“In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It Goes On.”
Robert Frost
Showing posts with label florida. Show all posts
Showing posts with label florida. Show all posts

Sunday, March 11, 2018

Back to Winter

I'm back with some photos of our recent vacation. I was in Florida with the husband for almost two weeks! Now most of you know I'm a home-body, so it was about 3 days too long for me! Anyway, it was a nice break from the never ending cold that has been Minnesota this year!

Fort Myers Beach


While we were gone the house/cat sitter got stuck shoveling snow twice! Hahaha! Don't worry, they were paid well for their troubles! Of course I had to spend a week cuddling and coddling the kitties, and a week doing laundry to catch up! Then a few more days to try and get my shop back on track, and finally I'm here writing this post!


It's always a shock returning back to the cold climate when you've been in such a tropical place. Florida was actually warmer than usual and was almost 90 degrees on some days. I hate to say it, but it was too hot for me! The beach lovers were flocking to the beach to lay there and cook themselves, but for me even with sunscreen, I can only tolerate about an hour before I start to burn. I spent most of the time in the shade after getting a bit pink on my shoulders from too much sun!

Lovers Key
We really had no agenda and just kind of drifted around the area and stopped in when we saw something we found interesting. Here's a pretty white sand beach on Lovers Key.


We did find a great natural area to explore and it was a wonderful walk on a raised wood walkway. The Six Miles Cypress Slough Preserve has a host of birds, plants and animals. We saw a few, but as I said, it was hot, so many of them were not out and about. We did see the cormorants, ibis and a fantastic owl, who posed for us!

Cormorant drying it's feathers, with a fish in it's bill, 6 mile Cypress Slough Preserve



Cypress Preserve






Owl at Cypress Preserve



White Ibis at Cypress Preserve







Shrimp & Grits, Doc Ford's Restaurant
We ate about as much seafood as we could stand! My favorite meal was the Shrimp & Grits from Doc Ford's restaurant on Sanibel Island! It was fantastic!



Pink Sitting room at Gasparilla Inn
One of the days we were there we drove up to Gasparilla Island.  My husband had been to a business meeting in this gorgeous old Florida hotel. He knew I would love to see the place and even though we weren't guests they let us check out the first floor and take pictures.  If I lived in Florida, this is how I would decorate my cottage! This was a favorite place of the Bush family, in particular George H.W. and Barbara. 



I loved everything about this place! The artwork which consisted of mainly natural things, like birds, fish etc. The calming mostly pastel and organic tones of the furniture and walls... the seashells and the real orchids..!  I noticed real orchids were in almost every room!





I loved the gorgeous seashell mirror! Notice those beautiful orchids! I could move right in and be very happy! It was nice to see how the 1% vacation! Actually, their prices are not that outrageous and for a very special occasion, I think it would be worth every penny to stay at this historic and fabulous inn!

Well, back to reality! Snow! We are starting to turn the corner though, and with warmer temperatures this week, a lot of that white stuff will be melting away. Spring will be here soon enough!

Thanks so much for stopping in to visit!  
~~ Diane ~~

 


Monday, February 27, 2012

Look Who I Ran Into On Vacation...

Hello friends! I am back from a wonderful break. My husband and I took a nice trip down to Sanibel Island Florida. We had a great time going to the beach, eating fresh seafood and taking in the sights. Boy were we surprised to meet up with a couple of old friends. Many of you may already know that I live in Minnesota, but I am not sure if you know that we are also lucky enough to be the home state of these two characters.




Yes that is right the Jolly Green Giant and the Pillsbury Dough Boy are official residents of Minnesota. We found them hanging out and greeting visitors at the Islander Trading Post on Sanibel Island. I guess, just like us, they needed a little get away from the cold temperatures of Minnesota. If you were dressed like that, would you really want to stick around all winter? Besides visiting with old friends, we also checked out the beach and some great seafood restaurants.





The beaches are as beautiful as ever and the shelling was great. We found several wonderful fresh seafood eateries but Doc Ford's was one of our favorites. The food and drinks were incredible! The Crab Cakes were delicious with a delightful Jicama coleslaw on the side. I ordered the Shrimp and Grits that were the best I have ever had. Even my husband, who is not a grits fan, thought they were delicious. We shared a small sample from the Rum bar and I enjoyed a Mojito.

Captiva Crab Cakes appetizer  -  with Jicama coleslaw




The Island Mojito

 

Shrimp and Grits





On one of the days on Sanibel, we took a tour of the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge and saw some amazing birds, such as the Spoonbill and this pretty little heron, which I can't remember the name of. We learned the importance of mangroves in holding the islands together 
in the event of hurricanes.




Spoonbill and seagull



Red Mangrove






Found in front of the Island Cow



The sun sets over Salty Sam's Marina.


Our week in paradise is over now, back to the real world. It was nice while is lasted!




Wednesday, May 4, 2011

One Lovely Blog Award




Thank you Val for passing on the One Lovely Blog Award to me. I am very pleased that you thought of my little blog.  Val has a Lovely Blog too, ValValVoom. Once awarded I am to share 7 wonderful things about me, and then pass on the award to 15 more lucky bloggers. So here goes.


1. I'm a romantic at heart and love the PBS movies like "Sense & Sensibility" or anything by Jane Austen.


2 .My favorite animals are cats but I love all animals. I am fortunate to live on a small lake and we are visited almost daily by ducks, geese, squirrels, assorted song birds, and rabbits. I have been lucky enough to see the following animals at least once since living here, red fox, coyote, mink, ground hog, turkey, and the most exciting - the bald eagle. Fabulous!


3. My favorite musicians  are Best Coast, Callers, Nina Persson, Dan Mangan, Kelli Scarr, Little & Ashley, The Love Language, Rosi Golan, Katie Herzig, Cafe Accordion Orchestra and many more.


4. I love to collect things and decorate and my style is a kind of English Cottage. I started decorating and rearranging my own room when I was six years old. My parents always wondered what I was doing in there! Then they would see the Christmas Tinsel Garland on the wall! My decorating has gotten much better!


5. My favorite colors are blue, pink and yellow. My least favorite color is orange, but I do love it in the autumn leaves, pumpkins or oranges! Just not in my house or garden!


6. I love my flower gardens and as you view my blog you will see many more of my favorite things as they come into bloom.


7. The changing seasons are something I look forward to every year. My husband and I lived in California for a few years and I dearly missed the winters. Now that I am older I really look forward to the nice winter get-aways to Florida!


I will be looking for the next 15 bloggers to pass on the award to and will be posting them here in a few days.