Limo Trip To the Sandy Parrot

On Thursday one of the entertainers we enjoy, Kim Jenkins,  was playing at the Sandy Parrot in Fr Myers. He had arranged for limo style buses to take a number of his fans to listen and dance to his music

Here is Carol, Gus and Marilyn in the limo waiting to depart Englewood. We had a total of 21 in the limo and a number of them made it a real party on the way to the Sandy Parrot. A second limo left from another location and there were about 60 in total that went.

The Sandy Parrot is a large Tiki Hut that is open to the outside. They also had a section that was not a Tiki Hut and it was also open to the outside. They had a lot fans going so it was reasonably cool.


The patrons at the Sandy Parrot, and a lot of the bus group, were a real party bunch and Kim payed to their tastes. It seemed their tastes were mostly the 70's and 80's fast music so we did not get many numbers that we danced to. The food was quite good but later in the evening some smokers starting firing up one cigarette after another and we were in the draft that got most of the smoke!!
We all got back on the limos about 9:45 and it was 11 PM by the time we got home. It was a good time but it is doubtful we will go back to the Sandy Parrot.

Mother's Day

Rather than trying to find a restaurant that was not crowded on Mother's Day, Jim decided to cook something special for Carol. We started with shrimp cocktails and champagne.

Of course it was hard to keep the main course a secret from Carol. Jim did keep everything well hidden but she is too smart and suspected it was going to be one of her favorites, Caribbean Lobster tail.  And it was, along with asparagus and baked sweet potato.

Jim was not about to allow  Carol to have all of that tail, so we split it. Since it was nearly a full pound there was plenty of it for both.  It was a quiet Mother's Day but very enjoyable.

Carol's garden

It has been a while since a post has been made but we sure do get busy even though we are retired!! Even though we are busy, Carol decided to plant a large garden to grow tomatoes. Here she is harvesting some of the tomatoes.

Well, maybe it is not a large crop but they are fresh and homegrown!!

Jim has been making yard signs for the neighborhood and has also gotten approval from a neighboring park to make signs for them. It is a park with about 800 units in it so it is expected he will be quite busy making signs for them. He is also  making blank sign boards for a gal that decorates them and sells them to various shops. She is slowing growing the business and it is fun for Jim plus it is a small source of income.

Our Anniversary Cruise

For the last several years we have also been going on cruise the last week in January to celebrate our wedding anniversary. This year my college classmate and fraternity brother, Jim Stroke and his wife Nancy went with us. It made it quite interesting since this was their very first cruise.
Jim was quite worried about getting seasick and no matter how much we tried to reassure him. Then of all things, the Italian ship runs aground just several days before we were to depart. I think they nearly cancelled but we did get on board!!
Here they are just before boarding in Tampa on the Norwegian ship Star.

Carol and I cruised on the Star in October when we went from Los Angeles to Tampa through the Panama Canal. This gave us the opportunity to get to know the ship quite well and were able to make Jim and Nancy feel more comfortable on board. We even had cabins next to each other and we each had our own balcony.
We cruised the Western Caribbean with stops in Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya and Cozumel. it was a 7 day cruise and we had good weather in all ports except for some rain in Cozumel.

Carol and Nancy had plenty of time to do the normal gal thing of shipping on board and ashore. Nancy was very lucky as she won two drawings at 2 different Diamonds International stores for a necklace. Both necklaces were identical and she gave one to Carol.
I got to do a SCUBA dive in Roatan and it was a good dive but not any better than those I have done in St Thomas.

We celebrated our 54th Wedding anniversary on board and here were are with the Melodic Trio, the group we enjoyed greatly during our Panama Canal cruise.
We spent several evenings with a very fine couple listening to the Melodic Trio in the atrium. We always seem to meet such nice people on cruises. They enjoyed dancing as we do and we used the Atrium Lobby for a for a dance floor Here is a picture of Keith and Marge as we we were listening to the music.

We returned home on January 22 and have been busy every day since!! May have to go on another cruise to get some rest!!!!

Tampa RV Show

Fr the last several years we have been going to the Tampa RV show and camping with friends. This year was not any different. Our group consisted of 6 motor homes and we camped at Lazy Days Campground before going to the Florida Fairgrounds for the show. Lazy Days recently opened a new restaurant and made it in the style of a motor home. Here is most of our group in from of it.

When our group camps together we arrange for one coach to host dinner each night. In that way we have a lot of enjoyment getting new recipes and enjoying each other's company. Yes it possible to have dinner in a motor home for 10 of 12 people!!

Of course on warmer evenings we have an outside cook out.

After all the fun at Lazy Days we went to the fairgrounds and the RV show. No one bought a new motorhome but we all did a lot of shopping for many accessories.
It was a fun week with our friends and already we are looking forward to next year already.

New Year's Eve Party ... or was it 2 parties!!!!

We had some difficulty finding a reasonably priced New Years Eve party to attend this year. Most were costing $50.00 per person and some even higher.
It seems the primary reason for the high costs is the live entertainment. Jay Smith, our preferred entertainer, charges $3000.00 for performing on New Years Eve. If 100 individuals attend such a party that is $30.00 a person for entertainment alone. Most parties have a dinner and midnight Champagne, so you can see  how the cost can skyrocket.
We finally found a party at the Holiday Travel Park in Englewood that was only charging $20.00 per person with live entertainment and a buffet. Jay Smith spoke highly of the entertainer so Gus and Marilyn and we decided to get tickets to it.
The friends who arranged for our tickets were to be there early since they said the parking was quite limited. The buffet was scheduled for 8 PM and we arrived at 7:30 PM and were surprised that our friends were not there yet. So we waited  ... and waited ...! It did not look as though they were even going to have a buffet as advertised.
Finally Marilyn went up to the ticket takers at the entrance and showed them our ticket stubs. Of course they had taken the one portion when we came in. The fellow who looked at our tickets said we were at the wrong party!!!
The person who took our tickets must have been senile since our tickets were buff in color and the tickets everyone else had were purple in color!!  So we found out we were at Holiday Park Estates which is next door to the Holiday Travel Park!! We hustled our stuff together and followed the directions of a helpful guy and arrived at our proper party just in time to get in line for the buffet. Naturally we found our friends there and they were wondering where we had been. They got quite a laugh about our mistake.
So we did have a good time with a very good entertainer, decent food, a nice facility and a good crowd. We brought the New Year in with some of our own Champagne and then headed on home. Folks our age don't spend much time out after midnight!!!!

A Faux New Years Eve Party

While we and most of our closer friends do not act as many OLD folks do, there is a contingent in our community that does!!

For the last several years our community has been having a new years eve party that started about 5 PM. Since entertainment on that night is very expensive, no entertainment was arranged except for records being played.
They also set the clocks ahead three hours at the start of the party!!
Then at 9 PM, (midnight on the clock) they celebrated the coming in of the new year!!! And of course then everyone went home by 9:30 PM. Carol and our friends Gus and Marilyn went to some other party because we  wanted to really bring in the new year.
This year they wanted to have live entertainment but that would have cost $3000.00! That is not a typo .... yes $3000.00. So they arranged for live entertainment on December 30 for only about $300.00.
Rather than having a catered or prepared meal, each couple brought their own steak or whatever and grilled grilled it themselves. A baked potato and other meal accessories were supplied for a small fee which included the cost of the entertainer.
Since the entertainer was Kim Jenkins, one of our more favored ones, we and the Lopes went to the party.

Here is our group. Marilyn's mother Mazie, Carol, Sonya Nolin and Gus and Marilyn Lopes.
And Carol and I were home before 10 PM but of course we are still going out to bring in the new year on New Years eve!!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR