Cross-Florida Odyssey

Sue and I walked past this Circle K on Anna Maria Island yesterday morning. "Wow, that is the reddest gas station I've ever seen," I said. "It's like being inside a toaster oven, or maybe an Ed Ruscha painting."

Our long morning walk also took us through a nature preserve, where we said hello to a well-bronzed woman named Wanda June who Sue often meets walking the trails there. ("No animals today!" Wanda June reported.) We popped into a little cafe where I had french toast with mango butter, and then headed back to Sue's house to get tidied up for our road trip. We were on the road by 10 a.m., headed clear across the state.

We took State Road 64 into the heart of rural Florida, where gigantic chickens guard driveway entrances (and pull double-duty as signposts).

We rolled through Wauchula...

...and into Avon Park, which I last visited a few years ago. My great-grandparents lived in this town, and we checked out their old house (which is still standing and occupied, but looks like a wreck these days) and the quaint downtown.

I was sorry to see that the Diving Girl Diner is no more, nor is the western wear store where the actual diving girl motel sign used to be displayed in the window. (See my earlier post to better understand all that.)

Sue and I ate this time in a little Cuban cafe on Main Street called Sophie's. I had a Cuban sandwich with rice and beans and a cafe con leche. Then we popped into an antique shop next door where I found a fantastic glass vase shaped like an owl, made of Murano glass. I couldn't pass it up. I'll share a photo of it once I get it back to London, since right now it's heavily shrouded in bubble wrap.

I asked the woman running the antique store about the diving girl. She assured me that "someone in town has it." Sue and I laughed later because it all seemed rather conspiratorial, like she didn't want to reveal its whereabouts.

We got back in the car and kept driving and driving eastward on State Road 60 to our final destination -- Vero Beach.

Years ago, Dave and I planned a Florida trip that was going to include a night in Vero at a fun-looking little boutique motel. We wound up cancelling the trip at the last minute, and ever since I've had a lingering desire to see what we missed. So Sue and I made the pilgrimage, and this is where we're staying -- South Beach Place, about a block from the ocean. It's a great '50s building of small apartment suites, with a pool and snazzy mid-century decorations. My Murano owl would fit in well here. (But they can't have it.)

And this is where we had dinner last night, at a table near the plate glass windows overlooking the ocean. When Sue and I drove this coastline about 27 years ago (!), we stopped at the Ocean Grill and had lunch at the bar. This time, we had a proper meal and it was one of the best seafood dinners I've ever had -- pompano with broccoli and a baked potato, and key lime pie for dessert. Simple but wonderful. We both left very happy (but felt the restaurant has gone a bit overboard with its Halloween decorations).

Today we're road tripping again in the opposite direction, but both happy with our overnight cross-Florida adventure. As Sue said, "We had our toes in the water on both sides of the state on the same day!"

Cleaning Fish and Fulfilling Promises

Sue and I sat at an outdoor bar in Cortez yesterday, overlooking a dock that's home to a charter fishing boat. When the boat pulled in after a morning on the water, several older people got off, followed by tubs of fish. The guys in the photos above cleaned the fish right on the dock, throwing the heads in the water and other scraps back into a bucket. The filets they kept on the table until they bagged them up and handed them to the customer.

Here are two guys with their catch. Looks like they did OK out there!

Anyway, we were amused watching the fish-cleaners, because they were quickly surrounded by waterbirds including pelicans, egrets and a bossy heron. The pelicans ate most of the fish heads, and every once in a while the guys would throw a scrap to the heron. The egrets were too timid and never seemed to get anything, though we were cheering them on.

Sue and I took a long walk around the island in the morning -- about six miles. (Sue, as I think I mentioned, is a great walker.)

Then, after the stop in Cortez, we ran some fun errands. We went back to a thrift store to pick up a t-shirt for my upstairs neighbors in London. They'd told me their daughter is learning the trumpet (!) and when Sue and I were at the shop on Saturday, I'd seen a shirt that said "I DESTROY SILENCE" with a picture of a trumpet. I sent them a photo of the shirt and my neighbor said, "Buy it!" So I went back for it.

I also picked up a great shirt for myself featuring a bunch of angry sharks, which I somehow missed on our previous visit. Here it is along with a promised picture of the tiger shirt I mentioned in Friday's post.

Here's another promised picture that I finally downloaded off my phone -- a better shot of Pinky II. I laughed at the way she's obscuring my face. (She's very hard to photograph -- she's super-wiggly.) Doesn't she have a weirdly long neck? I told my stepsister she's like a cross between a chihuahua and a llama.

Another photo from my phone -- an inspirational note from my Starbucks barista. What's funny is, she wrote this on my cup Friday morning, before my stepsister and I had to go to the bank and do legal stuff. So I appreciated the boost!

I know this post is kind of a mishmash, but I'd been meaning to use all those photos and didn't have a chance until now. The Octopus light above is from our walk yesterday morning. Don't you love that? Wouldn't really fit in London, though.

Today Sue and I are off on a special birthday road trip (her birthday is tomorrow). We've got a long drive ahead of us! I know it seems crazy to leave a paradise like Anna Maria Island but we thought a little change of scenery might be interesting, and it's just for one night. Stay tuned!

Thrifting at the Beach

Here I am on Anna Maria Island, where the water is clear and the beach morning glories grow in profusion. Surely it's one of the prettiest places on the planet, at least when there are no hurricanes.

I left my family's house north of Tampa bright and early yesterday morning and had a pleasant drive down. Visiting at this time of year is ideal because the winter tourist season hasn't started yet and the roads are still passable.

I had a happy rendezvous with my college friend Sue, who was out on her routine morning walk -- Sue walks miles for exercise -- and we explored a waterfront wildlife preserve, watching fiddler crabs scurry in the mud below the boardwalk. It's great to see Sue, one of my oldest friends, and one of those people who I can pick up with right away as if I last saw her the day before. We went to breakfast on Manatee Beach, where this was our view:

Not too shabby, right?!

Then we headed out on some errands that included adventures in thrift stores. We discovered a really nice Goodwill used-book store on Longboat Key (where I bought nothing because I don't need to be schlepping around more books, but Sue got some great finds).

Then we went to the big Goodwill store in Bradenton, possibly my favorite Goodwill on the planet, where I found this fantastic rooster. If I were closer to Lloyd I'd have bought it for Mary Moon (who is probably relieved I didn't). I wish I'd put something next to it for scale because it was quite large. I did buy myself a little ceramic bowl, a slightly lumpy and misshapen handmade project with goldfish painted on it and signed "Izzy R." I love it.

Then we headed to another thrift store -- a bust -- and then up into central Bradenton where we had a drink at a fantastic bar and pizza restaurant on the roof of a downtown hotel.

As we were leaving, we got into an elevator with two young guys, one of whom was saying to his friend, "It was a choice between..." and then trailed off, waiting for a more private moment. Sue said half-jokingly, "I want to know what the choice was!" and I said, "Me too!" So the guy proceeded to tell us a remarkably sordid ten-minute story involving an encounter with a stripper, the choice being whether to get involved with her or not -- which was not at all what we expected! Be careful what you ask in elevators.

I never knew this restaurant existed, so it was a nice find, the elevator conversation notwithstanding. Maybe I'll take Dave and his parents there one of these days. It overlooks the marina and the three bridges that carry US 41 and the railroad across the Manatee River.

The Sunshine Skyway (which I'd driven over that morning) and even downtown St. Petersburg (not in the photo above) were visible on the horizon, beyond the waterfront houses of Palmetto.

Last night we had a light dinner at Sue's and this morning we're going to head out for a long walk. I know I am way behind on my comment-answering, but I swear I am reading and appreciating them all!

A Wild Florida Day

I had a wildlife-filled day yesterday. (Not human wildlife -- I mean animals!)

In the morning my stepsister and I took care of some banking errands, and then I had the whole day to kill while she was at work. I went back to my family's property and took photos of some of the zebra longwing butterflies that hover around the bushes by my stepmother's house. I have no idea why the butterflies are attached to these azaleas, because there are no flowers on them at this time of year -- and perhaps that's why they just kept flying, and flying, and flying. They would not settle for a photo! Fortunately I managed to catch a few in mid-air, after about a thousand attempts.

Then I decided to drive over to the Violet Cury Nature Preserve, where I've been a couple of times before. (About ten years ago I was almost struck by lightning there! Well, not really, but I was afraid I would be.)

Right after I entered the park, this huge cicada flew past me and perched on a low branch. I always hear cicadas but I seldom see them alive, so this was pretty cool.

Of course there were squirrels. (I thought of Bailey, who is apparently doing fine in my absence and in fact doesn't seem to miss me at all.)

I terrified this poor ground beetle, trying to take its picture at just the right angle. If beetles are capable of feeling relief, it was relieved when I departed.

There was a wizened-looking gopher tortoise. They always seem like such unlikely creatures.

And there were lots of birds, including a blue-gray gnatcatcher...

...a red-bellied woodpecker...

...and a Carolina wren.

All in all, a good day out and not too hot!

Today I'm driving down to Anna Maria to see my college friend Sue. Coming to you tomorrow from the beach! (Yes, I brought sunscreen.)

Lobstah at Ballast Point

A day of errands yesterday. Specifically, I took my stepmother's better jewelry into town to get some appraisals and offers from jewelers who may want to buy it. My stepsister already got one appraisal and a single offer, and we wanted to confirm it was fair with more data.

I found a second jeweler who seemed promising, but when I brought them the jewelry they said it was too high-end for their store to sell quickly. (My translation: They didn't want to pay for it because they couldn't turn it around fast enough.) So they recommended another place, and I took it there, and sat while a woman named Kaila who looked scarcely old enough to be out of high school examined each piece. It was a very pleasant experience, actually, chatting with her while she tested the metals and scrutinized the stones. She made an offer in the end nearly identical to that of the first jeweler, plus an offer for a piece the first jeweler didn't want -- so there's our confirmation plus possibly an additional sale.

We may finalize some of these sales today, but first -- we're off to see yet another notary this morning! Fortunately, since I'm here in the USA, this should be a much easier process than the rigmarole I went through to get something notarized in London. My stepsister seemed to think it might not even cost us anything, which would be a refreshing change.

After the jewelry chore, I went to Ballast Point Park and sat overlooking the bay. The pier still isn't open after hurricane damage a couple of years ago -- it was closed when I went in February 2025 as well. It's not closed to the seagulls and terns, though, and they seem to love it.

I had a lobster roll with slaw and an iced tea at Leon's Lobstah Shack:

I sat out on their covered patio and spent most of my lunch trying to keep my napkins from blowing away. (Successfully, I might add.)

Afterwards I took a drive through South Tampa, passing this funky looking little drive-through coffee shop on the way.

I popped into a favorite thrift store and found a fantastic shirt from India featuring tigers on a pink background. It's in serious need of an ironing -- and if I'm saying that you know it's bad, because I never iron anything. Photo to come once I've spiffed it up a bit.

This sign is voicing the enthusiasm that every Floridian feels when the summer heat departs. It's actually not too terrible out there now -- humid, but bearable. Our high temperatures are in the low 80's F (roughly 28º or 29º C).

Last night my stepsister, her husband and my nephew went to dinner with my stepmother's sister (my step-aunt, I guess?) and her husband. About eight years ago, my stepmother gave me and Dave some cookbooks that belonged to her mother. We've kept them all this time, but we've never so much as opened them, so I decided to bring them back thinking my aunt might want them. As it turns out, my stepsister wanted them -- so anyway they've now found a new home back in Florida.

I had fantasies of making "Royal Diplomatic Pudding" and some of the other far-out, elaborate dishes in those old cookbooks, but let's face it -- I am not that person.

Dinner was a yummy caesar salad with shrimp and a martini. (I was not driving!)

Ike and Pinky II

This was the sunset last night from my stepsister's back yard, with the clouds so low and moisture-laden it seemed I could touch them. I am definitely in the semi-tropics!

My flight yesterday was pretty uneventful. I had trouble getting to the airport, though. I took a Thameslink train from West Hampstead straight to Gatwick, and somewhere around Croydon it came to a dead stop. We sat on the tracks, motionless, and sat, and sat. People all around me were starting to freak out because they had flights to catch, but I was so far ahead of my scheduled departure time that I wasn't too worried. More annoyed than anything.

Finally the driver came on and said it was a signal failure blah blah blah (which is actually what he sounded like on the terrible speaker system) and we would be moving shortly. We finally pulled into Gatwick about an hour behind schedule, and everyone sprinted from the train except me. I took it at a leisurely pace.

On the plane, the flight attendant provided me with an extra gin & tonic and an extra white wine without even being asked! As I often say of Dave, she wasn't just an enabler -- she was an enforcer! "You WILL drink this and be happy."

I obliged.

I read Ike Eisenmann's memoir of growing up as a child actor. I polished off the whole book, a little less than 300 pages, and it was quite interesting. (It's been on my blog sidebar as "What I'm Reading" for ages, but I didn't actually start it until yesterday!)

For example, I was intrigued to learn that although he starred in numerous movies with Kim Richards, including the famous Disney film "Escape to Witch Mountain," they didn't really know each other and weren't friends. Apparently they barely spoke on the set when they weren't acting. Eisenmann also wrote about his difficult father (a frustrated actor himself) and his move into voice-over work when he became an adult, a little-known but apparently lucrative dimension of filmmaking.

I also watched "Three Days of the Condor" and "Blow-Up," two of my favorite old movies which happen to have been downloaded on my computer and thus accessible without Internet.

In Tampa I collected my bag and made my way to the rental car terminal (above, with groovy fishnet wall hanging). I am now the proud driver of a very sleek-looking black Honda Accord.

I spent last night chatting with my stepsister and her husband and son, and today we're going to breakfast and maybe working on getting some estimates for selling my late stepmother's jewelry.

Oh, and we have another addition to the family. My stepmother's elderly chihuahua, Pinky, died recently and my nephew (who lives in her house) was very attached to it. So when a relative of my brother-in-law was looking for a home for her own chihuahua, they adopted it right away -- and believe it or not, its name was already Pinky! So now we have Pinky II.

This is a terrible picture because the light was so dim, but it cracks me up. Doesn't she look like a gerbil?

And one more piece of interesting trivia: My stolen AirPods, which I hadn't checked up on in ages since they disappeared with my camera bag in Rome, are now in Algiers, Algeria! I can still see them on Apple's "Find My" app. I have no way of knowing whether the camera is there as well. I guess moving around stolen merchandise is indeed an international skill.

Trouble and Other Public Scribbles

I wonder if whoever wrote this used to hear from their parents, "Here comes Trouble!" And somehow it became their nickname? Or maybe their actual name. Who knows?

In a few more hours I'll be taking off for Florida. I'm trying to wrap up some last minute stuff here at home, packing a few more items, but I'm mostly ready to go. Bailey is squeezed up next to me in bed as I write this. I feel guilty leaving her. She's going to miss having someone here at home all day.

We took a walk yesterday and found the graffiti above, as well as all this:

And then there were a couple of artworks:

Keira, age 6, contributed this fine portrait to the Mill Lane Bridge.

And we found these boards of text propped up outside someone's flat, next to the rubbish. The one at left contains a long quote from a speech by Teddy Roosevelt, urging us all to be people of action.

The one at the right is in Greek and, according to the ever-reliable Google AI function, is a poem titled "As Long As You Can" by Constantine Cavafy, from 1913. "The poem reflects on preserving one's life from the trivializing weight of excessive social interaction and mundane routines," it says. Like going through airport security, I'm thinking.

Finally, here's Bailey Girl, posing next to some very productive yellow clematis -- not a color you see every day.

Next stop, the Sunshine State!