Wes and I have a tradition when we fly out of the Tampa Airport. We stay at a hotel close to the airport, enjoy an amazing sunset dinner at the elegant Rusty Pelican, and leave for the airport before the sun comes up next morning. This time, we programmed Old Hyde Park Village, Tampa into the Magellan and Jeeped on down from Ocala. Old Hyde Park Village is a "lifestyle center" (residential/ retail/ restaurants) near downtown Tampa. Zita had given us a post card promoting a benefit showing of Princess Diana's Dresses in a former furniture store in the village. After [View Full Entry]

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We got the RV ready for storage at New Episode Thoroughbred Training Farm in Ocala. We found we had two Black Angus steers grazing inside a fence next to where the RV will stay. We enjoyed a nice meal at the Horse & Hounds and turned in early. Wes took the pictures at the morning work out for Royal Vagabond, a two year old we have an interest in with a few other friends and relatives. We took off in the Jeep for Tampa by late morning. [View Full Entry]

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We were on our way to Ocala from Crystal River and stopped in at Rainbow River State Park. Our timing was perfect - we hit the peak of azalia season in this part of Florida. Like other Florida State Parks, this started out as a "theme park" type attraction. It was "Gaudy Florida" said the engaging volunteer we talked to. It had glass bottom boats, man made waterfalls, a skyway tram shaped like two leaves, an aviay, wild animals, etc. It fell into disuse as so many theme park properties did when the Disney empire began its growth and when I-75 [View Full Entry]

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This amazing place was once a private theme park. The state of Florida deserves kudos for purchasing it and enhancing a wonderful natural area. In the transition from private to public; all non native animals were distributed to zoos and other appropriate venues. The hippo, Lu, once a movies star, remains because he is too big and dangerous to move. The map and signage earn an A + rating! [View Full Entry]

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This is, very old Florida; and it is very new to us. The campsite at Crystal Isles has some water sites with docks and an "on site" home made ice cream stand, a great destination for our after dinner walk. Homasassa State Park is so amazing it has its own blog entry. We had always tried to picture "swimming with the manatees" and now have the visual locked in our heads. This would be fun to do with kids. The remote little villages on the Gulf of Mexico west of Route 19 are fun to discover. This is hurricane country. We [View Full Entry]

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Tampa is a great location - we had so much fun ALL in one day! Here's the itinerary: Meet George and Zita in Ybor City near the Columbia Restaurant. George takes us to Plant City where we eat strawberry shortcakes and drool over the flowering plants. Back to Ybor City - Tampa's Latin Quarter - where we make late lunch reservations at the famed Columbia and take a stroll during which our "men" are lured into a Cigar Maker's Den and emerge with stoogies - lighted stogies! We hopped on the Ybor City trolley and took a round trip - $2.50 [View Full Entry]

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This is our second stay at Fort De Soto Camp Grounds and third visit to the park. We didn't revisit the historic Fort, because there were things we hadn't done on our other Fort De Soto ports of call. We lucked out with a gorgeous, naturally landscaped "water" site with a pristine little beach. We found the pontoon boat ferry running between Fort De Soto and Egmont Key worth the $20 ticket. The only person who lives full time on the island is the lighthouse keeper. The island has changed over the years thanks to erosion and tropical storms. A fort [View Full Entry]

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It is hard to beat Sarasota especially for its diverse cultural, urban, natural beauty and beach destination mix. We can't get enough! We saw Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale at The Mertz Theatre at the Asolo Center for the Performing Arts near the Ringling complex. We enjoyed a play last year at the beautiful, intimate and Historic Asolo Theatre and decided to try the larger theatre this year. The Mertz Theatre is another gem. Expect perfect accoustics, great seating and a very talented repetory cast (it's Florida State University's Graduate School of Acting). The production was amazing. [View Full Entry]

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An artist at a craft fair turned us on to Myakka River State Park. How could we have missed this gem on previous visits to Sarasota? It's Florida's largest state park and it abounds with wild life. We enjoyed the drive to the boat landing, took a great one hour boat tour with an interesting and well informed Captain/Narrator, took a tram ride through primal tropical forest, enjoyed a "bird walk" out into Myakka Lake," and ended up with a short hike to a set of canopy towers transversed by a hanging "jungle" bridge that brought us into the trees and [View Full Entry]

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Marie Selby Botanical Gardens - It is so wonderful that wealthy women - like Marie Selby in Sarasota; Charlotte Hyde in Glens Falls, NY; and Isabelle Stuart Gardner in Boston, donate their homes, art collections and, in this case, gardens, to be enjoyed by all. This lovely attraction is indeed worth the rather pricy $17 admission fee. Again, pictures speak a thousand words. [View Full Entry]

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