Lady Lake FL 11/03-11/06 2019

We continued our journey up the Gulf Coast of Florida and made our next stop in Lady Lake.  We planned this stop in order to see our Air Force friends, Gary and Cathy.  We picked the RV Park because it was close to their place and it turned out to be a real gem.  Grand Oaks Resort is really a 400 acre horse property, but they have added an RV Park that is truly everything we want.  Large, level spaces with full hookup, lots of grass, satellite friendly, and a huge dog park right across the lane from our site!  

Pablo's birthday was the day before we got here.  We were still down in Fort Myers, but I didn't blog about that place.  It was kind of a catch up and rest sort of stop.  We didn't really do anything interesting - just laundry and then a bit of relaxing.  Anyway, Pablo turned 7 years old!  We had a little party for him and both he and Priscilla got presents - liver flavored chews.  

We had a wonderful visit with Gary and Cathy.  Gary and I did not work together in the Air Force but we were both Chi-Lings at different times and places.  We know a lot of the same people and started talking on-line on one of our Air Force groups.  We discovered another common interest in Motor Coaches as we had similar rigs.  After much correspondence we finally met several years ago while he and Cathy still lived in California.  We have kept in touch and visit each other any time our paths cross.     

We had not seen them for more than 4 years when they were in Hot Springs Village Arkansas.  They have a beautiful home here and have adapted well to the retired lifestyle in Florida.  Their place is right next to an area called "The Villages", which is an enormous retirement community.  There are over 130,000 residents now and they are adding another village that will increase that by another 60,000.  It is a very unique place where you can go anywhere on a golf cart!  The grocery store, restaurants, even the hospital.  They have 3 large town squares and each one has a stage in the middle where they have live music 7 nights a week.  Around the squares are stores, restaurants and theaters.  

One of the town squares where there is music and dancing.

Next to the square where some of the golf carts are parked.  They are everywhere!

Gary and Cathy gave us a great tour of the area but we only really saw a small fraction of it in the 2 days we were there.  Tuesday was my birthday so they took us out to dinner at one of the 4 country clubs on the property and the special of the night was prime rib. That's what I had and Linda had some really good whitefish.  After that we visited one of the town squares and listened to the band and watched people dance.  No, we didn't dance as Linda tweaked her back and I had a sore knee!  We are falling apart!  Couldn't even keep up with all the dancing geezers!  Ha!  

I decided at the last minute that I really did want my traditional apple pie for my birthday.  Should have planned ahead.  Anyway, after our wonderful dinner and visiting the square, Gary and Cathy took us to 2 separate Winn-Dixie's looking for an apple pie!  We finally settled on some apple strudels and called it a night.  It was a short visit but a lot of fun visiting and catching up on everything.  Time always goes so fast with good friends and before we knew it we had to head off to continue our sojourn west.  I apologize again, as I, once again, forgot to get any pictures of people!  Argh!  I really need to get better at that!  

Florida Keys/Key West 10/29-1102 2019

Check another one off our bucket list!  This was one of the most unique places we have ever been.  Where else can you drive across the ocean for 113 miles?  The road is good but is mostly only two lanes.  Some sections through towns are 4 lanes but then there are traffic lights and slower traffic.  Speed limit is mostly 45 MPH with a few sections that are up to 55 MPH.  It took us about an hour and a half to go 50 miles from the start of the Overseas Highway to our first RV Park.  

This gives you an idea how it was to drive across the ocean.  There are 42 bridges with the longest being 7 miles long.

The color of the water is beautiful.  All different shades depending on the depth.  In many places you can walk for miles as it is only 2 to 4 feet deep.

We stayed the first two nights at the Grassy Key RV Resort which is near the town of Marathon.  It is a small park with only 34 sites but it has a great pool and a cozy little boat harbor.  Also beautiful views of the Gulf of Mexico.  Here are some pics of Grassy Key. 

 

Downside to these small RV Parks is that there was only a very small square of grass for the doggies.  They did OK but headed back into the air conditioning pretty quick!

We did get in a few walks. We started down one trail but after it turned into more jungle than path, we turned back.

We preferred to stay on the walkway as there were signs warning of venomous snakes!

We then drove the rest of the way out to Key West where we stayed at the Geiger Key Marina.  It is actually located on Geiger Key, just on the other side of Boca Chica Field from Key West, but only a 10 minute drive to get into the touristy part of town.  They bill themselves as an old Florida fish camp and are located right on the water.  In addition to the RV Park, they are both a Marina and a really great restaurant and bar.  

Our site at Geiger Key included a tiki hut right on the water.

Linda enjoying the Tiki Hut.  This was before the arrival of the giant iguana!

Enjoying a virgin pina colada at the bar.

Mine was a virgin margarita.  Very tasty!

Linda's favorite birds were fishing right in front of our tiki hut.  We had our coffee in the morning and watched them.

Linda watching her birds.

Sunset.

Looking back toward the RV Park from the restaurant. Our rig is straight back behind the fence.  You can't read it here but the sign on the fence says "Don't feed the crocodiles".  We thought it was a joke, but in fact it is real!

Popular place with the locals.

This doggy was patiently waiting for her master to finish his drink!

We did the tourist thing in the historic area of key West.  Linda had never been here and I was here about 40 years ago to play war games with the Air Force and Navy.  The place has changed!  Much more crowded - there were 2 cruise ships in port and there was a big "Parrot Head" convention going on as well.  Parrot Heads are Jimmy Buffet fans who get together and celebrate that genre of trop-rock, island music.  When I was last here I don't think they even had cruise ship accommodations.  

It was a fun day.  We used the free "Duval Loop" bus to get around which worked out well. You can get on their web site on your phone and see exactly where the buses are and how long before they will arrive.   

Sloppy Joe's has been open since 1933 and said to be where Ernest Hemingway hung out.

We had to stand in line to get a picture here at the Southernmost point.  Did I mention that it was very hot and very humid?  High 80's and humidity to match.  We really thought it would be cooler by this time of the year.  We were wrong....

The Southernmost House - now a nice hotel and a great restaurant.

We had some lunch at the Seaside Cafe at Southernmost House.  Such nice people.  The owner came over and talked to us.  His son is the chef.

I had to try the signature dish - Honey-Butter Lobster Biscuits!  Delicious!

Linda had the Wood-Fired Prosciutto Caprese Sandwich - Also yummy!

The kitchen is actually a trailer you can see in the background.

Typical house in the downtown historic district

Birthplace of Pan American Airlines!

Part of Harry Truman's "little white house" compound.

Another typical house - everyplace is covered with massive trees and lush vegetation.

Jensen Beach/Stuart/Ocean Breeze FL 10/27-10/29 2019

We continued our southern sojourn along the Florida coast with our next stop in Jensen Beach.  We stayed at the Ocean Breeze Resort which it turns out, is a city of it's own!  The city limit signs are on either side of the resort.  The place is really nice.  It is a 55+ resort with lots of RV sites as well as many park models and what they call beach bungalows.  Sun Resorts took over and there is a lot of new construction going on.  Our site had a nice patio with picnic table and a gas grill.  They also had a great dog park with doggie baths too.

We chose Jensen Beach so we would be able to visit my old Air Force buddy, Chuck Wilcox.  He and I worked and flew together in Okinawa and then again in Omaha at Offutt AFB.  We had not seen each other since we both left Omaha back in 1981-1982.  That's almost 40 years!  We had a great visit and caught up with each other's lives.  

Chuck getting to know Pablo

Chuck acted as our tour guide and showed us around the area.  He also took us to a wonderful lunch at The Dolphin Bar. The place was built by the famous historic movie star, Frances Langford.  The atmosphere and the view was wonderful, as was the food.  

View from our table at The Dolphin Bar

 After our yummy lunch Chuck drove us around and showed us the sites.  We saw some beautiful beaches, dolphins, and the old town of Stuart.  Just about the only pictures I got were of the beaches... Ha!  So here are some pics of the beaches!  

One of the beautiful homes along the beach.

This is yet another place that we wished we had more time to explore.  Hopefully we will be back!