Last Day at Holiday Cove

On our last day here we decided to take the Zodiac out again and enjoy our beautiful surroundings.  Before we left, Dave ran down to Annie's Bait Shop and got another gallon of gas just to make sure we didn't run out in Palma Sola Bay.   What can I say about Annie's Bait Shop....its right out of a Carl Hiassen book.  Enough said.

We stuffed the front of the boat into the back of the jeep and Dave reprised his previous role of boat trailer as we slowly moved toward the boat ramp here at Holiday Cove.  Today we packed a light lunch along with the camera, towels, sunscreen, binnoclears, etc. into the dry bag and set off.

After an hour or so of boating, we tied off to a channel marker (I think we weren't supposed to do that, but we didn't have our anchor, so forgiveness instead of permission) and ate our sandwiches and chips before continuing our puttering.  We actually were looking for a little beach we had seen from the road, but never found it.  Instead we checked out a sheltered marina and floated around among some pretty fancy boats.

The clouds on the right side of the picture below are representative of what we see pretty much every day.  Clouds bubble up over land, but over the gulf its perfectly blue and clear.  Dave says, Lake Effect! (Gulf effect to be more precise..)

How the other half lives!

Osprey

lots of takers for extra fish parts at this cleaning station!

We got back around 4, rinsed all the salt water off everything and had a nice swim in the pool before dismantling the boat and putting stuff away in preparation for our departure tomorrow morning.  It was another lovely day, one of so many on this trip.




Its thundering loudly at the moment (8:30 p.m.) and Sasha is glued to my leg, can you feel the computer shaking?  A big storm is brewing, the palms are lashing and Dave is outside bringing in our awnings.
  

Its right over us now,  the first downpour  we've seen thus far, and its pretty dramatic.  I guess it does rain in paradise.

Puppies!

Before I tell you about the puppies, I have to tell you about a funny thing that happened to me early today. 

It was an alarm morning, as we had an 8:45 appointment for our guided tour of Southeastern Guide Dog school.  Dave said I had promised that there would be no more alarm mornings, but thats another story.

 I was taking Lewis on his morning constitutional and used the bag I had carried with me for this purpose...   This campground provides stations throughout the park with metal dispensers filled with rolls of clean-up bags for our use.  Below the dispenser is a garbage pail to throw your "used" bag in.   I usually take a new bag when I toss the filled one and that is what I did this morning.  I guess I yanked the roll too  energetically because 3 bags came flying out AND with those bags came a little lizard!  He flew threw the air, hit the ground, sat still a minute and then took off like lightening.  I don't know who was more surprised......Laughing is a good way to start the day don't you think?



OK, puppies.....
We arrived at the Discovery Center on Main Street in Sarasota and  boarded a small bus with 7 or 8 other people and our guide for the morning (plus his "career change" dog, Lillie)  He was a volunteer, retired from his previous life with the Sarasota Youth Symphony and Lillie had been released from Guide training and was an Ambassador for Southeastern.  He adopted her about a year ago and she was still a "work in progress".   We got all the statistics on the drive to the school facility.  Bla Bla Bla   They've been in existence for 29 years, have 90 paid employees, 21 trainers, hundreds of volunteers and they produce about 200 puppies each year on a beautiful 23 acre campus.

Their facility is absolutely beautiful in every way.  Expansive, clean as a whistle, humming with activity and happy dogs and puppies.  They do a knock-out job of fund raising, first class all the way.  They have many ways to "give" and make it very easy to do so.  They interact with the public on so many levels, people love to come to the school and they are treated as the valuable pieces of the puzzle that they are.

 Daily, the public is invited to come and play with the puppies.  Its a win win for everyone. Puppies get oodles of socialization and the public makes warm fuzzy memories that can only be good for public relations  (not to mention donations and volunteers!)   We could hardly tear ourselves away from those babies.

  We were led into a large bright room ringed with kennels full of litters of puppies.  Everyone  sat on the floor and the volunteers opened  a kennel door. Soft, fluffy yellow puppies came tumbling out and raced around visiting all of us and exploring the toys scattered around the room.  How fun is that!

 .This sweet little yellow girl just decided that Dave was HERS....she kept coming back to him again and again and, as you can see, he hated it.

Ah, puppy breath


After about 20 minutes, the babies were called back into their "room" and their toys were picked up. 

back home, all tuckered out

We (the humans) were disinfected, new toys scattered on the floor and another kennel door opened.  Out flew a new litter of black pups.  These guys were much more independent than the previous yellows.  They seemed to be more interested in playing with the toys and exploring the room than interacting with us.  When they did seek us out, they were much more rambunctious, chewing, yanking and rough housing.  It was so interesting watching the differences between the pups.  We had a ball and could hardly tear ourselves away when our time was up.

a 3 way tug

See the big guy sitting in the background?   He was a huge, gruff  looking man, but so gentle with the puppies.  He left alone and got into his big old  red neck pickup truck and drove away - every one loves puppy breath I guess...

ouch!  my toes!

wistful baby

A happy man




We left the puppy kennel and continued our tour.  We saw the training center, where volunteers brought out some of the dogs that were in training.  We got to spend a bit of time  and ask questions about them and their training.  Afterward we were shown the facility where the graduates live with their new dogs while they are in training together.  They were very much like those of Guiding Eyes for the Blind in Yorktown Heights.  The bedrooms are all large singles and the dining room and gathering areas were cheerful and completely outfitted.   The graduates have everything they need while they are forming their new alliance.  Can you guess what our favorite part of the tour was?



When the tour was over, Dave and I stopped at an outdoor  Mediterranean restaurant and had a good lunch of soup and spanakopita and talked about our day.   Another good one.


Tomorrow is our last day here at Holiday Cove.  We plan on spending most of it in the Zodiac checking out the little bays and inlets.  So much to do, so little time.

Zodiak day

Lots of pictures today.  I think I'm in my "blue period".....

To get the inflated Zodiac to the little boat ramp in the resort, Dave put its front into the rear of the jeep (tailgate) and walked behind holding up the back of the boat as I drove slowly to the water.  I'm sure people got a real laugh as we crept by, but it worked beautifully.  Once at the ramp, he clamped the motor on and off we went.

my view over the bow as we moved down the canal toward the gulf

when I turned around, this was  my sweet view

These signs were posted everywhere, we didn't even notice them anymore, until.....

this manatee surfaced right next to us

what are those spots in the mangroves, they're moving!

A pelican rookery

view of the lift bridge connecting Longboat Key with Ana Maria Island.   We're  going under it to beach the boat on  what we've always called "Beer Can Island".

looking for just the right spot to beach  Zodiak

Off to the gulf beach to explore and look for sand dollars

Its turtle nesting season and  nests are cordoned off by volunteers to try and keep the eggs safe.

For the duration of the season any lights facing the beach are either turned off or shielded so the turtles coming out of the gulf to lay their eggs are not mislead by the artificial light.  The nest below was just constructed last night!

half a buck is better than none, right?

Moving Day

We had to change sites today, just a a bit down the way.  Its a nice site, a little smaller than before, cozy and private, but across from the pool, which we generally try to stay away from.  Today it was wonderful, however. We did a bit of work then just jumped in the pool and cooled off.  No one else in the area, we had the beautiful warm water all to ourselves.  It was a little worrisome, however, swimming under all the coconut palms with quiet little notices to "beware of falling coconuts".....

Site #2 at Holiday Cove RV Resort

We went across the street to the Cortez Cafe for lunch.  Actually we had breakfast at lunch time, as this little restaurant, diner really, is famous for their breakfasts.  We weren't disappointed, eggs, hashbrowns, bacon, belgian waffle, etc. - we thought how much Steve Voll would love it there.  After lunch we ran around looking for a small gas tank to take along on our Zodiak excursion tomorrow.  Then we needed to find some boat gas to fill  that tank.  Mission accomplished at Annies Bait Shop, a real "old Florida" place...We're just about ready to hit the water.

flat zodiak

almost ready, just add water

 While Dave was inflating the Zodiak, I washed and dried Lewis in preparation for his first non-professional hair cut.  Bobbies not here so we're going to take the plunge on Wednesday afternoon when we get back from our guided tour of Southeastern Guide Dog School.

fresh from the hose

no kidding mom, just dry me will ya?

I'll just kill this palm frond while I'm waiting

Dave found a little time to check on the air conditioner unit,

the dangerous coconuts

And last but not least, these are for you Cindy Pond....the requested pictures of me from the front.

Last Sunday in Paradise

Ho Hum....another day in paradise.  We joined the Hollings on the beach.. The gulf was incredibly warm (82) and incredibly clear, the palest shade of green.  When we swam it was as if we were in a warm bath.   So you don't think we had it too easy today, I tell you that Dave has blisters on both feet from walking on hot, hot sidewalks approaching this idyllic beach.  Later in the day the light breeze of the morning turned into quite a smart wind that all but sandblasted us by the time we decided to leave.  Even after our showers, sand still lingered.  Richard and Ruth shared their one remaining bottle of red wine on the beach before leaving to meet us at Flemings for dinner.  They more than shared the bottle though,  they accidentally spilled it allover themselves, especially Ruth's beautiful white linen slacks.  She had to wash and dry them before leaving to meet us (all their other clothes were already packed and stowed in their car for an early morning getaway).  

You see, all is not perfect in paradise.

Flemings...our favorite place to have a good steak and great wine.  After all the seafood we've been eating this trip, the anticipation of  a beautiful filet mignon and some creamed spinach made my mouth water.  Even damp slacks couldn't dampen our good time.
This was the last dinner we'll have with the Hollings for awhile, they plan to leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow and be in Charleston tomorrow night.  Another day's drive and they'll be on a plane for home.

Safe travel friends....and thanks for sharing your precious vacation time with us.

Toast number 2

The flowers and trees of late spring are spectacular here on Longboat Key.  These are Royal Poincianna trees and the flowers are flaming orange.

These dogs are the greatest.  This last week has been very busy for us, we've been trying to spend as much time with the Hollings as we can before they fly away.  Consequently, Lewis and Sasha have taken a back seat and they are so good about it.  A few walks during the day and they're fine here in Beluga, air conditoning blowing and classical radio blaring.  Lewis lets us know when he needs attention...

got time to play mom?

Did you say you had time to play ball?

doin' dad?

I can wait, finish your emails....

will you ever be done?

We took a bottle of champagne and some shrimp to the beach and had our second toast to the boy's  retirement.   This was a much anticipated event, so much so, we decided we needed to do it twice.  Our relationship has been so tied to the beach, this beach, that a toast needed to take place right here.

Later we ordered out, from Harry's, and ate our dinner on the balcony overlooking the Gulf.  Nice.
We'll really miss them, its too bad we live so very far apart.

I really enjoy living in this age of instant communication, especially as we travel and are far away from friends and family.  Being able to "talk" to people and share thoughts as they occur is wonderful.  One dear friend even tells me what she'll order when I mention a restaurant we're going to.  I really feel like she's right across the table from us. I love it!