a return engagement

Last night we returned to Bridge Street Bistro for a second try - again lovely setting - here is the tail end of the sunset we watched as we went over the Cortez Bridge to AMI.

you can see the railing in the above shot- our table was located on the third floor right at the railing overlooking the Gulf of Mexico- below a little different angle cuts out the railing and I think better shows the people at the beach who are watching the tail end of the sunset (which have been fabulous the last week or so!)

there was a cool breeze but I had remembered to wear a sweater- the night before it was cooler but the garden where we sat at the Blue Marlin (also located on Bridge Street) was without any breeze and very comfortable.  - below the garden lights at Blue Marlin.

here is the food from last night's dinner-  which actually ended up pairing well with the 2000 St Innocent Seven Springs Pinot Noir we brought.  Lobster fritters to start, followed by a Bistro Salad (we split these items)

Then I had the Scallops Oscar and Phil the seafood risotto - sorry about the photo - the lighting was strange and I didn't fill in the flash (should have) like I did for Phil's risotto dish... I very much liked the flavor of my dish but to my taste the scallops were slightly overcooked- although a very generous portion not a single one had a center that was just slightly translucent - every one was cooked all the way through :-(

On the other hand Phil loved his risotto and declared it perfect, he had ordered it without the mussels (maybe thinking we would be eating TONS of mussels in just six weeks when we get to Brussels)

so although I have had two less than stellar meals here I think I just need to refine my ordering - everything is made to your order so I am sure next time I can ask for the scallops to be cooked to "the temperature of my liking" as our friend Rainey always says!

Overall I still have a preference for the Blue Marlin but the Bridge Street Bistro has hand;s down best view! Both places are worthy of trying- and if you do go to the Bistro then be specific about how you wish to have your food prepared and I am sure you will be happy with the meal- not to mention the spectacular view!

Tonight our (likely) last time at Waterfront and tomorrow Michael's on East... this week (to ten days) is the final restaurant week because once we get to the last five days for Phil's stay we will be in full swing with the Sarasota Film Festival (SFF) - so lots more to come!

woo-hoo!!!!

So I had "kind of - sort of" set a goal for myself of reaching 50,000 page views before my blog hit the four and a half year mark (4-22-2015) and I made it ahead of goal!  today! March 30th, 2015...

When I started blogging- as you may know - my sister had recently died and exactly two months after my first blog post- which was about my cat's birthdays - my mother also died...  So the blog became a journal to me- a place where I could remember the two women who most shaped my life. My sister (17 months younger than I) for 54 years and my mother my whole - to then - life (and actually beyond) of at that point, 56 years.  So along the way I wrote about them, about my family, about my travels, about plays I saw, about concerts I went to, about restaurants we tried, pretty much anything...including my conflict with the awning guy and the post office etc...LOL

I was amazed when shortly after I started the blog, I was having multiple hundreds of page views a month- and then it went up.  My highest month ever was over 2300 views and the monthly average for all of 2014 was 1640 a month... so thanks for reading!

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming-

in the past few days we have been catching up on places, as the start of the "farewell" tour for this winter- we had lunch at Skinny's  (a favorite dive burger place on AMI)

we met friends Al & Carol, out at Linger Lodge- another dive place, an old fish camp in the backwoods river country-

and last night we went to Pacific Rim for excellent sushi- (it's also BYO with corkage fee so we could bring our own Champagne...)

and as time winds down for our season in the sun, I am making appointments for the servicing of the HVAC, the water heater, etc... so when the caretaker takes over his "off-season" duties everything will be ready for him.

and... for those who follow the blog for the travel stuff- we have started working on the 2016 trip planning... LOL - I know, I know... we haven't left for the first of the 2015 trips but hey... we figure if the calendar is full the grim reaper can't fit in an appointment LOL- or some such nonsense- LOL- really - we both love to travel and now we have the time! Being retired is SOOOO fabulous. My role model for retirement, Jennifer Bater, did a great job- and I hope we can be similar inspirations to others!

Go NOW! and while you are at it, Safe Journeys!