Summer Adventures in Florida

Ok, as usual, it's been a while since I've posted anything here.  I've been busy since moving to PA in April (and Facebook has gotten most of my computer time...)

A week after school let out, Aidan and I flew to Miami and spent 4 weeks in the Sunshine State doing pretty much whatever we felt like:

     ~I met some friends for dinner down in "The Ridge".  Always nice to catch up with them.

     ~Went to see "Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter" with Sam (I loved that movie!)...

     ~We went to the South Florida Super Con.  Something I had never done before.  Very, um...interesting...and fun!  By total surprise, Alex Kingston was there and we got our picture taken with her.  She was very sweet and beautiful.  Definitely made it all the more memorable!

She looks like a cardboard cut out, but trust me, she was real!

Waiting for our picture

Ms. Kingston

Delorean!!!

     ~Then the boys and I spent a couple days at Venice Beach.  Searched for some more shark's teeth, but didn't find very many.  Some days are good - some days aren't.  Such is life.  We still had a great time!

Goofing around 

Aidan kept beating us at Yahtzee...Sam must've thought he had a chance when I took this pic 

Bat House off 98 between Lake Placid and Okeechobee 

As far as I could tell, no bats using it yet :( 

Sunset out in the scrub 

Cow pastures are also great for watching weather roll in

     ~George came down for a few days at the end so we could all fly back together.  He and I spent a couple day at Lake Placid and took a short kayak trip on the Peace River.  We tried to find some fossils, but zilch.  Had fun, though.  The Peace River is absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to kayak on it some more.

I could not believe he actually used a Home Depot bag as his luggage

Kids jumping off the dock at Bishop Park on Lake June

He always has to take a dip in Lake Francis

It was a good summer.  Aidan also spent 4 days in Orlando hitting all the parks with his dad and aunt.  Funny, though...all he wanted to do was go back to the hotel so he could swim in the pool!

It was great to meet up with a few friends (Heather, Sue & Corky, Nick, Pen, Ted and Lois (for only 1 day!) and to be with my family for a while.  I miss everybody.  And I miss Florida.  Well, except for Miami.  

I think we'll be back again in November.  My mom is coming up next week and hopefully Sam will come in October to do some Halloweeny stuff with us.  

Until the next post - enjoy the rest of the summer!

Hunting Expedition on the Florida's West Coast

Ah Venice....Venice, Florida, that is!

My friend, Nickie, had talked to me about going over there to hunt for fossilized shark's teeth, and I'd been wanting to try it for a long time. Finally the opportunity and timing was right and we finally got to go!

A whole bunch of us went over...Dave and Maria, Ob and his kids, Susan and Corky, Lj and us met Nickie, who got to go over Friday night. It was great being able to hang out with all my friends for the weekend. The main objective was to hunt for fossilized shark's teeth, and that we did. We bought a couple of sand/sifter shovel thingies for the job.

And used them to find these.....

They're not the Megalodon teeth we were hoping for, but I like them anyway. I think they're mostly Lemon shark teeth and maybe one Tiger shark tooth. It amazes me when I think of how old they are. We also found lots of pieces from stingrays and skates. The straight stick-looking pieces are pieces of their mouth that they used to crush their food. Not as impressive as the teeth, but just as old!

That's Lj and Nickie in the water)...

while Susan and Corky watched from the shore.

Aidan had to get dressed up to go to the beach. Why? I have no idea...

unless he wanted to impress his new girlfriend...

...Emily. Yes, she's older and more "worldly", but age means nothing to him! We ate at Cracker Barrel (always a favorite) and the best damn Thai restaurant ever - Thai Bistro, a little hole-in-the-wall joint in a little strip mall. OMG, it was the BEST Thai I have ever had in my life! If you ever find yourself in Venice, do yourself a favor and GO THERE!

A view from across from Casey Key.

While searching for a cache on Nokomis Beach, we found this! I am assuming that buried beneath that sand are some eggs. We were careful, and didn't see any other signs of turtles.

It was a beautiful, open, clean beach. The beaches here in South Florida never look this nice. Sad, but folks here tend to be such pigs. It was a treat to see a town with hardly any litter on it's streets or shorelines.

After finding the cache, we decided to take a drive to check out Casey Key. Now, Stephen King owns a home here and I wanted to see if I could guess which one was his. This one was HUGE, and I really hoped that this wasn't his. He just doesn't seem this pretentious to me....

I later found his address, and no...that was NOT his house! If you've read his latest novel, Duma Key, you know that it is set on a small island on the West Coast of Florida. Casey Key was his inspiration, though the island isn't nearly as deserted or creepy as his Duma Key!

The sunset below was actually taken very close to his home...if you've read it, you'll know why it's a little creepy...

Our last day in Venice, we headed back down to Casperson and ate at Sharkey's, a very cool little place with a pier out back.

Driving home now...I had to take his picture in Naples. Look at the traffic lights. See the poles they're on? the whole intersection was boxed in. Pretty cool. I've never seen a set up like that before. i wonder if it's supposed to be better in hurricanes?

Well, that's the end of the pictures from the weekend. We had a super time. A HUGE THANKS to Nickie for the idea of going there, and to Lj for her incredible Priceline expertise!