While home in the cold and snowy north, we try to make the best of it .... outdoor and indoor activities abound here in upstate NY and we are close enough to Vermont to take a quick trip now and then to visit our daughter Beth and her family in the Rutland/Killington area; and even took a quick trip to Cape Cod to visit our friends, the Taylors. Schenectady's Central Park is great in winter - the city just sponsored a wonderful Winter Carnival with a Chili Cook-Off, sledding, skating, and tons of other activities. We spent a sunny afternoon snowshoeing [View Full Entry]

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Sarasota, Florida - Feb. 5, 2008 Tuesday, Feb. 5 - Our flight into Fort Myers was uneventful. The Schooner was right where we left it in the long term lot at the airport. Nice not to have to take a cab to an RV storage area. We headed for Sarasota. Sun ‘n Fun is just that - bright sunshine and a fun Mardi Gras atmosphere! Wednesday / Thursday - Pool, hot tubs and lots of reading on Wednesday until we drove into Sarasota to catch a sunset at Bayfront Park and snacks at O’Leary’s Tikki Bar (we had learned about O’Leary’s [View Full Entry]

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From the weekend of December 15, 2007 --- The waves are wild; the weather is wild; huge wild buzzards are buzzing; and the destination is wild - Sunday at Stan's "Buzzard's Bay South" on Goodland Island a few miles from Marco Island, Florida. Ironically we will be crossing Buzzard's Bay "North" on our way to Cape Cod before the year ends. Sunday is the day that the popular band, Hot Dam, plays at Stan's. It's the day that the bikers come in droves. On a weekday we had looked at Stan's parking lot full of dozens of empty folding tables and [View Full Entry]

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Hey there friends upstate in the ice and snow...we'll be there on Tuesday night--- However, until then, we are squeezing every ounce of fun out of this vacation - just like it is a big jucy orangeThird Street, Naples is so cool. It defines the classier; tonier, more monied Florida. You can tell by the cars - Jags and Bentleys; the incredibly lush and beautiful urban landscaping, the goods in the shops - Armani, Versaci, and Manolo, the beautiful people and even the dog breeds! Dressed for christmas, this splendid shopping / dining area was urban just gorgeous - night and [View Full Entry]

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Sometimes just doing what the locals do is just the best. Wednesday is Farmer's Market Day in Marco Island and we . We got pink gulf shrimp (these biggies were caught that very day). The cooking directions - boil for five minutes with a little sugar and a squeeze of key lime - proved to be outstanding. The "captain" who was selling the shrimp also threw in a few grapefruit, key limes, and oranges. We bought guacamole (from a man from Columbia), anchovie stuffed olives (from a charming Frenchman), and marmalade made with local citrus. We passed by interesting pineapple plants, [View Full Entry]

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Hi all - Life continues to be good. We ventured up to Tin City, a series of old tin-roofed buildings that have been turned into gift shops and restaurants located just as you cross the bridge on Route 41 to enter Naples. We didn't buy anything and came back later to the Riverwalk Restaurant for lunch (grouper sandwich for Wes; grouper tacos for me. The food was wonderful! The Riverwalk is a sister restaurant to the Dock at Crayton's Cove, which is one of our favorite Naples' restaurants. The big surprise of the day happened when we walked along the board [View Full Entry]

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Hey Friends and Relatives - We have added a few of you as new addresses to our travel blog - you may "unsubscribe" if you prefer not to hear from us at this time. It's kind of like the "Christmas Letter," hope it's informative; not too braggy! You are free to share the link with others who like to travel. If you like reading about delish fresh sea food, cheese burgers in Paradise, drinks with fresh fruit in them, sunsets, beaches, off the beaten path destinations, kitschey touristy stuff, local art and artists, occasional horse or boat related side trips, and [View Full Entry]

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Fort DeSoto State Park, St. Petersburg, Fl We have waterfront “property” amid palm trees and very natural surroundings at this lovely state park. Doing nothing; and doing it well was today’s theme. Wes cooked a memorable breakfast on the grill and then followed the advice of Rhys (Reese), the interesting young South African whom we met at the Enterprise car rental store and headed for North Beach. It’s a dream beach - softest white sand, good shelling (our favorites were miniature augers and “olives” and sand dollars). The sand dollars were the color [View Full Entry]

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Magellan Assisted Motor Home Trip - NY to FL via Fancy Gap, VA; Charleston, NC; St. Augustine, FL Eats and Surprises on the Road to Florida Hi guys, The big surprises were eating amazing breakfast crepes and admiring magnolia wreaths and swags at Charleston’s wonderful farmer’s market, joining in at a charity chili cook off to benefit the Charleston animal shelter, sharing tasty shrimp & grits on the upper deck of the Charleston Crab Shack, being dazzled by some 600 lighted holiday displays at James Island County Park where we were staying, discovering Gallery Chuma, featurin [View Full Entry]

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A motor coach, chartered from Brown Transportation of Amsterdam, New York took members of Proctor's Theatre's Guild and their guests to a Wednesday Matinee performance of Tony Award-Winning Broadway Musical, "Jersey Boys." After an interesting "side trip" through the Latino food market section of Secaucus. New Jersey (which we would like to re-visit some other time), our bus left us off at Bryant Park in Midtown, Manhattan. Bryant Park, a green oasis with a carrousel, takes up two blocks behind the New York Public Library on 6th Ave. (Avenue of the Americas) between 40 and 42 St. We scu [View Full Entry]

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