A VISIT WITH LESLIE AND PETER, A SWANKY-DO NEIGHBORHOOD ON LONGBOAT KEY AND A WALK THROUGH THE MANGROVES OF DURANTE PARK

A WALK THROUGH THE MANGROVES IN LONGBOAT KEY’S DURANTE PARK

Waking up to 55F temps I was surprised at how much it had cooled off during the night.  With clear skies we were well on our way to a bright sunny day.  And would you believe when we rolled out this morning I snapped on the Jeeps heater for a couple minutes to take the chill out of the night air.

Kelly’s brother Peter and wife Leslie from Webster near Rochester NY generally like to spend the month of March in a rental house on Longboat Key here along Sarasota’s coastline.  They arrived a couple days ago so Kelly, Pheebs, and I headed on over to see them this morning.

ON FRUITVILLE ROAD NEARING DOWNTOWN SARASOTA THIS MORNING WITH THE GULF OF MEXICO STRAIGHT AHEAD

IF THESE FIRST FEW PHOTOS SEEM A BIT BLURRY IT’S BECAUSE THEY ARE….FORGOT TO SWITCH BACK TO AUTO FOCUS AFTER WEDNESDAY NIGHT’S MOSSY MOON SHOTS

Fruitville Road was it’s usual busy self as we wound our way westward towards the Gulf Of Mexico.  We were down close to old town Sarasota with it’s newer looking highrises and tall condo buiidings along the shoreline.  Crossed over the Ringling Bridge onto Longboat Key and hung a right making our way North up the Key.  It’s not too often we use our GPS but how nice this morning as Garmin Gertie took us right to Leslie and Peter’s door.

HEADING OVER THE BAY ON THE RINGLING BRIDGE

LONGBOAT KEY DEAD AHEAD

It’s a really nice 3 bedroom house they have rented on Longboat Key and this is their 4th year staying there.  They have been coming to Longboat Key for years. 

PETER, LESLIE, AND KELLY IN THE BACK YARD OF THEIR RENTED HOUSE

HEATED POOL TOO

SPENT OURSELVES SOME TIME CHATTING AROUND THIS TABLE

THEY HAVE A CANAL BEHIND THEIR HOUSE

THAT’S A NEIGHBOR’S 2 MILLION DOLLAR HOUSE AND PROPERTY ACROSS THE CANAL

It’s a pretty swanky neighborhood they are in as evidenced from a walk we took down to the end of the their street and back.  The prices of these houses and properties boggle the mind and again Kelly and I felt like the Clampetts from the Beverly Hillbillies.  It’s a beautiful eye pleasing neighborhood with all it’s architectural designs, creative colors, and professionally done lush landscaping. 

HEADING DOWN THE CUL-DE-SAC FOR A WALK

PETER THINKS THIS HOUSE ACROSS THE STREET BELONGS/BELONGED TO A KNOWN CANADIAN GOLFER

THIS PIECE OF PROPERTY OVERLOOKING THE BAY WAS OVER 2 MILLION DOLLARS JUST FOR THE PROPERTY….CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT THIS ‘HUGE’ CONCRETE HOUSE WILL END UP COSTING….BOGLES MY LITTLE MIND

SARASOTA’S SKYLINE

PHEEBE STOPS TO SMELL THE FLOWERS

We decided to take both cars, head out and grab some Subs and make our way north up the Key a few miles to the Joan M. Durante Community Park for a walk in the Mangroves.  Found a picnic table to chow down our Subs and then headed off down a meandering trail through the groves.

WE FOLLOWED THIS BRAND SPANKING NEW SUBURU TO OUR DESTINATION…..IT WAS LESLIE AND PETER

EATING OUR SUBS BEFORE WALKING THE MANGROVE TRAILS

 

PETER LEADS THE WAY ALONG THE TRAIL WHILE LESLIE AND KELLY BROUGHT UP THE REAR

I WOULD LIKE CANOEING OR KAYAKING HERE BECAUSE IF I FELL OUT I COULD JUST STAND UP AND START OVER

‘NOW LESLIE!!’

 

Many times today I thought how lucky we were to have us a cooler day going on and with an ocean breeze we were right in our element as far as temperatures go.  For the longest time I couldn’t even feel any humidity in the air.  WOW, what a wonderful break for us.

HEY IT’S THE GULF OF MEXICO SO WHERE’S ALL THE SHARKS EH

PELICANS

‘WELL THE LAST MINNOW I CAUGHT WAS ABOUT THIS BIG’

BRACKISH WATER IN THE MANGROVES

AND BY GOLLY BOTH THESE GALS ARE RIGHT IN STEP

Back to the parking lot it was time to say good-bye to Peter and Leslie and maybe, just maybe the next time we see them might be in Sierra Vista, Arizona next January.

‘WAS THAT MINNOW REALLY THAT BIG PETER?!?!’

‘WELL KELLY’……………..

Deciding to take a different route back to our rig and see some more scenery we headed north up the Key then crossed over to the mainland and slipped ourselves East through Bradenton.  I noticed a difference in the traffic right away.  Gone was the helter-skelter antics of maniacal Sarasota drivers.  Traffic was comfortably slower with driver’s well spaced.  No drag racing from traffic light to traffic light. 

BRADENTON BEACH

HEADING BACK TO THE MAINLAND

YEP, WE’RE DOWN TO A CRAWL…..WELCOME TO I-75

I FAIL TO FIND THE HUMOR IN THIS BACK WINDOW STICKER

We were back to the rig around 2 and after a rest headed over to Aunt Jean’s about 4 where Jean had some fine fixins of roast beef, mashed potatoes, carrots, and a cucumber salad waiting for us:))

IT’S VERY RARE FOR ME TO COMMENT ON ONE OF MY OWN PHOTOS BUT I DO LIKE THIS CANDID SHOT OF A LITTLE GIRL AND HER DOG ON A TEETER-TOTTER…. I TOOK THIS PHOTO IN THE DURANTE COMMUNITY PARK TODAY

GROANER’S CORNER:(( For two solid hours, the lady sitting next to a man on an airplane had told him about her grandchildren. She had even produced a plastic-foldout photo album of all nine of the children.  She finally realized that she had dominated the entire conversation on her grandchildren.  "Oh, I've done all the talking, and I'm so sorry. I know you certainly have something to say. Please, tell me... what do you think of my grandchildren?"

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- “Back in the days when the guillotine was first used, people wondered, is this what we may beheaded for in the future?”

- Why did the tomato blush?  Because he saw the salad dressing!

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A southern minister was completing a temperance sermon. With great statement he said, "If I had all the beer in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river."  With even greater emphasis he said, "And if I had all the wine in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river!"  And then finally, he said, "And if I had all the whiskey in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river!Sermon complete, he then sat down.  The song leader stood very cautiously and announced with a smile, "For our closing song, let us sing Hymn #365: 'Shall We Gather at the River.'"

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