Beaches, alligators, bubble room, and retirement

Had fun with guests Bob and Vicki from Maryland, our old stomping grounds, with a lot of golf for Mark and adventure fun for me with Vicki. And yes, that's Vicki reading my book (Living a Life of Vitality) when we hit the beach. She's a fast reader and zipped right through it, giving me a wonderful thoughtful review.

We made it to my favorite Naples beach (Delnor Wiggins) and drove up to Captiva and Sanibel with equally lovely beaches. And for those who keep hearing about red tide ruining the beaches, we saw none just pristine sand.

We stopped in to The Bubble Room for lunch. Had to, we could not pass up this crazy place. The whole restaurant is decorated this way, has great food, and been open since the 70's. Fun.

We also visited Naples Botanical Gardens, an amazing 170 acres packed with every kind of exotic plant from many countries. A beautiful outing.

Last, but not least, the four of us took a drive down to the Everglades, having a bit of alligator spotting, and lunch at the Rod and Gun Club, as you can see circa 1864. Many presidents, and famous people, Hemingway for one, visited there. You can just feel the mood and atmosphere from that time.

Since that visit we've been over to Miami for the final goodbyes for Mark. He has retired!!! Wonderful celebrations for him with amazing accolades. It was all quite overwhelming, even for me and I'm not the one retiring. As you see, much golf playing is expected from now on.
Next up Christmas at Star Mountain. Yippee!!

San Diego, Miami, and Naples - a smorgasbord

This post is a mishmash of activity over the last ten days. Zipping back and forth from east coast to west coast. helping in the empty out condo project in Miami, and the peace of Naples.

View from our hotel room

We went to San Diego for a family funeral and as long as we were going all that way, stayed two extra days to see some of the sights. I hadn't been in 30 years. It's vibrant and pretty, though sadly a lot of homeless, one of the four big cities in CA with this giant problem.

Drove up the coast for a different view and saw lots of beach and lots of surfers too. These were part of a much larger group, all looked high school age to me. Um, it was a non-holiday weekday?

not a statue but a live model - wow

More sightseeing this time to Balboa Park, a 1200 acre park with a dozen museums and gorgeous grounds. This little one was at the entrance to the Japanese gardens. They take this stuff seriously there.

Miami from Brickell Key

Sightings started last summer - unusual

Lots of everything to be seen in Miami as usual. The scooters are everywhere in both Miami and San Diego. Just insert your credit card and go. Of course they are becoming a traffic hazard. People disregard all laws and just zoom. Lots of dogwalkers always, more people meditating then I've ever seen out, and the "little" floating house can be yours for only $5.9 million. It's a green, self-sustaining, handles hurricane force winds, and is 2600sq ft.

river otter

still haven't tried it

And then there's Naples. Definitely a quieter, slower pace of life, which is just fine with me. Started this post with west coast beach and ended up with the Gulf. The U.S. seems smaller when you crisscross this way. And now we're on countdown to both Mark's retirement and Christmas in winter wonderland at Star Mountain. Coming up soon!

The southern charm of Charleston

Oh so sad I've fallen in the black hole of non-posting. Apologies. But I'm back and determined to do better. Having just come from a lovely long weekend in Charleston, it's a perfect opportunity to restart. Mark and I went to see Tiffany, Chris, and Penny and Juliet in their new home. It's gorgeous as you can see. True southern charm.

They live on a quiet cul de sac on a wooded lot with a pond. We saw a doe, raccoon, and squirrels in their backyard, and though we kept an eye out, no alligator showed its face in the pond. There have been sightings and everyone know caution is the rule.

We got to tag along when there was a family photo shoot in a gorgeous park in downtown Charleston. So much beauty in that town.

250 year old live oaks

Cotton plant - never seen one up close

And the cotton ball

Our first visit to Boone Hall Plantation. It's five minutes from the house and a beautiful location. Founded in 1681, one of America's oldest working farms with 250 year old live oak trees. Lots of movies and tv series were filmed there (the Notebook, for one) along with a plethora of weddings. (Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds was the last celebrity one)  Chris's grandparents from Delaware happened to be on a road trip with their friend to Myrtle Beach and joined us for the afternoon. His grandmother kindly took this shot.

Back to Naples after not one, but two birthday dinners for me: Charleston and Miami. Very spoiled am I...