A surprise visit

Last May my family came over from the UK to help me celebrate my birthday.  It was totally unexpected.  It was a wonderful surprise.

We visited the Everglades.

 Of course Poppy came along too.

  We spent a few days in Miami.

Great hotel and it is pet friendly.

Took Poppy swimming in late afternoon when it was cooler.

 Sun, sands and sea tired her out.

 My family spent a week with us.  Lovely times and many happy memories.

Kennedy Space Center - Florida

On our way to visit the Kennedy Space Center.

 Cape Canaveral at a distance.

New Smyrna Beach - Florida

We had lunch at a local restaurant that is off the main road.

 

The building is right by the water.

Their specialty is steam clams.

The restaurant has 2 farms out there and grow their own clams.

We checked out the beach after lunch. 

Florida Manatees - Haulover Canal

I have always wanted to see a manatee swimming in the open water.  I finally saw one last weekend when we visited Titusville Florida and nearby area.

 

We waited for a little while and then I saw a great big manatee! To make sure my husband saw it too, I said in quiet excitement "Look!  There's one right in front of me."

Poppy smelled it too.  She cried out to let me know that there was wild animal about.  The manatee swam just below the water surface.  It came up for air; its massive round head appeared above the water.  It soon dived, showing us its dark grey body and its smooth round fan tail. It did not make any noise, such a stealth swimmer.

It is free to visit the Haulover Canal viewing deck and seeing the manatee was priceless. 

Florida Manatees

After my return from the UK, my hubby asked me what I wanted to do with the first free day we have together in the new year. I said “Let’s go and find a manatee.” Manatees live in Florida and I have always wanted to see one swimming in the open sea. So we drove north 70 miles and visited a manatee center.While we were busy looking for manatees, Poppy was busy checking out bugs in the grass.We have no manatee luck that day. All I managed was to take a picture of a man-made manatee outside the visitor center.Then a week later, when we weren't looking, it happened. We took Poppy for a walk on the beach in Delray, a female manatee swam leisurely by with her calf.This is not my picture and not the manatees we saw...but aren't they the cutest?

North Florida: shopping locally

I didn’t do much shopping during our visit. The nearest Publix supermarket is 30 miles away and 50 miles for a Starbucks. So we only purchased a few supplies locally. Bought some oysters and blue crabs. They sell the oysters by the sack full.

Got a loaf of bread from this shop.I kept seeing the sign "Boiled Peanuts". My curiosity got the better of me.I have to try some, very soft like baked beans, but salty.

North Florida: the southern country

Even though it is Florida the north is so different to the south. The pace of life is more layback, with big open space and quaint seaside towns.The first time a waitress greeted us with a good morning y’all in her southern accent, I blinked and thought wow, we were in the deep south of the US. I noticed that we were driving past a lot of swampy areas. We were right next to the ocean but you would have to look over the marshy patch before you could see the open sea.

The marsh lands here remind me of the Everglades.

One thing north Florida shares with south Florida: they too have alligators.

North Florida: Cape San Blas

I have always wanted to visit north Florida. So when my husband and I took a week off work we traveled 500 miles north.

After a long drive, Poppy crashed out when we stayed overnight at a hotel.
Having a break at a pit stop.

Arrived at the beach house.

Poppy checking out her new surroundings.

Taking a walk…

and watching the sunset.

A few photos

In my last post I meant to upload a few photos over the weekend. Then the unexpected happened. We were without water for a couple of days. Poppy injured her paw and my husband had to travel at very short notice. Things are back to normal now. Here are some of the pictures I want to show you.

I am making progress with my crochet.
Took Poppy to the Juno dog beach. Boy, it was so windy. Poppy was on the far left.

Too cold for me to go near the water...and yes, that was when Poppy told me she has done something to her paw.

Don't often have cold and windy days in March. It is warming up though. I know Spring is coming when I see this plant in flowers.

Just love the color.

Clearwater, Florida

I finally get round to sew my summer top. New Look pattern 6976; it requires a lot of bias tape. Lucky I have various sizes of bias tape maker from Clover, so I made my own and didn’t have to spend much on sewing notions.
I finished the sewing just in time for our getaway last week to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We headed north and drove through a storm. It was so scary. We could hardly see where we were going. There were thunders and lightning and they were so close to our car. The lightning bolts were striking down either side of the highway, with the light and the crack happened at the same time.

Once we passed the storm it was Florida weather again; hot and sunny with blue sky and white clouds. Our destination: Clearwater on the west coast of Florida, just west of Tampa.

One of the reasons we chose Clearwater was because it is pet friendly. This is the doggie beach at Fort De Soto County Park.

You could tell Poppy loved it, right? She was ready to go for her second swim before we finished setting up camp!

I purchased a few craft things on my travel, going to try them out now.

Thank you for visiting. Have a great weekend.