Advertisement
Published: January 28th 2017
Time does not allow me the needed amount required to be on the go and write this blog. It's kind of like treading water to keep my head above it all. Blub, Blub, Blub. I think you know what I'm talking about. We've been keeping you on the go since we landed just about 4 weeks ago. Boy. Has the time gone by. Time flies when you are having a good time...that's so right!
Monday was lunch together at Bar Harbor again. You cannot go wrong with this place. Such great seafood at such great prices! The day before, we had quite a storm hit our area. We were battened down like we were pulling out of the park. Cory put everything away. The winds were so strong and the rains so heavy! Glad that disturbing event is over. I saw some of you pulling the covers up over heads..me, too. And Lulu, too. All the outdoor umbrellas at the Harbor were taken away because of the storm. Still chilly and breezy so we decided to just eat our lunch inside the car. Cozy....like being at a drive-in movie. Just no big, speaker box hanging in our window. Remember those?
We sold quite a few when we're were in "the business".
Still on our bucket list was to go back to Ikea. This enormous, great store is located not toooo far from Bar Harbor. We were in there for hours and walked many miles up and around all the furnishings and goodies. Of course, I managed to find a couple items that we really needed...not.....but bought them anyway. We had been told to be sure and eat at their cafe and have their meatballs....Swedish meatballs of course. Even hiking for miles throughout the store on both floors and one floor twice, we hadn't worked up a huge appetite. Cory and I got the children's size and Sam & Sandy split a regular order. More than enough for all of us. Excellent food. Cheap prices! I even splurged on a deep, dark chocolate cake slice that we shared: to-die-for cake but doesn't beat Cracker Barrel's chocolate coca-cola cake. Nothing can top that! We even bought their cinnamon rolls to go and split them. Yummy. More walking needed after this stomach filling day.
My arthritic knee is acting up so I'm not walking as often or as far with tiny
Cafe
Shelves of ItemsSandy. Lulu tried to take my place but she couldn't keep up. Her head rolling gave her a terrible headache. Cory seems to be holding up well. Lucky!
Tuesday, we did another adventure on the bucket list. We went here last year and really enjoyed ourselves. We zoomed on I-4 to the Canadian Snowbird Extravaganza in Lakeland. This was the first day of the show so we expected the massive crowds like last year. Wrong! There were plenty of people at it but nothing like compared to last year. Lulu stayed in the car. It was cool so she was comfortable. She doesn't get any lighter as time goes by and I knew I would be collecting bags of free goodies from the advertisers .....the free stuff beat out Miss Heavy Head. Sorry, Lu. They have free entertainment and many booths of various advertisers promoting items and places for the millions of snowbirds who descend upon Florida for the winter. We had a good time collecting the hand-outs. Actually, the Encore Company that presently owns Topical Palms, had a booth set up. They had a show special for making site reservations at TP for next year so we took
advantage of it and signed up. We're happy! So, now you know where you'll be this time in 2018. Same place, Same time. Hooray!
After we left the show, we went on Rt.27 and ate at Manny's. This is their original one and soooooo good. They make the salad at your table, have delicious, mouth dissolving warm rolls and a great menu. We order from the Early Bird Special.....good prices. Plus, it's Happy Hour so Cory really loves this place! If you have never been here.....GO! You won't regret it and you will keep it on your "return" list.
Wednesday, Cory & I headed off down Rt. 192 so Cory could get his hair cut. Immediately, I was dying of thirst so he drove a tad further and got me a big drink at WaWa's (big gas station, store and eatery down here). Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Across the street, at a big Walmart, three huge Budweiser trucks pulled in to the Walmart parking lot. They carried the Clydesdale horses and staff. They were doing a 2 hours walk around the parking lot. OMG. We flew over there and parked right
next to them. A dream-come-true: fantastic, famous horses at my beloved Walmart. It just doesn't get any better than this. Life is Good. We watched the entire process of unloading the huge, gorgeous horses, their tedious grooming and getting hitched to the well-known red wagon. Boy, many of the staff members worked and worked on polishing that up. Took a long time. Barley, the Dalmatian, was a delight to see, also. Cory met up with top Budweiser Beer distributor for the State of Florida. He said they have three teams: one from St.Louis, one from California and this team was from New Hampshire. Cory said he promised him he could have all the beer he wanted forever....yeah, right. Dream on, Big Fella! I took a thousand pictures through the entire procedure of getting ready and then traveling around the parking lot. The horses stood for a very long time in front of the Walmart store.....oh, glory day!
This Saturday (tomorrow), these famous horses are going to be on display again at the Amusement Park/Old Town area that is located just in front of Tropical Palms. We plan to walk up to that. I think I got my best photos
at Walmart (my very favorite store) because it was sunny and no mega, huge crowds. At home, the most we get to see are the Amish driving their horse past our house. I don't like seeing their horses cause they are so thin and they make them go so very far! Poor horses! Not like these babied-to-the-hilt Clydesdale horses. Lucky horses!
Now the day (Wednesday) had moved quickly into late afternoon. Cory got his haircut after he dropped me at a Target Superstore. More good finds of stuff that we needed! We sped down the pike to another Walmart that Cory likes better. I love them all. I'm not complaining. If it's a Walmart, I'm dancing in the aisles at it. One last stop was at Publix grocery. Cory loves Ruffle Potato Chips .....you may already know that. The grocery store had a sale on their party size chips: bogo. When we were here before (2nd time) they still didn't have them so we got a rain check. This visit, they STILL didn't have them. I asked a clerk who said he would get the manager. Good! Eric, the manager, listened to our plight. He looked at the family
size bags there, grabbed 4 of them and said we would get ALL 4 for a total of $4.29 (price of 1 bag)! Great deal. Great manager. Great store. Great customer service. Cory was happy!
One last stop: supper at CiCi's. This is a pizza buffet place. Wonderful, various pizzas, pasta dishes, pasta soups, salad & deserts. If I can't walk with Tiny Sandy, I'll have to crawl and drag behind her. You can't eat like a glutton and expect the weight to fall off. It just doesn't seem to work that way. I've tried. Rats.
Cory played golf on Thursday and I got caught up on some of my chores. That's always a relief. It means I am free to go again wherever the wind takes us. Be ready cause you are part of this roaming nomad group. See you, then.
Lot of photos, especially of the Clydesdales, so keep scrolling...."just keep scrolling, just keep scrolling" as Dory says. Actually, there is even a second page of photos (30) so keep going. ?
Advertisement
Tot: 0.305s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 10; qc: 60; dbt: 0.1595s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Colleen
non-member comment
Loved the Horses
Back at the ranch we are looking at a winter wonder land, every thing has a white coat and it is beautiful, but then again I am staying inside. Loved the horses and the shopping trip but when do we go to Dillards?? Dinner at CiCi;s looked very, very good for low cal food. Sandy you are looking fit I think all of your walking is paying off. Happy Trails !