal boxes on a grocery shelf – especially in the two rows closest to the highway which are the “Passport America” sites! The folks parked in our row have been very nice - to our left they are from BC and the folks on the right were from Oregon The new folks behind us are from BG, OHIO! Interspersed throughout the park are gnarly, smooth red barked “Gumbo Limbo” trees. The locals call them “Tourist Trees” because they turn red and then peel!
Flagler’s Overseas Railway Centennial Celebration was held on Saturday, January 14th. Free boat rides, free entertainment and educational demonstrations were held out on Pigeon Key, a small island just off of the Seven Mile Bridge! The boat/ferry rides were poorly organized but it was still a nice ride out on the sparkling turquoise colored water! And we did get a feel for how life was back in 1908 when the Flagler’s railroad was begun and in January of 1912 when it was finally completed and he took his first train ride from the mainland of Florida, over the narrow bridges, all the way to Key West. We had all hoped to ride on the big catamaran ferry but when we saw how low in the water the 2 powerful outboard engines sat once the vessel was loaded and underway, we had second thoughts. The clincher was when we watched it get stuck on a sand bar and the passengers had to move to the far end of the boat to remove themselves from the shallow area! The young, CUTE, First Mate on the boat we did ride on, is from Michigan and we all had fun teasing him.
On Sunday afternoon, N and I attended a free craft class and made the cutest little wire and stone trees that look like weathered trees with exposed roots clinging to huge boulders. My petite 8-inch tree is anchored on a sparkly white and blue rock. The wire roots, trunk and branches are silver. The leaves are blue tiger-eyes! N’s rock is brownish gold sparkly with pieces of garnet and mica imbedded in it. Her wires are both copper and gold! Her leaves are brown/gold tiger-eyes! Each is unique!
On Wednesday evening, N and I were treated to a seafood dinner at “The Fisheries Seafood Restaurant and Market” an open air glorified wooden shack right on the Gulf. Long sturdy picnic tables and paper towels for napkins were lined against the outside retaining walls! Our orders were announced ‘ready” with song titles instead of our names! My choice for my entrée was “ LOBSTER REUBIN”. Sounds rather strange but the sandwich was layered with a good supply of lobster, mellow kraut and Swiss cheese. I spiced it up with cocktail sauce, which gave it just the right twang! Yummy fries even came with that huge grilled sandwich! H chose scallops because he was not able to get his mind wrapped around lobster AND Reuben in the same phrase!
As we pulled back into our little parking spot, I spoke to our new neighbors and welcomed them to the “neighborhood”. Pleasantries exchanged, I asked where he was from. Would you believe – Toledo and he has family still there! Rick and Traci were brand new “full timers” so H and R were sharing their vast wealth of camping/traveling knowledge. In the morning, as we were preparing to pull out, I went to say my goodbyes and H had offered our back yard if he came to Toledo to visit his family. Rick mentioned his favorite aunt so I asked her name. When he gave her last name, I immediately thought of a dear friend from my State Farm days! It is Lou Ann!!!!! I must email her as soon as I can but now we need to be on the road. It’s a long way to our next “home” for a few days - probably all of 10 miles - Long Key State Park!
Near the corner of Rt 997 and Rt 41 we stopped at a gun club for the “boys” to blow off some steam and shoot some rounds of skeet. Both said they had fun but didn’t shoot their best. Oh, well. Nancy and I took a break from sitting on the hard cold picnic bench, where we had perched to knit and to watch the guys point, yell “PULL” and then shoot at those innocent orange clay “pigeons”, by investigating the collection of multi colored empty plastic shell casings in the nearby trash barrel. The bright colors are now on N’s cell phone as her screen saver!
The Miccosukee Bingo and Gaming Casino offers free overnight parking for RVer’s and there were several besides us that were taking advantage of it. We were also told about a pretty good meal of steak and lobster tail for less than $10 that we also took advantage of! When H and I park at a casino overnight, we usually make our “donation” of $1 to one of their machines and then leave. This time it was the poker machines that we all 4 ended up sitting in front of. H made his usual donation. My donation kept working it’s way from $1.12 up to $2.80 and back down several times before bottoming out. Nancy’s disappeared also. Ron on the other hand took home $10 to replace his “donation”. AND we had each signed up for a “Players Card” which gave each player a coupon for a Buy One, Get One Free Meal”! Breakfast was going to be from their buffet line in the morning! Back out in the blacktop parking lot we settled in for the night with the lights on the casino acting as a glowing green and blue nightlight, along with all the sparkling stars above. The following morning the grackles woke us up with their raucous chatter and line dancing on the roof of the condo! A custom made omelet and fresh fruit breakfast from the buffet really got our day started and soon we were headed for the KEYS!
Route ONE can be as long as I 75 and the mile markers that run the length of this chain of islands, which are joined by causeways and 42 bridges, start out at 112 and end at “0” in Key West! The island of Marathon is at MM 50 and we parked at MM 58 in the Jolly Roger Travel Park. The park is old and the rigs are parked as close to each other as cereal boxes on a grocery shelf – especially in the two rows closest to the highway which are the “Passport America” sites! The folks parked in our row have been very nice - to our left they are from BC and the folks on the right were from Oregon The new folks behind us are from BG, OHIO! Interspersed throughout the park are gnarly, smooth red barked “Gumbo Limbo” trees. The locals call them “Tourist Trees” because they turn red and then peel!
Flagler’s Overseas Railway Centennial Celebration was held on Saturday, January 14th. Free boat rides, free entertainment and educational demonstrations were held out on Pigeon Key, a small island just off of the Seven Mile Bridge! The boat/ferry rides were poorly organized but it was still a nice ride out on the sparkling turquoise colored water! And we did get a feel for how life was back in 1908 when the Flagler’s railroad was begun and in January of 1912 when it was finally completed and he took his first train ride from the mainland of Florida, over the narrow bridges, all the way to Key West. We had all hoped to ride on the big catamaran ferry but when we saw how low in the water the 2 powerful outboard engines sat once the vessel was loaded and underway, we had second thoughts. The clincher was when we watched it get stuck on a sand bar and the passengers had to move to the far end of the boat to remove themselves from the shallow area! The young, CUTE, First Mate on the boat we did ride on, is from Michigan and we all had fun teasing him.
On Sunday afternoon, N and I attended a free craft class and made the cutest little wire and stone trees that look like weathered trees with exposed roots clinging to huge boulders. My petite 8-inch tree is anchored on a sparkly white and blue rock. The wire roots, trunk and branches are silver. The leaves are blue tiger-eyes! N’s rock is brownish gold sparkly with pieces of garnet and mica imbedded in it. Her wires are both copper and gold! Her leaves are brown/gold tiger-eyes! Each is unique!
On Wednesday evening, N and I were treated to a seafood dinner at “The Fisheries Seafood Restaurant and Market” an open air glorified wooden shack right on the Gulf. Long sturdy picnic tables and paper towels for napkins were lined against the outside retaining walls! Our orders were announced ‘ready” with song titles instead of our names! My choice for my entrée was “ LOBSTER REUBIN”. Sounds rather strange but the sandwich was layered with a good supply of lobster, mellow kraut and Swiss cheese. I spiced it up with cocktail sauce, which gave it just the right twang! Yummy fries even came with that huge grilled sandwich! H chose scallops because he was not able to get his mind wrapped around lobster AND Reuben in the same phrase!
As we pulled back into our little parking spot, I spoke to our new neighbors and welcomed them to the “neighborhood”. Pleasantries exchanged, I asked where he was from. Would you believe – Toledo and he has family still there! Rick and Traci were brand new “full timers” so H and R were sharing their vast wealth of camping/traveling knowledge. In the morning, as we were preparing to pull out, I went to say my goodbyes and H had offered our back yard if he came to Toledo to visit his family. Rick mentioned his favorite aunt so I asked her name. When he gave her last name, I immediately thought of a dear friend from my State Farm days! It is Lou Ann!!!!! I must email her as soon as I can but now we need to be on the road. It’s a long way to our next “home” for a few days - probably all of 10 miles - Long Key State Park!
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