Low country boil, meatballs and manatees

Last night the park put on a Low Country Boil for everyone.  I know you all know how rarely we participate in group activities, but this time we decided to join in.      Actually, we learned that if we didn't go we would probably be the ONLY people at Holiday Cove not enjoying the delicious dinner.   The Banks do love a good Low Country Boil...... The Pam's and their spouses (Vic and John) would all be there and we were assured we could just fill a plate and take it home if we didn't want to stay, so - why not!

We had BYOD cocktail hour at Pam and John's Discovery before we all walked to the pool area to collect our name tags and plates.   Cooks were pouring the contents of huge stainless steel pots down the center of a long, paper covered table.  Chunks of boiled corn, large shrimp, sausage, small whole potatoes, garlic cloves, green onions were heaped on the table.    We filled our plates and found a table by the pool.

It was a beautiful evening and we truly enjoyed ourselves.   I'm glad we went.


Today Dave and I drove to Tampa's Ikea store to try and get some ideas for the cottage's kitchen.  I'm bored with Lowes and Home Depot's offerings and wanted to see something different.    After a quick lunch of Swedish Meatballs and a small, pink dome of marzipan creme cake in their stylish cafeteria,  we walked and walked and walked, carefully following the arrows through the store.  We got lots of interesting ideas and took pictures of the things we particularly liked.   It was a good start.

On the way home, we stopped at the Big Bend Power Station in Apollo Beach to see the manatees that congregate in the plant's warm discharge canal when the water in Tampa Bay is below 68 degrees.    Years ago, when Jesse was a little guy, we used to just walk to the edge of the canal to watch them swim slowly along.  Every so often their bristly noses would break the surface for a breath or a few drops of fresh water that dripped from a hose over the canal.  Now they have an official viewing platform and visitor's center on the site.  I believe it has become a state and federally mandated manatee sanctuary.   I never tire of seeing these huge gentle creatures.