in reverse order

I am soooo far behind on the blog posts- I do apologize and assure you I will get back to China- but before that I will do the UL Lafayette course we took the first week of December on Cajun history and culture... and even before that a post or two on the second week of December which we spent with our friend Lynn visiting.

She was going to drive down with me (and the cats) in November but conflicts in schedule proved providential in that she arrived here for a week of glorious weather here and horrid weather back in Chicago...

So I met her two hour delayed flight and we walked out into late afternoon sunshine and warm temperatures- rough life- LOL... we headed home- got her settled in and popped some champagne while deciding about where to go for dinner.  It had to be someplace we could eat outside so we picked the porch at The Waterfront.

the next day we went down memory lane (for me) and headed to the Sarasota jungle Gardens (which I actually have no memory of but do have photos of me squinting into the sun, at about age nine or so, with a giant bird on my arm from there and I know when we were kids we would visit there pretty much every time we were down here on AMI (Anna Maria Island)...

so we saw the cheesy but cute bird show and some reptiles and a few flamingos and called it for what it was "old time tourist attraction" of the style TB and I run into all the time on the DART (disappearing America road trip) adventures...

a few photos? I know you are dying to see the place- LOL

Below is Frosty - a long time celebrity who is now 77 years old! He performed his unicycle act on Ed Sullivan waaaay back in the late 60's - got love the old guy- still plugging away at it... he was seriously cute and charming!

a closer shot of Frosty

the map of the gardens- which were more jungle than garden- LOL

some of the non-performing birds hanging out (you can have your photo taken with them for a fee...)

one of a few reptiles they had on display - a few baby alligators - LOL... slim pickings

by the time we got to the Flamingo area the over head sun washed out the pink so you can see their beautiful color much better in reflection than in the direct light-

we met Phil for lunch at Landside so we could eat on the deck outside-

the next day we reserved the tour of the house and private spaces at the Ringling mansion- that will be a separate post as I have lots of good camera based photos (versus cell phone ones) but meanwhile- we also made time to get to the beach and do some shelling- and to stop at the salvage yard (better known as the Sea Hagg) to peruse the junk on offer there!

the water at the beach was still warm so we took off our shoes and rolled up our pant legs to go wading in the crystal clear water-

 

at the beach we saw a pod of six or seven dolphins swimming by following a huge school of fish and of course the terns (black skimmers) were close at hand! so many fish so little time! LOL

We ate outside on the porch at Linger Lodge and our favorite sandwich place (Casa de Pizza- LOL) and got stone crab at Moore's and before you knew it the week was over! boo hoo!  So I took Lynn back to the airport and sent her on her way to the cold white north- it had just snowed the night before in Chicago and was hovering in the teens.  I drove back home in the sunshine... I know- it is mean but sometimes I can't help but gloat.... the morning at the beach was just perfect- the jumping dolphins the warm water and sunshine on the white sand made the blue sky seem even bluer!

stay warm! the next post will be Ringling and then we will head back in time to the Cajun week....

guests arrive, then leave, then more

arrive to take their places....

February rolled around - where exactly did January go? Flew by... Matt & Ann arrived 1/31 and we spent a relaxing four days together - did the usual route through favorites- Baci, Linger Lodge, Sign of the Mermaid etc...

on their last day we had lunch outside at Moore's and I snapped a shot of them on the dock-

our wines from the night we went to Baci- the 2000Terrabianca Riserva was ours and the Campofiorin was the restaurant's - we love that they have BYO for a corkage because we know we can bring something special when we want to-

Matt & Ann left on Sunday and Phil and I a bit caught up on Monday... then Tuesday I had the first session of my second class with GA-

the second class we are taking is on Romanticism in Art, Philosophy, Poetry and Music.  this one lasts for five weeks and meets on Tuesday at the Tampa Art Museum. 

The first Tuesday I left early by about 15 minutes so I could go get Lynn and Maryanne from the SRQ airport.  their flights were both early! Lynn arrived first from ORD and then about twenty minutes later MAK arrived from LGA...

we headed home and picked up Phil before we had lunch at the Shake Pit!

we spent much time doing nothing- and drinking umbrella drinks as we watched the sunset---

so after Lynn left - MAK was delayed a day due to the Nemo storm in NYC- we had a quiet Saturday and she made it home on Sunday.   I went to class on Tuesday and GA and I had lunch at the Oxford Exchange-- which- I can't believer I am about to type this....brings me up to date!

this weekend the Cortez Festival and then more social plans for the next six weeks - along with getting ready to close on the new condo- so stay tuned...

back to the lodge

our friend Lynn was here last weekend to escape the snow.  When we asked her what she wanted to do when she was visiting she had only one request- to return to the Linger Lodge (see entry from last year on January 10, 2011 entitled Linger Lodge for photos etc.)

this year we have been back twice so far. It is only minutes from River Cottage- three to five max...

and things are still cool and fun to see... we arrived with the Sunday biker crowd

we had lots of choices for food but picked the gator bites to start along with tiger striped onion rings

the decor is still lovely- and it seems they have even more "stuffed" animals - a taxidermist's dream come true- (see last year's entry for photos of dead animals that hang the walls and fill the trophy cases)

and we really hit the jackpot when we went to the laundry room (ladies room and shower entrance) and found this ANDY GIBB album up for grabs in the book exchange table!  You absolutely have to love a place like this-

we came home and sat around the deck until sunset where we watched the progress of the colors on the clouds and celebrated seeing a toddler alligator right by the deck in the late afternoon!

and here he is!

 
more on Lynn's visit later...

linger lodge

is the name of an "old Florida" place up the river from the River Cottage.  it is an "old time-y" fishing camp where they have a restaurant that specializes in gator-   today we went for lunch to sample the fare and make an evaluation of it as a possible place to take our friends when they come to visit us.

here are a few of the photos- this is a real DART (disappearing America road trip) style place and TB and I would be thrilled to have discovered such on any of our trips to "the past" on the various DARTs we have done over the years.

note the lodge script is spelled in stuffed snakes - LOL

gator head above and gator bites below (they were excellent as was the gator chowder!)

the screened porch of the restaurant

instructions on the toilets (located in the combined shower/ laundry room)

wall art (gator nose just peeking in the photo)

entrance- with the lodge spelled out in rope script (somewhat in need of repair)

the wall of FISH trophies

a million years ago- when I was around ten years old, our family took an ill-fated trip with neighbor families to a similar facility called Lake Riley.  Lake Riley was located somewhere in West Virginia.  the first night we stayed, there was a sizeable rain storm and the cabins leaked.  one family turned hide and left immediately the next day.  we stuck it out with the other one of the three families who started the journey, moving into a large cabin shared by both.  and the vacation became legendary in our family.  it turned out - of course I didn't get this as a kid- that this was a place guys usually came to toss back the brews and booze and get in a little bit of fishing- and could hardly be considered a family vacation spot.  

we all lived to tell the stories and this visit to the Linger Lodge brought back the memory of Lake Riley all those years ago... so how cool is that?