Florida Part IV

While driving through Bradenton, we stumbled upon a sign that directed us to the Desoto National Memorial. On a whim we decided to check it out. I'm sure glad we did!

In May 1539, de Soto landed nine ships with over 620 men and 220 horses
at the present day Shaw's Point, in Bradenton, FL. He named it Espíritu Santo after the Holy Spirit.


The ships brought priests, craftsmen, engineers, farmers, and merchants; some with their families, some from Cuba, most from Europe and Africa. Few of them had ever traveled outside of Spain, or even their home villages.

This guy is a cardboard cut-out that sits back in the woods. Pretty life-like huh?
The first extensive organized exploration of what is now the southern United States by Europeans is commemorated here. de Soto had come to the new world with a license from the King of Spain to explore, colonize, and pacify the Indians of the area known as "La Florida".


Located at Marina Jack in Sarasota is the statue of great controversy!
It is a replica of a famous photo taken in New York 1945 when Japan announced it's unconditional surrender.
Many people don't like the statue, calling it cheesy and feel it's out of place in the "classy art community of Sarasota".
But I read somewhere that the locals really love it and find it fascinating watching us tourists pose with it, and try to look up the skirt of the nurse!
Apparently this colossal statue is movable, as it did some time in San Diego.
Lots of folks were happy to see it return to Sarasota. However, if they want it to stay, they'll have to fork over $700,000. No one seems to know where it will be going next.

While we were at Marina Jack, we booked a ride on a beautiful 41' sailboat named The Enterprise.Enterprise Charter is owned by.... get this....Capt "Kirk" Harden!
The fellow in the photo is First Mate Bob. He made our trip around the harbor very comfortable and enjoyable! He is very knowledgable of the surrounding area.


The John Ringling Causeway Bridge was opened for the first time in 1925 by John Ringling himself. The purpose was to get buyers from the mainland to the barrier islands to buy land he had for sale.
The John Ringling Causeway Bridge has been a unique part of Sarasota's history for more than 80 years.




These condominiums, we were told, cost anywhere from $1 million - $3 million each!


Here is just one of thousands of multi-million dollar estates that sit on the waterfront all along the bay. First Mate Bob did some name dropping... I guess Jerry Springer, Valerie Bertinelli,Tom Cruise, and Steve Tyler have homes here.


This is another charter that we saw while sailing gracefully in the harbor. It had palm trees on top and a giant mermaid in the front of the boat. Quite the ride!


I laughed at this sign.... I'd never seen one before and it cracked me up! My companions were quick to say that the signs were not a novelty. I still found it photo worthy!


Well folks, that's it for the Florida trip! Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I had doing it! Thanks for all the wonderful comments too!

Ed Freeman

You're an 19 year old kid. You're critically wounded, and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley , 11-14-1965, LZ X-ray, Vietnam . Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8 - 1, and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the MediVac helicopters to stop coming in.
You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns, and you know you're not getting out. Your family is 1/2 way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you'll never see them again. As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.
Then, over the machine gun noise, you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter, and you look up to see an un-armed Huey, but it doesn't seem real, because no Medi-Vac markings are on it.
Ed Freeman is coming for you. He's not Medi-Vac, so it's not his job, but he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire, after the Medi-Vacs were ordered not to come.
He's coming anyway.
And he drops it in, and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 2 or 3 of you on board.
Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire, to the Doctors and Nurses.
And, he kept coming back.... 13 more times..... And took about 30 of you and your buddies out, who would never have gotten out.



Medal of Honor Recipient, Ed Freeman,died last Wednesday at the age of 80, in Boise , ID ......May God rest his soul.....
I bet you didn't hear about this hero's
passing, but we sure were told a whole
bunch about the presidents new dog in the White House.
Medal of Honor Winner
Ed Freeman!
Shame on the American Media

Florida Part III

We were very lucky to be able to stay in Florida for seven days. My previous vacations were short bursts...lasting only four days, two travel days and two days to explore and visit. This time, having seven days to do whatever came to mind, made it more relaxing and easier to decide on what we wanted to do with our time.

On the ride down to see my Aunt and Uncle who live in Englewood, we stopped at Stump Pass Beach
and got out long enough to take a quick walk. The day was chilly for Florida, (low 60's), the wind was whipping; a perfect day to do a car tour of the area. The visit with my family was wonderful. Lots and lots of talking, eating, and being merry! My uncle makes stained glass art and I took some photos....




aren't they beautiful?!

Another adventure we had was visting the Mote Aquarium located on City Island just a few miles outside of Sarasota. I especially liked the up close and personal with the (barb-less) Stingrays. They seemed to like the attention they were getting, swimming up close so folks could touch them. They feel incredible, not slimy, but sort of "spongy". The two resident dolphins

were not especially active, save for a moment or two when one of the handlers came out to the pool. One of the dolphins became quite excited and circled the large pool at great speeds, then favored us with a couple of jumps. Once he realized he wasn't getting food he calmed down a bit. Both dolphins were rescued from stranding and came from two different areas of the country. For whatever reason, the feds refused to allow the aquarium to re-release them after they had been rehabilitated and that is why they are now permanently located there.

I revisited the Sarasota Jungle Gardens, having discovered them on my last trip. It was Easter Egg Hunt day, and the park was full of children carrying baskets, searching for the treasured Easter eggs! The exhibits were great, and when we came upon the Flamingos,

we stopped long enough to feed them. They have a funny way of eating. I think their bills are upside down(?) so they have to lower their heads and turn them upside down to get their food down into their throats. It's quite the maneuver! My favorite part was the visit we had with the Birds of Paradise.... you are allowed to pick out a bird that you'd like to hold, and the trainer brings it over to you and places it on your arm. I held a little Sun Parakeet,

brilliantly colored with yellow and red feathers. My brother decided he wanted to hold a Cockatoo, so when the trainer brought it over, he held out his arm, and then `whoosh`!

The bird ran right up his arm and latched onto his ball cap! The bird apparently did not like the hat, tried to take it off of his head, and the trainer had to pry it out of the bird's beak!

It was hilarious! Hope you enjoy the photos!

I have two or three more adventures to share with you .... but I'll have to save them for the next post. Duty calls!

We Now Interrupt This Broadcast......

My brother just sent this to me in an e-mail. I'm still giggling!

Florida Part II

After lunch, we returned to Sun N Fun, where we were greeted by a very friendly staff. The paperwork signed and keys obtained, we headed to our home for the next seven days. Sun N Fun is exactly what it says it is. If the following sounds like an advertisement for them, well it's for good reason. We had a beautiful mobile home, practically new, (you could "smell" the newness when you walked in), extremely clean, fully equipped with brand new appliances, linens, cookware, silverware ,dishes, glassware; you name it, we had it.

I especially liked the little outside deck, where we ate most of our evening meals.

The park is huge (177 acres) and there are so many mobile homes and RV's it's impossible to count them all. The first thing you notice about the place is how friendly everyone is.
Most of the residents live there for nine months out of the year, some, like us, come for a week or two.


There were older areas of the park where people had owned their homes for years, knew their neighbors and created a community within the park. Everyone we passed as we walked about, spoke to us, said hello and were willing to help and answer questions. They made eye contact! They were smiling! It was awesome! People were comfortable and secure there, that was evident.
Although one could drive a car throughout the park (10 mph please!), there were lots of bikes and motorized scooters; but the favorite means of transport seemed to be golf cart. Lots and lots of golf carts. Not just your ordinary golf cart....
souped up/decorated golf carts,

golf carts painted like Nascar racing cars,

even a Model T golf cart!
You could always tell when the pool was crowded by the number of golf carts and such parked in the lot!
Speaking of the pool, it was enormous.
It was clean.
It was HEATED. It was heaven! There were two large hot tubs,
a Tiki Bar and a kids pool
and a Tiki Bar, oh and did I mention the Tiki Bar? Everything was well kept, clean and bright and the staff provided outstanding service. We had occasion to do laundry during our stay; yes that dull, boring chore, but right next to the laundry-mat was a rec room with nine giant pool tables, free to play! If we had been allotted more time to stay, I believe we would have tried our hand at horseshoes and the mini-golf course, perhaps taken a woodworking class or participated in the morning exercise class held in the HEATED pool. So much to do, so little time! There are several lakes and ponds suitable for fishing and boating, but we just didn't get a chance to do it all!

After we were unpacked and settled, had gone grocery shopping for the week, we decided it was time to take a ride down to the beaches. We drove out to Long Boat Key, just in time for a glorious sunset walk. I'll leave you for now, with these photos. More later.

Florida Part I

I'm back! and WOW what a great vacation! We had a blast! Florida was beautiful, warm, and fun! Our flight went smoothly, no delays; our cab ride to the rental car agency was a bit of a nail-biter but we made it in one piece; and our accommodations were as advertised, absolutely awesome!

My favorite part of the flight was when the plane descended close enough to see the ocean waters against the white beach sand all along the coast. My excitement could hardly be contained! One of the first things that I noticed when I got off the plane was how bright it was! My spirits soared, cheered by the sun and the sight of green plants and those magnificent palm trees! Having come from a rather dismal New England (brown, grey and dull), it was a pure joy to see the flowers and plants flourishing in a well groomed landscape. This was not my first trip to Florida. I have done several vacations in the Sarasota/Bradenton area and I used to live in Bradenton and Jacksonville back in the mid-seventies. Each time I have returned to the state, I am in awe of the brilliance of the sun and vivid colors of the native fauna.

When we stepped out of the airport terminal to catch a taxi, the heat of the day (80 degrees) blasted us like we had walked into a huge clothes dryer. It felt great! The four of us crammed ourselves into a cab; and held on for dear life as the driver ( a gentleman of Caribbean descent) made his way down the Tamiami Trail to the rental car office. Three lanes of traffic, weaving in and out, let's just say the yellow lights were bleeding red. Did I get him to tell us his story? Of course I did! His wife and kids were in Philadelphia; he was going to join them as soon as he could. Philadelphia was a much better place for them because there the government had better welfare benefits, free health insurance, etc. I bit my tongue. Hard. He showed me a picture he had on his cell phone, of a motorized scooter he had bought for his son's birthday. He was quite proud of the purchase, looking at it several times during our trip. (Hence the bleeding yellow lights). It was a bit of a drive from the airport, but it saved us nearly $250 each by not renting the cars from the airport location.

It was an easy drive back up the Tamiami Trail to Fruitville Road, then east for about 10 miles until we pulled into the Sun N Fun Resort. We were early they said, nothing ready until two p.m. so we parked one of the cars and all headed out for a leisurely lunch at the local Bob Evans Restaurant!
I've run out of time so will have to write more later....