Sarasota, FL
Every Saturday morning for roughly 30 years now, the downtown area of Sarasota has hosted a Farmer’s Market. This year-round event features fresh baked goods, artisan booths, an occasional musician or two, fine coffee and other munchables, and several vendors of fresh produce (some even locally or organically grown). It is a place for friends to meet and dogs to greet. Everyone has a smile on their face; it is just a warm, fuzzy kind of happening.
We took our time strolling through the booths and ended up choosing some fine root vegetables for roasting. Suzie got herself a warm cup of wake up, and I chose a nice ginger cookie with chunks of chewy and spicy. We sat down at a table and listened to a man playing Christmas carols on a steel drum. It was odd, and yet comforting to hear tropical sounding carols. We were both so happy to be here and not back in Pittsburgh, where our friends are freezing. It was a beautiful, sunny day – the kind you expect to have in Florida, even if it is December.
I really like the idea of going to the market and picking out food that somebody picked and is now sharing with me. It feels like I’m more involved with my meal, and I have a great time doing it. If you’d like to find out about the Sarasota Downtown Farmer’s Market, or a farmer’s market in your area, try visiting LocalHarvest.org at http://www.localharvest.org/.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
Day #23 - Good Eats
Sarasota, FL
I like Sarasota. I like the weather, the tropical breezes, and the blue skies. I also like the diversity of this town. Today, Suzie and I found a wonderful Latin bakery and restaurant with cheap eats and tasty food. It looked more like a diner with its melamine topped tables and casual style-- just our kind of place! One wall held glass cases that were stuffed to the gills with fresh baked breads and pastries, and the meals we ordered were muy bueno! And the best part is that it is within walking distance of the house. It’s a good thing we drove, because we both had full, round, puppy bellies when we left.
I like Sarasota. I like the weather, the tropical breezes, and the blue skies. I also like the diversity of this town. Today, Suzie and I found a wonderful Latin bakery and restaurant with cheap eats and tasty food. It looked more like a diner with its melamine topped tables and casual style-- just our kind of place! One wall held glass cases that were stuffed to the gills with fresh baked breads and pastries, and the meals we ordered were muy bueno! And the best part is that it is within walking distance of the house. It’s a good thing we drove, because we both had full, round, puppy bellies when we left.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Day #22 – Windshield Replacement
Sarasota, FL
SafeLite Auto showed up this morning and replaced our windshield. They did a great job! I was surprised how quick the guy did it, and he didn’t shatter the old one to take it out. For some reason I was really looking forward to the total annihilation of the old windshield. I was even hoping they would let me hit it with a hammer or something. But nope. They have special tools and me brandishing a mini-sledge is not part of their program.
Feeling unsatisfied, Suzie and I headed off for Target to buy copious amounts of chocolate and some short-sleeved shirts.
SafeLite Auto showed up this morning and replaced our windshield. They did a great job! I was surprised how quick the guy did it, and he didn’t shatter the old one to take it out. For some reason I was really looking forward to the total annihilation of the old windshield. I was even hoping they would let me hit it with a hammer or something. But nope. They have special tools and me brandishing a mini-sledge is not part of their program.
Feeling unsatisfied, Suzie and I headed off for Target to buy copious amounts of chocolate and some short-sleeved shirts.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Day #21 – Searching for Warm Weather Clothes
Sarasota FL
This morning we headed out for a walk to the Sunrise Café. This not-so-kosher deli has amazing breakfasts. They actually include a serving of fresh fruit with every order. Yum. The café is about ½ mile from the house where we’re staying. Maureen stopped us – she was driving to a near-by shopping center. We chatted for a bit before continuing our walk.
After breakfast, we walked to a couple resale shops, hoping to find some short-sleeved shirts. Clothes are a nasty subject for me right now. For years, I haven’t bothered wearing clothes that look good on me. I’m so fat, why bother? I realize it’s a downward self-esteem spiral, but there I am. I want clothes that are comfortable, make me look as good as possible, don’t cost a lot, while instantly portraying who I am – representing my true identity - so that strangers see “me”. They also have to help me blend in so I don’t get called “sir” and we don’t get hassled for being more than “good friends”. Oh, and they have to be able to survive both the washer and the dryer – no special treatment any more. That’s a lot to expect from any clothes shop, let alone a resale shop. Still, we had pretty good luck. Kelly found an adorable girrly golf shirt and I found an orange open-weave I liked. For some reason, I can wear those scary colors like yellow, olive green, and orange. We trudged home with our new treasures. By then, it was pretty hot and I had a blister.
Later, I had quite a conversation with Geico about the cracked windshield. They sent someone out to look at it – it was less money to pay for the replacement than our deductible would have been. So, we’ll be house-bound tomorrow, waiting for the glass people to come. That’s a lot better than having to sit in a repair shop while they work on it.
This morning we headed out for a walk to the Sunrise Café. This not-so-kosher deli has amazing breakfasts. They actually include a serving of fresh fruit with every order. Yum. The café is about ½ mile from the house where we’re staying. Maureen stopped us – she was driving to a near-by shopping center. We chatted for a bit before continuing our walk.
After breakfast, we walked to a couple resale shops, hoping to find some short-sleeved shirts. Clothes are a nasty subject for me right now. For years, I haven’t bothered wearing clothes that look good on me. I’m so fat, why bother? I realize it’s a downward self-esteem spiral, but there I am. I want clothes that are comfortable, make me look as good as possible, don’t cost a lot, while instantly portraying who I am – representing my true identity - so that strangers see “me”. They also have to help me blend in so I don’t get called “sir” and we don’t get hassled for being more than “good friends”. Oh, and they have to be able to survive both the washer and the dryer – no special treatment any more. That’s a lot to expect from any clothes shop, let alone a resale shop. Still, we had pretty good luck. Kelly found an adorable girrly golf shirt and I found an orange open-weave I liked. For some reason, I can wear those scary colors like yellow, olive green, and orange. We trudged home with our new treasures. By then, it was pretty hot and I had a blister.
Later, I had quite a conversation with Geico about the cracked windshield. They sent someone out to look at it – it was less money to pay for the replacement than our deductible would have been. So, we’ll be house-bound tomorrow, waiting for the glass people to come. That’s a lot better than having to sit in a repair shop while they work on it.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Day #20 – Leaving Disney
Walt Disney World FL to Sarasota FL
Packing up after a longer stay is a new experience for us. Thank heavens we started last night! We’re starting to get a rhythm to this. I pack up the bathroom and the bedroom. Then, I go outside and do all the flushing and draining and disconnecting. It’s a dirty job, but easier on me physically than all the heavy lifting stuff that Kelly does inside. This time it was a bit more challenging than usual because we knew the trailer would have to be nearly empty when we delivered it to the dealer for service. So, clothes came out of the wardrobe and drawer and into a suitcase while items we knew we wouldn’t need until we returned to the Open Road got packed away.
Our drive to Sarasota was pretty much like our other towing days. It’s a lot easier to pull out of a parking space than it is to back into one! Walt Disney World property, with its maze of roads, can get pretty confusing. Maggie (our trusty GPS) can’t tell the difference between a public road and an access road. So, we were happy we’d been driving around enough over the past week to get a pretty good mental map of where we had to go to get onto the highway. Traffic was very heavy the whole way. We stay in the far right lane, keeping it just under 60 miles per hour, which means we sometimes have truck issues. We got stuck in a convoy – four big dump trucks hauling gravel. Even though each bed was covered with tarps, stones were flying everywhere. Naturally, a stone hit our windshield and cracked it. It grew longer, giving us lively conversation for the rest of the trip. How long would it get? Would the windshield fall into my lap? Would our insurance cover it? What would happen next? Clearly the universe has been quite creative so far.
I love Sarasota. Driving into town felt like coming home. Blue skies, a faint breeze, warm air. There’s nothing like it. Maureen saw us pull down the street and came over to greet us. The folks next door came out, too. We quickly unloaded our gear into the garage and took off for Port Charlotte and the RV repair shop.
We somehow managed to complete all these tasks before sunset. We had supper at one of our favorite spots – Sharkey’s on the Pier (http://www.sharkysonthepier.com/). Fresh hope for a new day comes easily after fish tacos and a sunset at Sharkey’s.
But wait: there’s more! The day did not end here. Our next stop was Wal-Mart for a TV. After ten years with Kelly, I’ve learned when to just get out of the way. No, I didn’t want a TV. Yes, we got a TV. Flat screen, slightly larger than an index card. TV was one of the things I wanted to get away from on this journey, but more about that on another day.
Packing up after a longer stay is a new experience for us. Thank heavens we started last night! We’re starting to get a rhythm to this. I pack up the bathroom and the bedroom. Then, I go outside and do all the flushing and draining and disconnecting. It’s a dirty job, but easier on me physically than all the heavy lifting stuff that Kelly does inside. This time it was a bit more challenging than usual because we knew the trailer would have to be nearly empty when we delivered it to the dealer for service. So, clothes came out of the wardrobe and drawer and into a suitcase while items we knew we wouldn’t need until we returned to the Open Road got packed away.
Our drive to Sarasota was pretty much like our other towing days. It’s a lot easier to pull out of a parking space than it is to back into one! Walt Disney World property, with its maze of roads, can get pretty confusing. Maggie (our trusty GPS) can’t tell the difference between a public road and an access road. So, we were happy we’d been driving around enough over the past week to get a pretty good mental map of where we had to go to get onto the highway. Traffic was very heavy the whole way. We stay in the far right lane, keeping it just under 60 miles per hour, which means we sometimes have truck issues. We got stuck in a convoy – four big dump trucks hauling gravel. Even though each bed was covered with tarps, stones were flying everywhere. Naturally, a stone hit our windshield and cracked it. It grew longer, giving us lively conversation for the rest of the trip. How long would it get? Would the windshield fall into my lap? Would our insurance cover it? What would happen next? Clearly the universe has been quite creative so far.
I love Sarasota. Driving into town felt like coming home. Blue skies, a faint breeze, warm air. There’s nothing like it. Maureen saw us pull down the street and came over to greet us. The folks next door came out, too. We quickly unloaded our gear into the garage and took off for Port Charlotte and the RV repair shop.
We somehow managed to complete all these tasks before sunset. We had supper at one of our favorite spots – Sharkey’s on the Pier (http://www.sharkysonthepier.com/). Fresh hope for a new day comes easily after fish tacos and a sunset at Sharkey’s.
But wait: there’s more! The day did not end here. Our next stop was Wal-Mart for a TV. After ten years with Kelly, I’ve learned when to just get out of the way. No, I didn’t want a TV. Yes, we got a TV. Flat screen, slightly larger than an index card. TV was one of the things I wanted to get away from on this journey, but more about that on another day.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Day #19 – Our Last Day at Disney
Walt Disney World, Florida
We were both pretty mopey this morning. Last day at Disney and we really aren’t ready to go. I mean who really wants the magic to end? We went to the shops in Downtown Disney to return some clothes for some smaller sizes, and treated ourselves to ice cream sundaes at Ghirardelli. Then we packed up some of the inside stuff in the trailer to prep ourselves for an early take-off in the morning.
After running around and exhausting ourselves, we had to remind ourselves that this IS the LAST day at Disney! We hopped a bus to the Magic Kingdom. It was a late pass night for hotel guests and the park wasn’t closing until Midnight.
We rode the Haunted Mansion, and Thunder Mountain, and then headed over to the big one – Splash Mountain. I’ve always liked Splash Mountain, because inside the mountain you float around singing about laughing places and watching the tale of Brer Rabbit unfold. Brer Rabbit stories have been one of my favorites since I was five. As you come out of a tunnel your log floats in a track that curves around edge of the ride, and you get to watch other riders in their logs plummet into the depths of the “Briar Patch”.
Right now, being our last night, we were in need of a laughing place. Well, we found it. Those folks heading for that Briar patch kick up a lot of water and from the front seat of our log boat we got to see it ALL, and wear it ALL. We looked like two drowned rats. At first Suzie was pretty steamed, but I just couldn’t quit laughing. I had been foolish enough to look up as the water was falling, so most of what hit me went down the inside of my raincoat, and the front of my shirt, and then it soaked my underpants. It didn’t take her long to find her laughing place too.
We got off the ride singing Zippity Do Dah and had a great evening.
We were both pretty mopey this morning. Last day at Disney and we really aren’t ready to go. I mean who really wants the magic to end? We went to the shops in Downtown Disney to return some clothes for some smaller sizes, and treated ourselves to ice cream sundaes at Ghirardelli. Then we packed up some of the inside stuff in the trailer to prep ourselves for an early take-off in the morning.
After running around and exhausting ourselves, we had to remind ourselves that this IS the LAST day at Disney! We hopped a bus to the Magic Kingdom. It was a late pass night for hotel guests and the park wasn’t closing until Midnight.
We rode the Haunted Mansion, and Thunder Mountain, and then headed over to the big one – Splash Mountain. I’ve always liked Splash Mountain, because inside the mountain you float around singing about laughing places and watching the tale of Brer Rabbit unfold. Brer Rabbit stories have been one of my favorites since I was five. As you come out of a tunnel your log floats in a track that curves around edge of the ride, and you get to watch other riders in their logs plummet into the depths of the “Briar Patch”.
Right now, being our last night, we were in need of a laughing place. Well, we found it. Those folks heading for that Briar patch kick up a lot of water and from the front seat of our log boat we got to see it ALL, and wear it ALL. We looked like two drowned rats. At first Suzie was pretty steamed, but I just couldn’t quit laughing. I had been foolish enough to look up as the water was falling, so most of what hit me went down the inside of my raincoat, and the front of my shirt, and then it soaked my underpants. It didn’t take her long to find her laughing place too.
We got off the ride singing Zippity Do Dah and had a great evening.
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