December 3rd, 2013
Hello everyone,
Another week has slipped by with a mix of weather and the
big American Thanksgiving. There has
been a fair amount of wind and rain with sun off and on as is typical we are
told, for Florida November weather. I
manage to get to the pool everyday so by Canadian standards the weather is not
too bad. It is usually myself and a few other hardy Northerners as we are
called that are in the pool.
Thanksgiving is over but the shopping hype continues. Every
day there are countless ads and emails about Black Friday sales Black Weekend
sales and the approaching Cyber Monday. We have not ventured into the swarms of eager
shoppers, but have driven by the parking lots to see them full to capacity.
This is especially true for Walmart and Target. On Thursday, which was the real Thanksgiving
here we went with a group of people to a great restaurant on the water called
manatee Island. The food was fabulous and the view could not have been
better. Watching the water birds, the
sail boats and other water craft cruise by was a nice touch to the day. There
was the traditional thanksgiving food like turkey , ham, stuffing, regular
and sweet potatoes, but it was so nice
to have the mahi mahi , shrimp, and smoked salmon. The desserts were countless and Roger said
the pecan pie was delicious but I opted for the warmed Bree cheese with fresh
strawberry glaze coupled with fresh oatmeal raisin cookie; a good choice as it
was to die for. Our reservations were
for three in the afternoon so we had time to walk off some of our meal before
we headed to friends later for coffee and “holiday custard pie”. Now we
are on toothpicks and water for the weekend. Lol
We tried a lovely new wine this week called Gnarly Head
which is an old vine zin. A beautiful medium bodied red wine that is very
smooth and is great wine to sip and savour. It is made in California and has won several
awards. I hope we are able to get it in Canada when we get back otherwise we
will just have to drink our fill while we are here. Last week we tried Malee Point Shiraz which
was also very good. I am not sure what next week’s pick will be, perhaps a new
white wine is in order.
We look forward to the arrival of more of our friends now
that Thanksgiving is over. People seem
to arrive in waves, the pre-Halloween, the post-Thanksgiving and then the
post-Christmas crowd. As some people
arrive others go back up north for the holidays only too eager to return to the
sun once the holidays are over. We are
excited to go home for Christmas and see everyone, but I know that we too will
look forward to returning to the warmth and sunshine down here.
Last night we were out for dinner with friends as Carrabas,
an Italian restaurant, which was extremely good. They call it “amore night” with
great specials. A four coarse meal for 12 or 15 dollars a person depending on what you order along with
dipping bread and half price drinks. A
pretty cheap evening out for dinner and lots of fun.
The week ahead
promises blue skies and sunshine with low wind, perfect for lounging at the
pool. The weekend holds the Santa Claus
parade, the tree lighting on the harbour and our community Christmas party at
the clubhouse. Before you know it we will
be on the plane home for the holidays.
Have a great week everyone!
Carol
