A Little More Florida

First of all, my apologies if any of these photos are repeats on the blog. I get very confused because I also post on Facebook when I'm traveling and can't remember what's been posted where!

We're headed up north this week on a roadtrip to experience fall in Arizona. Red rocks, autumn leaves, and desert vistas! I wanted to post a few more random photos from the Florida trip since I'll be switching gears.

They sure love their Landshark in Florida!

I love it when someone provides me with my own private parking space!

Guess who's out there at dawn fishing!


This place gets the kitsch award!

Cwaffee Talk

I almost got a little verklempt this morning when my two-year old Oster blender died. Nothing like the sound of a screeching blender with stripped gears to brighten up a morning. Another one bites the dust! We've lived here five years, and I think we've now killed three blenders.

Here's something amazing. I just inserted our latest blender pitcher into a 37-year old blender base (it was called an Osterizer then) and it worked! Like a charm! Unfortunately, that old blender base is faded harvest gold, so it won't grace my countertop for long. They don't make blenders like they used to, or maybe the reason that one lasted until I couldn't stand looking at it anymore was because we weren't manufacturing two frappucinnos every morning in our kitchen for 25 years! I'm a little embarrassed to admit I still have our first blender. I guess I'll still keep it since it's now a collector's item. 70's retro!

And before I forget, I did a post a few years ago on my morning frappe. I use a French Vanilla Cappuccino base from Sam's and add coffee, sugar free Torani syrups from World Market, and ice. On our recent trip to Florida, we got hooked on Starbuck's lite salted caramel frappes. Back home, we tried experimenting with the sugar free caramel syrup and sea salt, and ended up with some nasty concoctions. Long story short, we were in World Market several weeks ago and they now carry the Torani salted caramel sugar free syrup. We now have the right combination for a close approximation of the Starbuck's drink.

Just a little morning cwaffe talk for any Starbuck's frappe lovers! And now, I'm off to buy another blender, preferably from Costco because if we kill the thing in a short period of time, they just replace it.

Anna Maria Wildlife

We're still having very unseasonable weather here in the Phoenix. It's starting to feel like the endless summer. Craig and I really don't mind because 90-something actually feels wonderful after 115 degrees, and the heat wave allows us to extend the pool season. Yesterday, the pool felt a little chilly to me, but Craig and I laughed that the mid-80 degree temp would be ideal for most people. I'm betting the local pool when I was a child hovered in the high 70's. Brrrrrr.

Overnight low's are dipping into the low-60's and even 50's, so life is good sleeping with the windows open listening to the crickets and birds. I occasionally have to remind myself how lucky we are because some people already have the furnace fired up and are dealing with snow.

I'm still sorting through my photos from Anna Maria. Today I'm posting some assorted photos of wildlife on the beach.

Got crab cakes?

Squirrels at the beach. Go figure! I suppose they're attracted by the begging prospects.

Lots of gorgeous birds on Anna Maria, but other than egrets, blue herons, pelicans, and gulls, I don't know their names!

All the shorebirds went crazy at dawn. A local fisherman said they hunt schools of sardines that pass in the water.


These blue herons seem to have their established territory at certain locations on the beach.

This bird was different than the other shore birds in his posse, and obviously banded.

Sand Sculptures

Early one morning while walking the beach, we noticed the inhabitants of a neighboring cottage had been busy! It looked like they'd had their own little sand sculpture competition! They were all a little worse for the wear since they'd weathered footprints and some tide.

This vintage plane is my favorite!

Gators seemed to be a popular theme. Go figure -- Florida Gators!

Here's another interpretation. I liked the scales on his back.

This turtle had almost disintegrated, but looked like it'd been quite elaborate with a mosaic shell decoration on its back.

Even Castles made of sand, fall into the sea, eventually. Jimi Hendrix

Fishing Noir

I didn't actually take this photo. The manager of the condo complex where we stayed on Anna Maria snapped it with her phone late one afternoon on the beach and posted it on their Facebook page. It kind of looks like Craig is either the chosen one, or ready to be beamed up to the mother ship.

Craig's love for fishing was reawakened on the Florida trip. He spent a lot of early mornings and evenings waist deep in the Gulf with his fishing rod. Early one morning when he was reeling in a small jack, the BIG one suddenly hit his line. He's not sure what it was, but it was bigger than him. Another guy from the condo complex who fished every morning told Craig he used the jacks he was catching for shark bait. With that in mind, Craig quickly backed out of the water!


Craig will have to try his hand fishing Playa Media Luna with the locals early in the morning. He can fish -- I can hunt seaglass!

33 more days!

More Random Florida Fotos

Only 75 More Shopping Days . . .

Until Santa emerges from the outhouse!

Okay, let me explain. Craig and I just got back from a Walmart trip to pick up some groceries. As we were strolling through the produce section, we saw the sign that said Only 75 more shopping days till Christmas! Nothing profound about that! Retailers have been pushing Christmas before Halloween for years. Then Craig said, Oh my God Becky. Look UP!

There, on top the produce fixtures, were the latest blowup yard offerings for Christmas. A gigantic sleigh complete with eight reindeer, Santa going down the chimney while Rudolph mans the fire extinguisher to put the flames out on Santa's derierre, and the pièce de résistance at the end of the line -- Santa peaking out of his outhouse!

Seriously Walmart?!!! I guess it might look pretty good on top your trailer, or maybe, just maybe, it might be hilarious to buy for the frontyard just to see if the HOA would react? It's tempting! A guy one block over has a gigantic Dallas Cowboy that blows up on the front lawn on game days.

I wonder if we should center it on the front lawn, or put it in the corner of the courtyard?

Just Another Day in Paradise

Our fifth year anniversary of life here in Phoenix recently came and went with no fanfare. In an ideal world, especially since Craig's now retired, we'd do some evaluating and decide whether this is the place we truly want to spend the rest of our lives. But in the real world (Phoenix was just named number 1 in percentage of empty abandoned houses), we're here to stay until real estate prices rebound. And truthfully, I'd pick Phoenix anyday over Seattle, Duluth, or other cold weather climes that require down coats in the winter. These bones will not be moving back to climates with 40 degree and below temps. I can blast A/C or travel elsewhere in the hot summer months, but I just can't do cold weather!

Practically all of our vacations in the last 25 years have been to beach destinations, so my heart is obviously telling me something! In a perfect world where I was armed with my lottery winnings (or where the bottom hadn't fallen out of the real estate market), we'd probably be living by the ocean.

Until that ship comes in (or housing prices rebound), we're here in sunny Phoenix to stay. And there are much worse places to live. Right now, the A/C's off and we're sleeping with the windows open listening to the crickets. We can walk or bike any time of the day because the highs are in the 70's and lo 80's. The pool's tightly covered with the solar cover in hopes that daytime temps will rebound this next week so I can get back in the water for one last fling!

And all this brings me back to beaches and Anna Maria Island. We spent almost all our time in Florida at the beach. Either sitting in a chair on the deck gazing at it, lounging on it, or walking it. One morning we decided to drive to a beach park north of us and walk the beach from there to scavange for shells. Here are some photos from that day at the beach.

Anna Maria has great beach access. The shore's lined with expensive homes, cottages, and condos, but every few blocks there's a public trail to the beach.

I'd love to try paddle-boarding! I especially like the color of this woman's neon orange board against the pale blue sea.

I wonder if this is her matching orange lounger?

I'm still amazed at the pale turquoise blue color of this Gulf of Mexico water!

These two women sped past as we were walking the beach last week. I immediately started power walking in an attempt to snap a photo of their coordinating swimsuits. The odd thing was they weren't together! Just a happy coincidence of coordinating swimsuit styles!

I ended up overheating on that beach walk. Craig said it started when I chased those women down the beach! I foolishly had not brought water with me, and we wandered too far north before realizing how long we'd been out. I ended up swimming and walking my way back to the car. Later in the day, we mounted our own umbrella on the beach and after lounging for awhile, took a sunset walk.


Down the beach a ways, we found these abandoned beach chairs with a boom box blaring. With no one in sight, we both wondered who'd go off and leave their valuables? The one fact we discovered is that Anna Maria Island is not Mexico. People seem to leave their chairs, umbrellas, tents, towels, fishing poles, and everything under the sun unattended for hours at the beach with no problem. And we left the balcony door wide open at night (on an upper floor) with no thought to anyone climbing up and crawling in. In that aspect, the island reminded me of Kauai. I'll never forget the time we stayed in the rental that had no locks!

As we headed back to the condo after sunset, we ran into this couple strolling down the beach. Sure enough. They belonged to the lonesome chairs and sound system. The next day at Starfish Seafood for lunch, we looked up and saw them at the bar in the exact same beach attire from the night before. The guys at the bar loved her little turquoise bikini!

I managed to snap a sunset photo of my favorite beachcomber on the way back to the condo. Just another day in paradise!

A Day at the Beach

Here's a little video of the beach in front of the condo where we stayed at Club Bamboo on Anna Maria Island. The view had me mesmerized from dawn to dusk. I used a Flip software option called Magic Movie to condense five longer videos down into one short clip.

Sea Glass-es

In answer to the question Did you find any seaglass?, this is as close as I came to seaglass on this Florida trip. A pair of sea glass-es! They even had barnacles encrusted on them.

I'm always happy if sand surprises me with those little pieces of tumbled glass, but I wasn't disappointed because I'd researched online and found out this area of Florida was seaglass challenged. The beach was pristine with no trash and glass -- not even a broken beer bottle!

Now I can't wait to get back to my favorite little island in 41 days and resume that stooped position! : )

Blame It on Jennifer Lopez

Remember the one attraction I wanted to make sure I saw in the Sarasota area while we were there? As my dad used to say, we were a day late and a dollar short in our quest to visit the Ringling mansion, Ca'd'Zan, last week.

We made the drive into Sarasota on Tuesday morning only to find out the mansion was closed because a Jennifer Lopez movie was being filmed there. We could have paid the hefty admission and still viewed the circus and art museums, but declined since all we really wanted to see was the mansion. Aargh aargh aargh. Click on the Ringling mansion link above and that will take you to a beautiful little video on YouTube.

Here's another link to the mansion online. I did snap a couple of photos at the entrance to the Visitor's Center on the way out the door!

Taking time away from the beach only to be turned away at the entrance was a major bummer, but at least we took the scenic route on the way through Longboat and Lido Keys and massaged our angst on the way back to the island with crabcakes and clam strips at our favorite dockside restaurant.

It's Hard to Kiss the Lips

When I showed Craig this photo, he immediately suggested one of his favorite country western songs for the post title -- It's Hard to Kiss the Lips. Ever heard the song? Click here!

Craig insists the bird on the right HAS to be female! I'm guessing the bird on the left is male. (He has that tuned out look.) HA!

Women are from Venus, men are from Mars!

Florida Beach Kitsch

We're headed back to dry Phoenix on Sunday. It'll be a complete shock not falling asleep to the pounding waves after 11 nights here at the beach. We're also sad to leave because a cool wave just came through Florida bringing wonderful temps and low humidity. That being said, all good things must usually come to an end. We're anxious to spring Saby from the pound and get our own house back in order.

Craig's going to miss fishing every morning out front, and I'll miss my morning beach combing. I've amassed enough shells to fill a big basket, and I can't forget to take some sand with me!

We picked up a flier on an oceanfront home down the street and the listing price is $2,999,999, so I don't think we'll be moving to this beach anytime soon! We'll have to settle for renting our little Tommy Bahama studio again on our next visit.

It's been a fun ride!

Inertia

Wednesday was moving day! Plop plop fizz fizz, oh what a relief it is! I won't bore you with the details of the scam on the first condo, but let's just say we couldn't get out of there fast enough after our pre-paid week was up. It wasn't the rental we booked, and we ended up calling it the duct tape condo. It's the first place we've ever stayed with plastic and duct tape covering missing tiles in the shower. And the duct tape over the tack strip between carpet and tile was a really nice touch. When in doubt -- duct tape!

Everything in the new place is ship shape and Tommy Bahama fresh. No duct tape! We only moved two doors down the street, but what a difference! We feel like we're in the lap of luxury! This place is clean and gorgeous!

Once we saw the view from the balcony, inertia set in and we decided to just sit and enjoy.

We sat on the balcony and watched the boats and dolphins pass while we sorted the growing shell collection.

We picked up an anti-pasta salad at the Italian restaurant down the street and dined on the deck.

We even stuck around for sunset and have every night since.

I could live here! Unfortunately, tomorrow's another moving day. This time we're moving home. Can't wait to see Saby and free her from the doggie dude ranch, but leaving the ocean's always sad.