florida thumbs up to sun. bah humbug to snow :(

Sunlight

Active Member
woke up to palm trees, no jacket and sun
plane touched down in pgh to snow and cold.

boo hoo.

loved venice beach, siesta key! sanibel and captiva are not the same with the red tide there. had fun but only stayed one night there as the red tide makes you feel choked up like your throat is closing and eyes burny and itchy.

I keep saying WHY oh why do I live in the cold zone???
yesterday I was on the beach picking up shells.
 

Fran

Former desparate mom
Glad you enjoyed yourself.
Whenever I think about living in the north, I rememeber what it feels like to get out of the shower in Jan. when you live in the north.
There are definitely positives to winter in the south.
 

ScentofCedar

New Member
Glad you got to go, and that you made it home again safely!

So, the red tide was pretty nasty, huh?

We have been feeling that dry tickling in our throats lately, too.

Still, the palm trees and sun are beautiful. :smile:

Barbara
 

Ephchap

Active Member
Ohhhhhhh, I'm soooooooooo jealous. Yes, Siesta Key is my favorite beach. That white sand is just incredible. It's too bad about the red tide at Sanibel and Captiva, as those are beautiful shelling beaches. They've apparently been having problems the last few years with it.

Glad you enjoyed yourself. I often wonder why I live in such a cold state too. The snow is pretty ... for a day. lol.

Deb :smile:
 

gottaloveem

Active Member
Glad you had a nice time. Sometimes it is harder to be home after a warm vacation because you realize the rest of the country is not freezing. LOL

Sorry about the red tide.

I always wonder what we are doing living in a cold weather state. I have always said I would love to relocate someday.

Ideally it would be great to be able to live in Florida during the cold months and to live in Upper Michigan during the summer. That would be perfect for me.
 

Sunlight

Active Member
sanibel island is a fun place to be. we sat at the tiki bar and met another couple. we had dinner at the lazy flamingo. everything is lush and tropical. there were barely any shells, unusual for there. no fish. the hotel people said a few weeks ago they had to shovel the dead fish off the beach. the red tide is truly red. like a bunch of red algae/seaweed. we did see dolphins out there but the refuge people said the dolphins can get sick and die from the algae if they hang out too long. the ding darling nature preserve is lovely. we had new england clam chowder on Captiva Island at the mucky duck. my throat felt like it was closing and my eyes burned the next day so on we went to my cousins house in Port Charlotte.

siesta key beach is like snow. really soft, white as can be. a long long beachfront. the snow birds were in the water swimming. not me. too chilly in the water. we enjoyed siesta key village-shops and open air bars and restaurants. so nice to be in shorts! I bought a linked sand dollar shaped abalone encrusted bracelet.

I loved venice beach for shelling, though. the shells are beautiful and I found a shark's tooth. I also found a rare Junonia shell as well as others I love: alphabet, whelks, cat's paws, fighting conch, a sand dollar, many others. lots of them. the very next day, there were almost no shells on the beach. you wonder where they go? I told boyfriend I am a "shell snob" I only take the ones that look perfect. hee hee

we went also to Punta Gorda. fisherman's village is fun there. we sat on the harbor restaurant and watched my fav bird..the pelican. boats came and went. we had key lime pie. they have free entertainment and a nice duo was singing. we browsed the shops. I did not sample any alligator meat, any conch fritters or any shark meat. I did like the coconut shrimp and the scallops!

my cousin works at a neat place that is a Brazilian restaurant so we dined there one night. her home was all bright and cozy. it was a wonderful trip. boyfriend and I drove all over the place in a white rented Grand Prix down there taking in sights. traffic on Route 41 is horrendous though. so, today we are back to biz, working. ant packed a lunch for them and they are off on the job. ah....now how long til the next trip??? lol :smile:
 

Fran

Former desparate mom
On the flip side, summers are horrendously humid and miserable in Florida(just miserably hot in Dallas). 6 months in the south for the winter and 6 months in the north for the summer sounds perfect to me too,gotta love em.
 

Ephchap

Active Member
As much as I love the beach and warm weather, I've always said that if I were to really dream ...

I'd want to spend summers on Cape Cod, or if that's too big of a dream, then at least on the small peninsula that juts out from the Traverse City Bay in northern Michigan. It's really beautiful and peaceful there.

Winters, I'd head south - to somewhere along the Gulf. I'd want to check out more of the Gulf before I'd decide where exactly I'd want my "winter home", but I definitely love the Gulf side.

Ahhhhh, to dream.

That red tide must really be bad in Sanibel, Janet. What a shame. Sanibel is known for the beach being filled with shells. They call it the Sanibel Stoop because everyone is bent over along the beach, collecting their shells. I hope that it clears up soon so that it can be restored to the beautiful place it was.

Deb
 

Allan-Matlem

Active Member
Hi,
living with a difficult child is cheap way to deal with the cold and hunger

You are always boiling on the inside


You are always FED UP


in my humble opinion you seem to prefer to enjoy expensive holidays in Florida

Glad you had a great time

Allan
 

Sunlight

Active Member
LOL Allan, the holiday in Florida was not expensive at all! I stayed with a cousin. we packed picnics for lunch and had only coffee and toast for breakfast. we ate out dinner only at one restaurant...hers. Other than that, we do appetizers to taste test stuff. I am not a big eater.

I guess the biggest expense was airfare...but even that was under 400.00 for two. The rental car was from BUDGET and I had a major coupon for the upgrade on that. lol

I am the world's biggest bargain hunter/coupon user/saver...lol my vacations never cost much. I love simple stuff like shell hunting on the beach.

no it was not the silver jewelry store in Siesta, just a small shop...the bracelet was a find at under 10 bucks!

I simply love Florida! I am sick of snow. it is 10 degrees now, and I just loaded the barrel stove with wood again. ugh!
 
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