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Published: April 3rd 2019
Looks like “B” is the letter for today’s Blog! There will be some Blue-Light specials for you to see, also. Lulu is requesting that you call her “Beauty Belle” now! She is sooooo vain! We have several things to celebrate...BIG things! First: This big blog is my 500th blog that I have written. OMG! Yes....it is true. Since 2012, we have taken you to hundreds of places, seen tons of stuff together, introduced you to lots of folks and they to you, shared our very personal details, posted a million photos and made Lulu the famous Star she has always wanted to be. It has all been such an enjoyable experience for both Cory & myself. It would never have happened if you had not been with us the entire time. We are forever grateful for your faithful, unwavering friendship. How many of you now have to wear glasses after reading all these ginormous ramblings? I see many hands going up. Once you have your cataracts done, you won’t need the glasses. There’s always always a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Life is good! Keeping with my usual routine...there are 35 photos in this blog so be
sure to keep scrolling as far down as you can go plus move to a second page. Wouldn’t want you to miss any. Lulu is always so afraid you won’t see every photo she is in! She loves all and any attention she can get! She can be so narsasistic sometimes!
The best “B” stands for Birthday.....Cory’s Birthday! So much to celebrate. Happy Birthday to yoooooou! The old guy is 75 years old now. Where has the time gone? Seems like yesterday when we celebrated his 40th birthday at our house with a big party with family and friends. I managed to celebrate his birthday way too much back then....collapsing in bed before all the guests had left. Trying to block that part out! Embarrrrassssed!
This year, Cory celebrated his birthday by traveling over 500 miles in 2 days with our dear friends, Sam & Sandy. It began on Friday, March 29th. We went to a Health Fair at the Auburndale Flea Market. We have shopped the flea market before for “stuff (old & new)” and we did this time, also. The health fair was okay. The Easter Bunny was thrilled to pose with Sam as well as
Health Fair at Auburndale
Easter Bunny & Sam, me & Lulu me & Lulu! We want chocolate eggs!! Got none! We left the fair with several bags of freebies. That’s why we went.....not because of Cory’s age or the Easter Bunny!
Our next stop was at a cookie factory: Toufayan. Sandy & I went in their little shop and loaded up on lots of cookies & crackers. Cheap, cheap, cheap but oh, so yummy, yum-yum. Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster would be in his glory! Munch, Munch!
Our destination was Parksdale Farms Strawberry Market. This was our first time here for the year. Look what we have been missing! Mega Strawberry Shortcakes & a Strawberry milkshake. You get sooooo much for your money. One shortcake could probably feed four but we do manage to devour each by ourselves. They are that good! Wish I could have shared some of mine with you.
Last stop of the day was at an old Hotel/Restaurant. This place has been recommended to us by John & Jeanne Peterson. It is called: The Hotel Restaurant....Home of Cooter’s n’ Smoks BBQ. Because we were filled to the brim with Strawberry shortcakes, we could only check it out. Rustic on the outside, quaint and homey on
the inside. A group of ladies who work there kindly told us all about the place, their specials and times. Limited menu and times but worthy of a try....especially after John has told us about how great the food is and how friendly the staff is. That part we can attest to.
Okay.....time to rest up for the big day: March 30th....Cory’s 75th Birthday! Happy Birthday, Bucky! Lulu kissed him all over....best she could. Hmmmmm.....let’s think - what might Cory enjoy doing on his birthday? Ponder, Ponder, Ponder. Ahhhh. I know. This is the perfect plan. We shall take him to an advertised Mega Garage Sales held in a big exhibition hall near St.Cloud. Oh, yes! Of course, being the nice guy he is, he said that would be fine. I don’t know if he was mumbling something under his breath or chewing popcorn. Lulu was excited. Sam was excited. Sandy was on par with Cory. We arrived after the early bird special - entrance now was $2.00 each. We wandered up and down the aisles searching for that one special treasure. BINGO! I found a Disney House of Blues denim jacket. Just like new! The right size, too.
They are pricey at their store! We paid $15.00. Happy Birthday, Cory! You look great!
The Birthday excursion did not end here! Even though it was a long haul away, we ventured to The Eustis Busker Festival....obviously in Eustis, Florida. How many of you know what a Busker is? Be honest now. I didn’t and had to look it up. A Busker is: a person who performs music or other entertainment in the street or another public place for monetary donations. Yep, they are outside street performers. After driving forever on roads we had never touched before, we finally made it to Eustis. Close to where we parked, we quickly came upon the first of the performers: a 3 man group playing a mandolin, guitar and a music saw. That’s right....a saw! He said he had it specially made. What a fantastic sound it made! Worthy of our tip. We made our way up their Main Street. The performers had certain times and locations where they would play. At the end of the street was a lovely belly dancer doing her curvy moves while singing. Lulu was so jealous! She wished she had a belly! Lulu was thrilled to
Parksdale Strawberry Market
Humongous Strawberry Shortcakes have a few good photo shots. Anything to get herself exposed to the world. “Little Miss Show Off”! We ate at a busy restaurant called Tilly’s. Great food with huge portions. They were short staffed so service was sluggish but we were content just resting and enjoying each other’s company. When we left, we watched some Mexican dancers perform to taped music by a Mariachi Band. They were very good but must have been so hot in their fancy, colorful costumes. We bid the buskers farewell and headed home.
Once back to the RV, the birthday celebration for the Birthday Boy continued. Sam & Sandy gave him a ton of perfect gifts! They know him well! He received two hats: one with N.Y. on it, the other with Ford! He loves peppermint patties so was thrilled with a huge bag of them. He loved his two, old, collector license plates. One from the N.Y. World’s Fair - 1940. The other is a motorcycle plate from NY...Sam said he could put it on my 3 wheeled bicycle.....I like that idea. So does Miss Show-Off. He got a pair of big, hard dice (die). Right up his alley cause he always
plays the hard six when playing craps. Remember Mr. Lucky: A Real Winner! The gifts were stored in a very special gift box. It showed how to use your ear wax to make candles...nice, very nice. If we should give you a gift of a candle in the future......just know it is from our hearts and our ear wax! Treasure it! Just like we treasure all of you! Thank you for your generosity, kindness and friendship Sam & Sandy. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Nope, not done yet .....the birthday guy still had more in store. Our good friend & neighbor, Melba, brought him a scrumptious ice cream sundae. Take a look....so yummy & fancy. Of course, I “oooooed & drooled” over it so Melba went back to her place and made me one! How great is this lady? You are the best, Melba! Thank you so much! We are so glad you are our friend!
Cory received so many nice Happy Birthday wishes over the Internet from our family and our friends. You all made his day extra special and happy. He almost forgot how old he was until Lulu reminded him...she can be a real party pooper! Remember, as we
raise our glass to each of you: There are Good Ships and Wood Ships but the Best Ships are Friendships! Thank you everyone!
Sam & Sandy had one of their granddaughters, her husband and their two children come for a visit. What a beautiful family. The smiles on S&S (my abbreviation for Sam & Sandy) faces were contagious! Everyone was smiling & so happy!
Cory and I decided to go to an advertised Blueberry Festival in Kissimmee. Of course, I assumed it was located in the main part of Kissimmee city....WRONG! Then we put it on our GPS....WRONG address! After making a very lengthy circle, we finally found it at a place called Formosa Gardens (Kissimmee) off of Rt.192.....the road we travel ALL the time! This is why I am so humble: I’m not perfect! So glad I carry extra socks & sneakers in our car. My feet would have struggled in my sandals with the sand and mulch this Festival was located on. We checked out all the crafty vendors, the limited “blueberry” items for sale and the food court. The festival ran for 3 days. On prior days, their musical entertainment looked very enticing....this day there
was a gal with a lovely voice but no one we knew. When we left, we realized we were at the backside of Margaritaville.
Guess where we went next! Think about it. Hint,Hint.....my favorite store. Yup....you got it. Walmart! There are so many of them down here...just go around a block and viola! - a Walmart! It just doesn’t get any better! I’m like a Cheshire Cat when Bucky pulls into their parking lot. This visit was different though. As we eagerly pranced towards the store, a young woman came running at warp speed past us screaming “Help me, Help me!” What? We turned and ran behind her. “Help me.....I left my baby in my car”. Oh, God! The worst crossed my mind. It was a very hot day! She opened the car and grab the baby in its car seat and just put it down at my feet. The baby was awake, moving and okay. The mother was a mess. She was shaking and sobbing. I asked her for water for the baby but she couldn’t even respond. A man sitting in his car right next to hers gave us a bottle of water for me to give
to the baby to drink plus pour onto the baby. The grandmother showed up. The baby’s skin was normal feeling. He wanted to grab the bottle in his own hands...sweet. Since the baby was okay and the mother had settled down, we told her to just take the baby in the air conditioned store. Which she did. She said the baby was probably only shut up in the car 5 minutes but, here in, Florida, it doesn’t take a long time for serious results. She said she was so distracted by other things....she just forgot the baby was still in the car. Guess the grandmother was distracted also. I’m just glad it ended well. We still shopped at my favorite store....it’s like visiting an old friend with lots of stuff for sale.
Today was another medical day. I swear, between Cory & myself, our winter season has consisted of constant doctor visits. Fortunately, they are all in the same building in Celebration. We either go to the 1st floor or 3rd floor and turn either left or right. “Eeny meeny miny mo” which way shall we go? Today we went to the right on the 3rd floor. Cory had
an appointment with the dermatologist we have both gone to down here. Dr.Goodless....very nice & very good. This was a return visit for Cory after the doctor had sent two spots for biopsy. One was pre-cancer and only needed to be frozen off. The other was basal cell carcinoma that he “punched it out” and put 2 stitches in. He said he wanted to do a full body check on him when we return in the late fall. Oh, what a field day Dr.Goodless will have with Mr. Spotty Mole. Welcome to the club, Buckaroo. Lulu wishes she could go to this doctor cause he’s so kind but her skin only gets dirty. She going in my dishwasher once we get home to NY. I saw that cleansing idea on Facebook. She’ll come out all shiny and clean. Glowing! You’ll all need sunglasses to look upon Miss Brilliance.
We continued our day by going to Costco, Old Time Pottery and of course, Walmart. Yippee. Lunch was at Bar Harbor where I devoured my usual, delicious lobster (lobstah....New England accent) roll. Cory enjoyed his shrimp dinner. The 4 person group seated next to us must have not been here before
and had very hearty appetites. They each ordered a lobster roll dinner plus a full, Maine steamed lobster dinner! Wow! They struggled eating their lobster. I told them they could get the crackers from inside the store. After I saw one of the men trying to eat the green goo .....I looked away.
Our friends, Sandy & Jim, visited with us before they headed home to upstate NY. She gave Sandy & myself some photographs she had taken. So nice of her. She took them at the Tropical Palms Block Party that I already took you to. Sandy & Jim are great people. We love that we can call them our friends.
And we love that we can call all of you our friends, too. It’s the friends we meet along life’s road who help us appreciate the journey. Thank you everyone!
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John Perry Peterson
non-member comment
500 blogs
This was really good Sandy. 500 blogs. Fantastic REALLY interesting , and nice pictures.