Out of Alaska to Florida

My folks arrived in Florida on Saturday, January 12, 2013.  After weeks of being more or less shut in by the weather, they started enjoying swimming in the outdoor pool,

and dipping their feet in the Gulf of Mexico.

Dick and I decided to go snorkeling,

But even though the water was pretty warm, we couldn't see a thing because the waves stirred up so much sand.

Meanwhile, Ron looked for treasure using his metal detector.  He did find one earring and tons of pop tops.

 Dick doesn't like snakes - so the many stuffed snakes at the Linger Lodge made him anxious.

We did have a nice walk in the sun there.

Dick has worked an entire jigsaw puzzle in his spare time.

We're going out tomorrow to see the Lipizzaner training sessions, then on to our homes in Georgia on Sunday.

Linger Lodge, Bradenton, FL

The advertising brochure claims this is "the fifth most bizarre restaurant in the country".  No arguments from us!

This little guy stood on the counter to greet us as we entered.

On the one side of the big room we entered, we saw this alligator tethered to the wall.

On the other side, we saw a fish tank full of fish preserved by taxidermy.

More animals everywhere we looked.

Fish, snakes, heads of all kinds

Lots and lots of snakes

Snakes used to spell the lodge name.

All of us at the bar while we waited for our meal.

Good food, interesting decor, nice wait staff,

outside seating

 - Everything we look for in a restaurant.

Bradenton Beach on Dwellable

Lipizzaner Show

Of all the places we have been and things we have seen in Florida, this is my favorite.  At the Herrmann Lipizzaner Ranch in Myakka City, Florida, they have practice sessions with the horses that are open to the public Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. 

Most young horses are born black and gradually lose all color until they are pure white.  An occasional brown Lipizzanner is born, and is considered good luck to have on the farm.  This is the youngest stallion that is in the act.

It's hard to decide if the trainers or the horses are the better athletes.

The horses were trained to jump so that a general could view the battlefield.  During WWII, 500 Lipizzaner horses that had been stolen by the German Army were rescued by General Patton and protected until the war was over and they could be returned to Austria.

This short video clip gives you a taste of the hour and a half presentation.  For anyone in SW Florida, I can't stress enough that a short trip outside Sarasota to visit this farm is well worth it!

A Ride to the Lipizzaner Farm

We fully appreciate the warm sunny days in Florida in the winter.  On the last day of 2012, we rode the motorcycles with our friends Patti and Fran.  They had found a farm near Myakka City that raised the famous Royal Lipizzaner horses.

 The gate was open so we rode in, hoping to find information on when they had shows.

We found a very picturesque farm with tidy barns, beautiful horses and gorgeous old oak trees.

Even the manure pile was neat and tidy.

We wandered around looking for someone to talk to, even looking into the large barn

Where beautiful horses munched on hay and looked at us curiously

Clearly, someone was home at one of the several homes on the premises, but no one came out to talk to us.

Multiple trailers for their road trips filled a huge building.

Bleachers to the side of the horse barn gave us hope that they did hold shows here.  In checking on-line, we found that we were on the wrong day for a show.  Saturday we plan to go back to check it out when someone is there!

A Hike through Lemon Bay Park on Christmas Day

The trail through Lemon Bay Park is a couple of miles in length, starting with a paving stone area around a butterfly garden, where native plants are nicely labeled.

Lop-Sided Indian Grass

Milkweed

Muhly Grass

Porterweed

Red Pentas

Gaillardia and many more!

Benches are located about every 100 yards so you can stop to watch for birds and wild life.

Oak trees form a canopy over much of the trail.

We spotted this tortoise on the side of the trail about a mile in.

Ferns filled one whole section of the trail.

Spanish moss and palmetto plants

This Pine burl looked like someone had carved a bear head on the tree.

At one point, a side trail took us to this beach on Lemon Bay.

Boating on Lemon Bay

Although it has been warm and sunny, it has been breezy, so we have put off taking the boat out.  Over the weekend, it was calm, but weekends are so busy on the waters that we decided to wait until Monday for our boat ride.

Fran and Patti, Glen and DeeDee and Ron and I headed out for Venice.

We always see birds on the mangrove islands, but I have never seen so many brown pelicans in one place.

I think the schools of mullet in the canals are what caused so many birds to be congregated here.

The canal between Englewood and Venice was full of mullet fishermen of all kinds.  These guys were impressive in their ability to throw an eight-foot diameter net into a perfect circle and then drag it up full of the heavy fish.

We pulled into "Pop's" for lunch and then to the fuel dock to fill the boat.  It was a great day for an outing in Lemon Bay with friends!