OSCAR SCHERER STATE PARK Jan 27 - Feb. 2, 2014

It was only a 75 mile move from Clearwater RV Park to the Oscar Scherer State Park but it took much longer than planned due to an unexpected detour off the freeway, only 10 miles away from the park.  Pieces of concrete from a freeway overpass had fallen onto the I-75 causing the need to reroute the southbound traffic.  Once we saw the mess of traffic slowed to a crawl, I was able to get the info and make driving changes thanks to access on the iPad. So, doing the smaller streets we finally arrived at the park about 3:30. We had site #37 for 5 nights but luckily we were able to get two more nights later in the week to make a wonderful stay from Monday through the following Sunday. 

The park is located right along Sarasota's Legacy Trail with an easy entrance on the east side of the park. It is one of our favorite kind, "rails to trails", so we are off all main streets into the beautiful natural Florida environment.

Its a very well used trail with walkers, leisure bikers like us and also racing bikers using the 10 miles between Sarasota and Venice. Our first day we rode south to the old Venice RR Depot, now a history museum.

The trail has benches for resting, markers describing information of local interest and distance markers to reflect location in case of an emergency.  Just a fantastic ride, even with the soaring bridge over the highway!!! We did continue on along the waterway for another couple of miles before turning back for home. What a gorgeous day to be on our bikes.

Riding back into the Oscar Scherer Park we stopped to look for the local alligator said to reside in the park lake. All we found was this sign:

and this lovely, though very empty Lake Osprey.

We had a few chilly/rainy days so we took advantage of a little Consignment Store-Thrift Store shopping, my new hobby! We learned that the Goodwill shop in Venice is referred to as "Macy's on the Island" by the locals.  Lots of fun finds, especially a new light rain jacket for me, and a lovely wooden salad bowl set.

We'd had some brake problems on our way down from Clearwater so our week here also gave us a chance to have the brakes on the motorhome replaced while we were in the area, costly but necessary!

Friday we had so much fun with the local Jazz Club of Sarasota attending the jam session held at the Unitarian Universalist Church. Amazingly talented jazz musicians performed with a back up trio or, as in this photo, with a larger group. It couldn't have been better; fabulous jazz classics while looking out at a lovely enclosed garden. The Jazz Club presents music most Friday afternoons at 2:00 during the high season. How I wished we would have been in the area longer; we'd go to these every week!

We went back to the bike trails several times changing our direction and changing the views.

Always beautiful, some days less crowded than others.

I loved this combo of the Legacy Trail sign near the old RR crossing bar.

These little kiosks were all along the way with local train stops listed on the side.

The weekend brought sunnier skies and warmer days so it was time to put our new SnapOn kayak to use in South Creek, a backwater stream that flows to the Gulf of Mexico. PK's idea of transporting the 3 pieces of the kayak in the basket that attaches to our hitch worked out perfectly!!!

Once we got the 3 pieces snapped together it was time to put into the water and enjoy a lovely day on the river. So much fun…and the kayak didn't leak! It made for a wonderful afternoon in the sun and quiet of the waters.

Couldn't beat this view!!! Still water, mangrove trees and birds everywhere.

We loved this park!!! It had a very active group of "Snowbird" campers and PK joined them several mornings for coffee and sweets or pancakes…me??? I love to stay in bed in the morning and read. I've already made reservations to come back to this area next winter for Christmas holidays.  We loved being in the Sarasota area and there's so much more to see and experience there!!!!

SAFETY HARBOR, FL Jan. 18-26, 2014

Our last two weeks in the Tampa area were more than busy!!! Emily had a Saturday off, which was unusual, so we planned a day trip north of Safety Harbor to the Weeki Wachee Springs State Park. Their Mermaid Show is a true Florida experience! It was about an hour's ride north to the park where mermaids have been performing in the spring since 1947. 

 The weekend we chose did have a little change in programming as the mermaids performing that Saturday were the "former" mermaids, meaning they had been mermaids many years ago, not quite what we had expected, but still entertaining.

  The park has a 400 seat submerged theater looking right into the spring for the live mermaid show. I think in the regular shows the swimmers wear the mermaid costumes the entire show, this performance they didn't.

It was a clear but VERY cold day but we also wanted to take the river boat cruise out along the river. 

So beautiful and peaceful; we even had an eagle sighting along the way.

 From the park we took an alternate route home to see more of the coast nearby.

 taking a ride and walk through this pretty county park

 Sunday we spent at the Tampa Downs Race Track enjoying the Groupon package Emily had found on line: box seats, $2 betting coupon, $5 food coupon, and the Racing Form for the day. What fun!!! Em and I look over the ponies, place out bets and have fun cheering, then back to the booth to cash in on our wins. Making $2 bets doesn't crank up any big gains, but sure is fun!

Our day finished with a fantastic concert at the Ruth Eckhard Hall in Clearwater and an evening of music from the James Bond films. The female singer was excellent, the music so memorable. We all loved it!

Monday, January 20th was Martin Luther Kind Day so we headed south to St. Petersburg to catch the parade and spend some time with our nephew, Lars.

We walked to the Museum of Fine Arts afterwards to see the newly installed show, New Mexico and the Arts of Enchantment. Excellent, and free with our NARM membership. We didn't tour any of the permanent exhibits this time but decided to have lunch at Lars's favorite little place for Cuban sandwiches. A fun afternoon, then back to Safety Harbor.

Tuesday morning PK and I were up about 4 AM so I could get to the Tampa airport for my 6:25 flight to Phoenix. I was catching a visit and overnight with Peggy and Jack in Wickenburg, AZ and then meeting up with Marcy, Diane and Katie for 2 more days of fun in the sun of the southwest. Peggy had just had just come home from the hospital the day before after an abdominal surgery, and I was so glad I had the chance to spend time with her. She and Jack have been renovating their home and it was so fun to just relax and visit with them both. Peg was moving slowly so we sat and watched a beautiful sunset from her bedroom and caught up on life. It's wonderful to see her so happy in her new life. We got up early Wed. morning for a little coffee time before I said goodbye about 8:30 and drove back to the Phoenix airport to meet flights coming from SLO and Seattle. Jack had recommended his favorite Mexican Restaurant not far from the airport and that's where we went first, it was fantastic!

Our condo was near Scottsdale and a great location for evening Happy Hours at Roy's, on the beautiful grounds of the Marriott Resort Wed night and The Sanctuary Thursday evening, plus a great day hiking out at McDowell Mountain Regional Park Thursday morning. My flight out on Friday was cancelled early that morning but a call to American Airlines got me on a later non-stop flight, giving me time for boot shopping and lunch in old town Scottsdale. A fast whirlwind of a visit but so fun to be together.

I got back to Tampa late Friday night and Paul and I spent Saturday at the fun Gasparilla Pirate Fest in Tampa. It's the annual re-enactment of the legendary pirate Jose Gaspar's invasion of Tampa. The world's only fully-rigged pirate ship, the Jose Gasparilla, sails up the Hillsborough Bay and docks at the Convention Center amid cheers and booming cannons. 

Pirates take over the city for the rest of the day and about 2 hours later the Parade of Pirates begins the city streets.

 

To avoid the congestion of parking in or around Tampa itself, we had parked in Ybor City and used the transit to get into Tampa. the fun ride back on the old trolley really made for a perfect ending to our day.

Sunday afternoon, Emily and I had tickets to see an August Wilson Play in St. Petersburg and went a little early so I could see the new Andy Warhol exhibit at the Dali Museum, Warhol: Art, Fame, Mortality. I loved having the month near Tampa doing so many things with Emily, and seeing her almost daily. It's always so hard when we leave and have to say good bye, but with our traveling life style, I know we'll be back next winter.  That's something I probably wouldn't  have had a chance to do otherwise.  She and I both love the benefits of being near a major city…theater, music concerts, museums and events, while staying in the smaller Safety Harbor. I love her new little town.

We packed up early Monday morning and moved a little south for the next two weeks and some warmer days; out of the RV Park and back into some new state park campgrounds. YES!!!!

TAMPA AREA HISTORY Jan 15-17, 2014

Since it was too windy and cold for bike rides or afternoons at the beach we spent two days seeing some of the history around Tampa Bay.  We've been wanting to visit one of the iconic buildings in the city located on the campus of the University of Tampa.  It's the former home of Henry Plant, a major developer of the railroads in this part of Florida at the turn of the century. 

We started with a walking tour of the original 1891 Tampa Bay Hotel with a wonderful woman who knew so much about the property and history of Tampa. It was a magnificent hotel in its day and is filled with treasures from around the world.  Its Moorish architecture can be seen as part of the Tampa skyline.

Across from the Hotel and Museum is Plant Park which looks out onto the modern city of Tampa.

We met up with Emily later that afternoon for sunset at the Olde Bay Cafe in Dunedin, chilly but a beautiful sunset once again.

Friday we had made reservations for a walking tour of Ybor City, a historic neighborhood in Tampa. It was founded in the 1880s by cigar manufacturers and was populated by thousands of immigrants from Cuba, Spain and Italy. A local resident, Lonnie, was our guide with 2 hours to show us his town. It all began with one man, Vicente Ybor, when he  moved his cigar making operation from Key West to the tiny Tampa area in 1885 beginning with the purchase of 40 acres of land.  To attract employees, Ybor built hundreds of small houses for the Cuban and Spanish cigar workers, many of whom followed him from Key West and Cuba.  Soon other cigar manufactures also moved in, making Tampa a major cigar production center.

One of the buildings we visited was the beautifully restored Don Vicente de Ybor Historic Hotel once the Ybor Land and Improvement Company, it is said to have its own resident ghost.

The main lobby

We walked so many of the city blocks and stood near the original Ybor Cigar Company building.  One tradition that the workers brought with them from cigar factories in Cuba was that of "El Lector" (The Reader).  Because the job of rolling cigar after cigar could become monotonous, the workers wanted something to occupy and stimulate the mind. Thus began the tradition of lectors, who sat perched on an elevated platform in the cigar factory reading to the workers. The lector typically would begin with Spanish newspapers and some fiction, such as an adventure novel then move on to political writings about the current events in Cuba or Spain.  Because of the lector system, even cigar workers who could not read were exposed to classic literature and were aware of political philosophy and current events in Ybor City and around the world…pretty amazing system!!!

 Though the city declined during the Depression and was left without funds for Urban Renewal in the 60s it is now regaining a new reputation for great restaurants and night life.

One of the most unusual places we visited was the Friends of Jose Marti Park, the only piece of "free Cuban soil" in the world. Over a hundred years ago, Jose Marti, the Apostle of Cuban Liberty, visited Tampa to raise awareness and collect money for Cuba Libre, the effort to rid Cuba of Spanish rule. He stayed at the home of Paulina Pedroso.  The Pedrosos eventually moved back to Cuba and the property passed through several hands until is was eventually donated to the Cuban government as a tribute to their national hero. In 1956 Cuba took possession of the deed, the American consul in Havana approved the transaction and now it stands behind locked gates, opened by request on the weekends. 

We ended our tour at the statue of Vicente Ybor in the center of town.

Next it was time for a lunch at the wonderful Cuban Columbia Restaurant down the street. We were able to get seats at the bar and enjoy their original Cuban sandwich with sangria, a perfect day's outing!