A Tortoise and a T-Shirt

My brother and I took a ride down to St. Augustine yesterday, on a silly mission inspired by one of my recent thrift shop visits. I had picked up a t-shirt in the Bradenton Goodwill from a place called Sunset Grille on Anastasia Island. We decided that since I had the shirt we should "legitimize" it by actually visiting the restaurant. So after dropping off his daughter at school and running some errands, off we went!

We passed the gopher tortoise above south of St. Augustine near the Matanzas Inlet. It was just poking along this driveway eating greenery out of the sea grass. We happened to look down the driveway as we passed and both of us exclaimed, "Tortoise!"

And here I am in front of the Sunset Grille modeling my new shirt. I'm not sure who buys a souvenir t-shirt and then goes to the restaurant it advertises, but I guarantee you I paid less than I would have there! We had grouper sandwiches ($27 each this time, a relative bargain) and explored the town a bit, but we barely got out of the car because, as you can see, we were threatened with a downpour at any minute.

We stopped by a Starbucks where the cashier entered my name into the computer as "Steeve," and the barista dutifully copied that spelling onto my cup. It's phonetically right, anyway.

Our errands also included stopping by the bank, which we have to do again today for reasons that are too boring to explain, and Publix, "where shopping is a pleasure." (An old company slogan, perhaps still in use and deservedly so.) My brother made some impressive steak filets last night, with brussels sprouts and salad. This afternoon, after seeing my older niece, I'll be driving back to Tampa for my flight out tomorrow.

Oh, and I called the billing center for that hospital in Coral Gables I mentioned yesterday -- the one that sent me a peculiar bill for an emergency room visit I never made. I looked them up online and called rather than using the number on the bill itself, in case it was a scam, and they asked me to verify the information printed on the bill -- my billing number, name and address, as well as my date of birth, which I gave since it's easily available anyway. The woman put me on hold, and then another woman came on the line, apologized, and let me off the hook right away. She said they'd identified the error that led to me receiving a bill and to disregard it. They also said they'd send another letter to make clear I don't owe any money.

The whole thing was very strange. But fingers crossed, it's been resolved.