2/29/20

Because we had to change condos today, we decided to go into the village for grouper sandwiches (Cathie and I split one) for dinner so that we wouldn't have leftovers to deal with.  We had to be out of the first condo by 10 and check in for the new one was 4PM.  The ladies at the new condo office let us store our milk and juice for the day in the office fridge which was very nice.  They also got us into the new place at 2 - an added bonus.  This place also has wi-fi in the room.  In the old unit I had to go down to the lobby to blog.

Two things of note: The girls won last night - yeah!!!!! So now the score is 5 to 2.  On the other hand, I thought we were meeting John, Lana, and Kelly for breakfast tomorrow morning.  Instead we were supposed to be there this morning.  I felt so bad for the misunderstanding.  We couldn't have done it today because of the move, but they had to drive for an hour to get to the location and then we didn't show up and it is John's birthday today!  I hope that the breakfast was worth an hour's drive - we were very sorry to have missed seeing Kelly and wishing John a happy birthday in person.

We went to check out two new parks this morning.  The first, Urfer Family Park, was small, but interesting.  We saw 13 species of birds including two scrub jays (that elusive bird from yesterday).  We also saw a snapping turtle sunning himself in the parking lot and a family of 5 raccoons across the pond.  The second park (Rothenbach) was much larger, but less interesting - 4 species of birds including some white pelicans flying overhead and a good sized alligator.  We drove into Sarasota and spent an hour at the farmer's market in the historic district where we grabbed a bite to eat.

Russ and Cathie have gone down to the pool and I will probably join them when I get the pics loaded.

little blue heron

snapping turtle

racoon

wood duck

anhinga

Russ decided not to shave while on vacation

alligator

Cathie and Bernie

2/28/20

Okay - Cathie and I tried our best last night to beat the boys in Hand and Foot.  We were actually doing well until the fourth and final round - the boys came out of nowhere and beat us by 200 points.  I really thought we would win last night - oh, well 5 to 1 - not impossible to come back from, but we will try.

After breakfast this morning, we drove to Oscar Scherer State Park for a bird walk.  It was a bit chilly starting out, but we soon warmed up and were actually hot after a couple of hours of walking.  Russ chose this park because they are known for their scrub jays - the only species of bird endemic to Florida.  We only saw 12 species this morning, but were lucky to see a pileated woodpecker, a red-bellied sapsucker, and a black vulture to add to our list.  We were upset that we couldn't find a scrub jay, but just as we got to the parking lot, we spotted one way up in a tree.  That little stinker was teasing us on the whole hike!  We came back to the condo for lunch after which Dave had a nap while the three of us went to the pool to read.  We will probably get something simple for dinner tonight as we have to move condos tomorrow.  There was a huge mix-up with AirBnB and this unit was double booked for next week.  We will be moving just a couple of miles down the road, but we are trying to cut down on what food is in the fridge.  I did stop in to the new place today and they said we could leave a few things in the office fridge tomorrow morning as we have to vacate this place by 10 and can't move into the new location until 4. 

unknown woodpecker

pileated woodpecker

a stuffed bobcat on the trail

Old tortoise shell on the trail

red-bellied sapsucker

the elusive scrub jay

2-27=20 continued

For some reason I couldn't get the last two pics on so will try them here.

17th century Moonlight Landscape

Restored Asolo Theater

2/27/20

The rain came in last night and it rained for quite a while.  The good news is that we did got have thunder storms.

view of the rain clouds from our screened in balcony

We went to dinner at Walt's Fish Market and Restaurant.  Three of us had char grill: shrimp, sea scallops, and grouper with a variety of sides.  Cathie had hog snapper.  Everything was delicious and we had plenty of leftovers for dinner tonight.  We also bought key lime pie and chocolate lava cake to share for dessert - very yummy.  We played cards again and again the boys won, but it was close so the standings are 4 to 1 in favor of the males of the species.  Cathie and I will have to up our game again.

The high temp today was 61 - so I wore long pants for the first time here.  We went to breakfast in the village at Sun Garden Cafe - quite good.  We then walked down the main street at bit to take a few pictures of signs we had seen.

Meany's mini donuts - little hole in the wall

For my coffee loving friends

That doesn't even sound good!

 We then drove into Sarasota to the Ringling.  What a wonderful museum!  We spent six hours exploring everything.  We started in the circus museum which was very educational and interesting.

The bearded lady

One of the elaborate circus carts

An act under the main tent in the diorama

Another act in the diorama

Stilt walker

Dave, Russ, and Cathie in the circus

The next building had the Ringling train and circus wagons.

We then walked around the mansion.  It was heavily influenced by a trip to Venice.  The location was perfect - right on the bay.  We did not go in for a tour, but had a grand time walking the grounds and visiting the rose garden.

Ca'd'Zan - the mansion

Just a few roses were in bloom

We then went to the art museum and the Asolo theater which was brought over from Italy and lovingly restored.

2/26/20

A report on last night:  We took a walk after dinner down by the bayside marina and found a new type of sea life called a sea hare.  It is an invertebrate related to the sea slug. It seems to move at the top of the water like a squid, but without the tentacles.  I tried to take a picture, but it was too dark.  We went back in and played cards.  The boys won again (the score is now 3 to 1), but it was a very close game - we didn't know until the last round who would win.

This morning after breakfast we drove into Sarasota to the Red Bug Slough.  It was not a very big preserve, but we saw 14 species of birds including two new ones.  We also heard a several barking spiders.  We drove to Lido Island where we dropped Cathie off at Armands Circle on Lido Key Beach so she could do some shopping.  The rest of us headed to South Lido Park where we saw very little new birdlife (only 6 species), but did spot a red squirrel and a fiddler crab.  We picked Cathie up and drove to Publix to do our grocery shopping.  Dave went in for a nap and the three of us went out by the pool to read.  It is cloudy, but pleasant at the moment, but we are forecast to have thunder showers and and then rain late this afternoon into the evening.  I'm not sure where we are going out to dinner tonight.

limpkin

wood stork

tri-colored heron

male and female wood ducks

white ibis

cattle eget

common gallinule

unidentified anole

great egret

brown pelican

great blue heron

2/25/20

Well, first I'm going to tell you about our dinner at Owen's Fish Camp - it wasn't!  The restaurant opens at 4 and we got there at 4:30 because we heard it gets real busy.  At 4:30 there was already at 2 hour wait!  Crazy!  We asked the hostess how that was possible and she said that people start lining up at 3:15!  By 4:30, they had their first seating and a waiting list long enough for a second seating!  We decided not to wait, but to come back another night to see if it is really worth the wait.  Cathie asked the hostess for another restaurant nearby as the car was already parked and we walked a few blocks to Boca.  The food was very good - all farm to table and organic.  They even have a wall of lettuce growing inside.  Cathie and I had sweet potato gnocchi with broccolini and butternut squash in a basil cream sauce.  Dave had meatloaf with potatoes and Brussel sprouts with maple and bacon, and Russ had shrimp and grits. Each couple split a dessert - we had blackberry cobbler and they had guava cheesecake.  Everything was delicious!  We came home and played cards and the girls whomped on the boys!!!! Yeah!  They are still ahead 2 to 1, but we will catch up.

This morning after breakfast, we went into Sarasota to The Celery Fields - a lovely birding place run by the Sarasota Audubon Society.  We saw 32 species of birds.  Our favorites were the blue-winged teal, a wood stork, glossy ibis, limpkin, roseate spoonbill, a young bald eagle, a Northern Harrier hawk, purple gallinule, a loggerhead shrike.  A surprise siting was a trifecta: a great egret, a woodstork, and a roseate spoonbill all in one shot - amazing!  We also saw an otter, a large turtle, and a young alligator.  We walked about 2 miles and visited the gardens and the feeders at the nature center.  We saw many purple martins (they have several houses at the center), red-winged blackbirds, a yellow-rumped warbler, and my personal favorite, a painted bunting.  We came back for lunch and then headed down to the pool area.  We didn't stay long though as the clouds have come in an it got a bit chilly (I know, I know - you guys are all coping with the cold and we are complaining about being chilly when this morning the temperature was 79 degrees.  The wind has picked up and I think we will get rain tomorrow.  We will have leftovers for dinner tonight and choose somewhere else for tomorrow.  If it is not raining, we may go back to the Fish Camp.

So above we have the wall of lettuce at Boca, a purple martin condo, a great egret, a roseate spoonbill, the perfect trifecta, a red-winged blackbird, and a painted bunting.

2/24/20

We had a lovely evening last night.  After our dinner of leftovers, we walked behind the complex to the bay side.  While we were enjoying the water and the view of the bascule bridge over to the mainland, we saw a dolphin swim by.  It was quite exciting!  The evening was so lovely we decided to walk to the beach.  They were having a huge drum circle on the beach and there must have been close to 1000 people watching the sun set and listening to the drums.  It was wild!  Apparently this huge drum circle appears every Sunday evening an hour before sunset to entertain the crowds.  We were lucky that we were able to enjoy the spectacle.  People were dancing in the sand, someone was blowing incense (and marijuana) over the drummers - a unique experience to be sure.  I am so glad that we are within walking distance to the beach.  The line of cars trying to get to the bridge was steady for an hour after we were back in the condo.  We walked back (close to 2 miles all told and had our nightly game to cards battle - again the boys won!!!  Horrors - Cathie and  will have to up our game tonight!!!

This morning we rented beach chairs and an umbrella and headed to the beach.  This is probably one of the widest beaches I have ever seen and the sand is so soft and white - it is like powder.  I learned that it is 98% quartz. There were lots of walkers (Cathie and I took a long one), bikers, and people pushing wheelchairs with balloon tires. We had a lovely breeze and stayed about 4 hours.  We saw parasailing and giant kite flying.  There were a number of Amish people at the beach - most of them in their traditional garb, but we saw a number of young ladies in their head coverings and one piece bathing suits - there must be different sects here.  Cathie though she heard there was a convention of Amish here this week.  As we were leaving the beach, someone from Essex Junction Vermont recognized Russ from the gym.  It is a very small world!  We will go to dinner in Sarasota tonight at some place called Owen's Fish Camp.  I will let you know how the food is tomorrow.