After Christmas the weather was beautiful and we did a little exploring which, of course, includes checking out more of the local beaches. New friends from Saskatchewan are taking a stroll with us.
This is Siesta Key beach, just south of Sarasota. According to the locals, this has been voted the most beautiful beach in the world. The sand is a white powder, unlike the other beaches around, and is quite dazzling to the eyes in the sun light. Our resident pirate, Yosemite was impressed by the power of the vast ocean, but his vessel, not so much.
We did go for a drive to see what was in St. Petersburg, or as us locals call it, St. Petes. This is the skyway bridge to Tampa and St. Petes. The bridge is very high to accommodate any possible ship entering Tampa Bay.
We had lunch as the Docks at St. Petersburg beach. We tried the shrimp patties which our friends recommended; they were delicious. This is seafood country so you have to try everything. Dolphins were jumping just beside this boardwalk. I took at least 10 pictures and never got a shot of one, so you'll have to take my word.
All our friends are moving to other campgrounds on Dec 31st so we decided to go out for one last supper before everyone heads out. This was a good Mennonite restaurant in Sarasota, with food that schmecks. Although we couldn't find pig tails, the food was just like at the Stone Crock in St. Jacobs, back home.
Its the new year and we're on our own at least for now. Its a good opportunity to review whats happening at the campground. Its just big enough that it takes us about 45 minutes to walk all the streets and trails.
As in Yuma, there are lots of fruit trees planted on the sites. Its considered bad form to go onto someone else's site to pick fruit, but we did find this grapefruit tree that was unclaimed and we managed to pick a dozen or so over the weeks before the site became occupied.
One morning around 8 AM, Carmen said she saw a lot of smoke so I went to see what was up. A few rows over from us, a trailer was fully engulfed in flames. I got there just after the fire trucks. It went up like a torch and most of the water was sprayed on nearby trailers to keep them from burning as well. Apparently, a young guy (about 22) was living there. He had no money and his hydro had been cut off. He was using candles for light and one fell on his pillow. He grabbed the pillow and threw it into the bathtub, unfortunately the bathtub was plastic and it burst into flames. He ran out without time to even put on shoes. He lost everything. The campground has a used trailer for sale so they let him move into there and most campers donated money to help him out. When you think you're having it tough, just think of this guy. PS. The truck in the picture is not his, its his neighbours; he rode a bike (which he lost as well).
If you've been following Florida weather at all, you know its been cold down here. Last night it froze so Yosemite, being a good Canadian, decided to go ice skating on our car roof. Just a bit smaller than the ponds of our youth. Yesterday it never got above 35F with a cold wind and rain. Apparently this is the coldest for this time of year in over 25 years. Good timing on our part, huh. Every Canadian you talk to down here says the same thing; at least we don't have to shovel it.
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