Moving On, but not Far

On Saturday, our last day at Little Manatee State Park, we drove back up to St. Petersburg to the Farmer's Market we saw the week before.

We took all of our knives along for sharpening and stocked up on wonderful produce.  

It's going to be a healthy week!

Last week, Jeannie told us about a sand sculpture contest at Siesta Beach in Sarasota, that coincided with the  drum circle that I wanted to see, so Sunday morning I was lucky enough to find a one night spot in a nearby Passport America park. 

I had read that parking was a problem at Siesta Beach and we found that was true. The traffic for several miles from the beach was bumper to bumper, moving at a snail's pace. When we got to the beach area we saw several large parking lots that were full. Oh My!

We drove on, through a commercial area with no beach parking and turned back to take another pass. We saw two parking lots that were charging $20 for parking, that were a mile or more away from where we wanted to go. There was no way I would pay $20 and walk that far! 

I was ready to just go on back to the RV and call it a day.

Sometimes plans do not work out.  But sometimes they do. As we crawled along  in the opposite direction, not expecting to find parking,  I spotted a lady standing next to the driver's door of her car smoking a cigarette. I told Craig to stop, and yelled out: "Are you leaving?" She smiled and nodded yes, and we scored an in-close, free, no time limit, street parking spot. 

The weather was perfect, the sun was shining, and the beach was incredible. I have never seen so much beautiful white sand.

The sand sculpture event was not as large as I expected, but the work was everything I hoped it would be. These are some of our favorites:

Siesta Selfie

Crystalline

The other side was her dragon!

Toes in the Gulf of Mexico

After looking at the sculptures for a while, we checked out the craft booths, and then took a walk along the edge of the surf. 

Hearing the drum circle would form about an hour before sunset, we wandered back to the Jeep and got our folding chairs. 

We found "the place" and watched as the drummers began arriving. This is not an organized event. No one is "in charge" and we were told the participants changed from week to week.

A large circle was drawn in the sand, and as the shadows grew longer, more drummers arrived and more people gathered around it.

Several young people did some extraordinary things with hoops, and then a pile of hoops was set out for anyone who wanted to play. Many of the children gave it a try. Some were quite good.

There were several dancers in costumes, as well as many who just joined in as they felt the beat.

Children of all sizes were welcome in the circle. This girl in bright pink was dancing, and the baby just crawled into the heart of the action.

It was fun to people- and kid-watch! Craig shot the following 2 minute video by holding the camera above his head, so the aiming isn't good, but it should give you the flavor of the event. Turn your sound up all the way. We don't understand the girl in the blue-green top with the magic yellow wand. It can't really be magic, right?

We had been sitting with our back to the water, when I noticed the light had changed dramatically. The long shadows were gone, replaced by a soft glow of twilight.

I turned and experienced one of the most remarkable sunsets I have ever seen. These pictures don't do it justice.

I felt I was not just seeing a sunset. I was inside a sunset. The air glowed from horizon to horizon. There were not many clouds to catch the rays of color, but color was everywhere.

We quietly walked back to the Jeep in this mystical air. 

It was a good day. One that was worthy of my blog title, Merikay's Dream.

Dud Day, Fun Pictures

Several people told us we should go to see Fort Desoto. The drive over and back was fantastic. The Skyway Bridge is beautiful, and the day was sunny in the high 60s.

We started our visit with a nice two mile walk on the beach. The sand was very firm which made for a good walk, and we enjoyed looking for a few great shells among many broken pieces.

It's always fun to watch the water birds who make a living in the surf.

I was fascinated by the way these plants that sent out runners on the sand. It reminded me of stitching on a quilt, or a baseball.

It was a windy day and in addition to the rough water out on the bay, there was some good wave action against the rocks.  Craig shoots pictures involving splashing water at 1/2000th of a second.

After our walk on the beach, we had a small picnic lunch and then explored parts of the old fort.  This was underground storage for artillery ammunition.

This gun may be one of the largest mortars ever made.  By firing up over the wall behind it, this gun and its many siblings could cover the entire entrance to Tampa Bay, during the Spanish American War.  Fortunately, the Spanish knew they were overmatched, and never tried invading.




This big gun was made in England and was called rapid-fire, though we never saw a figure for firing rate.  Here Merikay prepares to vault into the firing nest :-)

Then we took a walk out onto a pier were a few people were fishing.

This young man seemed to be embracing the sky.  Such joy!

So, why do I say this day was a dud? The fort would be a great place for a Spanish-American War enthusiast, but we found it a bit of a bore. I guess we're getting spoiled! Sunshine and a fresh ocean breeze is not enough for us.

Meeting Old/New Friends after a great tourist day

After a beautiful day (mid 70s) touring the Ringling Museum and mansion, we met former full-time RVers Jeannie and Eldo for a fish fry at Anna Maria Oyster Bar. I felt like a real snowbird, arriving at 4:30 so we could catch the Early Bird Special. But the timing was just right, since I was pooped out from walking all day and very hungry, having skipped lunch.

It is always fun to meet a fellow blogger because after reading their posts for several years you feel you know them already. Jeannie and Eldo are people who I would like to spend much more time with. Our conversation was easy, and they give us some good insights into full-time RV life and "hanging up the keys." Although they have sold their rig and bought a home in Florida, they still like to travel, so who knows, we might meet again down the road.

Our day at the Ringling started with viewing a miniature circus built by Howard Tibbal. I cannot put my admiration of the detail and craftsmanship into words. For anyone who has ever taken pride in making something, or who loves the circus, this is a must-see!

The picture to the right was taken from a viewpoint on the second floor. It shows only a small part of the expansive layout. He has created thousands of little figures, each unique, each with a feeling of action and purpose, each with facial features.

Even his animals showed animation in their posture.









On the second floor there was a long window display of an incredible parade. We recognized some of the original wagons and characters we saw at the Baraboo Circus Museum last July.

The mirror doubled the number of pieces and gave us a great view of the other side.

Elephants dressed as clowns

Sea Serpent costumes on elephants

We also toured the Circus Museum building and enjoyed seeing some of the original costumes worn by the stars. 

image from web

Then it was on to a tour of the mansion, also called Ca'd'Zan, or House of John.








We walked through the first floor on our own as part of the regular admission to the Ringling grounds. Then we bought additional tickets for the guided second floor tour (a whopping $5 each) and went through both floors, with a guide explaining what we were seeing and giving us a bit of historic perspective. Best upgrade we've had in years! 

Here are a few highlights:

Many of the windows and the large skylight in the living room was made with colored French glass. This softens the bright Florida sunshine.

The house was being decorated for Christmas. This tree in the living room was Craig's favorite. The furniture was all original.

The decor and detail was, to me, way over the top! If we hadn't toured another mansion of the time, the Biltmore, I might have thought it was garish and suitable for the home of Circus Mogul. But it was indeed in keeping with the high society style of the day.

These beds seem like they could be part of a Circus wagon!

All in all it was fascinating. 

My favorite part of the estate was the marble patio that overlooks the water of Sarasota Bay.

Next we walked across the parklike grounds to the Museum of Art. Knowing we wouldn't have time or energy to see all of the galleries, we choose to walk through the halls that contained some of the classic art owned and donated by the Ringlings.

  

Before calling it a day, we found time to take a short walk in the sculpture garden. 

I doubt we will ever get to Florence, Italy, to see the original David, but we appreciated this bronze version in the garden.

It was a tiring day. My back was screaming and I was happy to find a tram to take us back to the entrance, but I enjoyed it all! I have to start carrying some pain reliever in my purse. I really could have used some in the afternoon. 

Looking For Manatees

When I booked our current site, I knew that there were no manatees in the Little Manatee River because of a dam or something. But I knew that in our travels north next January, we would have several chances to see them at the springs we will be visiting. However, I was delighted to see a sign not far from us that said: "Manatee Viewing Center" along one of the highways we were driving down

I checked it out and found out the manatees like to gather near the warm water from the cooling outlet of the Tampa electric power plant, whenever the bay temperature drops below 68*. The power plant is where the Manatee Viewing Center is located.

On Tuesday I consulted Google to check the water temperatures. Although the web page listed Tampa Bay at 71*, we decided to drive over to the Center anyway.

We headed towards the chimneys puffing out steam.

We arrived just at the right time to catch a guide giving a short talk about manatees.

Then we went on to the viewing walkway. The guide had said there were a dozen or so manatees to be seen out in the water.

They were there, but all we could see was their huge bodies suspended just below the surface. Occasionally one would put his nose up for a breath, or dive down showing his fluke.

We looked over the side into a much shallower area, and could see one big shadow on the bottom. We waited and a large old beastie  came up for a breath of air from time to time. It may have been sleeping.

Then we saw two other shadows coming into the shallow area. One was much smaller than the other and as we watched the pair surfaced.

Both the mother and her calf were covered with barnacles. In the presentation we had listened to, we had learned that the barnacles were quite irritating, but would die and fall off when the manatee went into fresh water.

Craig said manatees are not very exciting to watch, but I think he enjoyed the beautiful day. I am looking forward to seeing them at the springs. Maybe we will get closer.

Some people like to collect T-shirts from the places they visit.  

I like socks!

What do you like to look for as a souvenir?

Where we will be November - Feburary

Several of my friends and family have asked where we will be in Florida over the next few months. We know some of the other RV bloggers will also be  here and if we happen to cross paths we would love to meet you. So, this is our route and list of dates.

Most of our reservations are in State parks. Where I have indicated no reservations, we will probably just hope to find an open spot in a commercial park along our way.

A. Nov. 2 - Nov 16: Little Manatee State Park, Just South of Tampa

    Nov16 - Nov 20, No reservations made, just making our way south and east and stopping where we want.                         

B: Nov 21 - Nov 29, Ft Lauderdale in a Commercial Park

C: Nov 29 - Dec. 13, Long Key State Park (Florida Keys!)

D: Dec 13 - Dec. 28, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, Key Largo 

    Dec 28 - Dec 29, No Reservations possibly go up to Everglades

E: Dec 30 - Jan 6, Jonathan Dickinson State Park

F: Jan. 6 - Jan 16,  Kissimmee Pairie Preserve State Park

G: Jan 16 - Jan 28, Wekiwa Springs State Park

H: Jan 28 - Feb 2, Visit our Friend Linda, or ?

I: Feb 2 - Feb 6, Manatee Springs State Park

Feb. 6 - Feb 10, No reservations, Traveling Out of Florida

J: Feb 10 - 14, Fontainebleau State Park Louisiana

Not on this map:

Feb 14 - Feb 16 Dick Albrittons for reroute of tail pipe

I am also going to put this on my sidebar as a page and update it as we go along.

A Day in St. Petersburg

As much as we enjoy hiking in the natural areas of state and national parks, we also like to visit cities and learn about them.

On Saturday we drove to Saint Petersburg. We went on a walking tour of the waterfront area, led by a guide from the Preservation Society. It is a great way to learn about a city. I found this one online. The tour lasted just under two hours. No reservations were required. We met at the entrance of the Saturday morning open air market, and the cost was only $5 each. Our guide was great. She was energetic and well informed. 

One of our stops was at the Fountain of Youth. Of course I had to get a drink. I could sure use a bit of help in that direction. The stuff must involve a time delay, because I don't feel any younger yet :-)

This was one of the modern buildings we saw. It is an apartment building that opened in 2007, just as the most recent real estate crash was going on.  At the time the developer lost a huge amount of money. Now the apartments are rarely up for sale.  

In the foreground is the old stadium that was used for the very first spring training for major league baseball teams.  It is now used for soccer, and it may be in line for destruction and redevelopment.





After a quick lunch at the Market, we walked over to the Dali Museum. During the week I had bought advance tickets for the opening day of the Picasso/Dali show.  I'm glad I did, because it got a bit crowded. In San Francisco, some of the special shows sell out for walk-ins.

Picasso was just a little older than Dali, and it was very interesting to see the influence of one on the other. Picasso's structural Cubism influenced Dali, and on the other hand the Surrealist movement affected Picasso's work. The show had their works that related to each other hung side by side and the audio tour explained them.

I really like audio tours. You can only read so much before it all becomes a blur.

Craig said the museum looked like a big concrete box that was being attacked by a shiny monster from beneath the Bay.

Like many art museums, the building itself was a visual treat. In the center was a three story staircase that ended with this feature far above. 

In the Picasso/Dali exhibit, no photos were allowed. This was taken in the Dali gallery and was one of our favorites.

Several Dali "elements" were on the grounds of the museum.  One of the benches featured a melting clock. Dali used this image to "illustrate how useless, irrelevant, and arbitrary our normal concept of time is inside the dream state". 

As we left the exhibit we were encouraged to write a wish on our wrist band and hang it on their Wish Tree.

Merikay makes a wish

Also on the grounds was this very large sculpture of Dali's famous mustache. It was just fun.

When we walked through the Market first thing in the morning, we were very impressed. We agreed it was probably the best open air market we have seen since leaving California.  But we were bummed by the fact that we had all-day plans, and didn't want to put fresh produce in the car for the afternoon.  So we've decided to come back here next Saturday and stock up on great veggies.  

Good plan! 

Where have you found the best farmers markets?  I'd love to know about them ahead of time and put it on my list!

Gamble Plantation; we're under attack

The Gamble Plantation house is just down the road (about 10 miles) from Little Manatee River State Park. On Thursday we decided to drive over and take a look.

We arrived too late for the morning tours, and too early for the afternoon tours.  So after buying our tickets we wandered around the grounds.

This was on one of the lawns.  We think that the long branch is for turning the sugar cane press that it's mounted on, and the big bowls are for cooking sugar cane juice.

I really like the big old trees and the Spanish moss!  During the tour of the house, we learned that this type of tree was not here at the time the house was occupied. At that time, all of this area was stripped to the sandy ground as a fire break. I like it the way it is now.

These plants were growing along the edge of a small water ditch at the back edge of the property.  Their leaves are enormous, as wide as five feet!

As we waited on the front porch for our tour, we met a very nice Florida couple who gave us some insight into places to go and see.

The Ranger-led tour was very good. He gave us good information about the history and the construction of the house. At $6 each, it's a good value.

On our way home we stopped at a Publix store. It has been interesting to explore the different grocery chains as we have traveled across the country.  It looks like Publix may be our Florida store.  

I discovered two great things about the chain. Craig doesn't like bread that has been enclosed in plastic. I found that if I asked, I could buy an unbaked baguette from the bakery, and take it home so we can have a fresh-baked bread for dinner.  The other great thing is that their customer service desk sells rolls of quarters.  These things may be trivial to the rest of the world, but to foodies like us that have to use laundromats, these are big deals! It doesn't take much to make me happy.  :-)

We're being attacked: our Alfa is under attack from a female cardinal. She sees her reflection in the windows of the rig, and keeps banging into the windows trying to drive off "the other bird."

I taped newspapers onto the windows to discourage her. I left them quite loose, hoping the movement of the wind blown papers would also discourage her. This evening she started flying up at the bathroom window. I guess I'll have to cover that too!  

Isn't nature fun?  Hope she appreciates the comics pages!