FRI., DEC 15 thru SUN., DEC 31, 2023
We spent a fabulous weekend (Dec. 15 & 16th, 2023) with Cheryl’s bestie Carol Ann and housemate/friend Denise, at their beautiful home in Bonita Springs. The weather may not have been perfect but the company sure was! We swam in their heated pool (with warm towels waiting for us when we got out), played games, enjoyed a “campfire,” ate fantastic meals prepared by our hosts, and Denise even drew a bath for me in her spa tub. We were completely spoiled! They are the best hosts on the planet! We had fun surprising Carol Ann with a “Go FundMe” tin can filled with a few coins to help defray her speeding ticket cost, which she received after driving home from visiting C&J last month. So funny! A blessing to have met these two wonderful women through Cheryl and Joe. Also fun to reunite this past weekend with C&J after their whirlwind trip to NH. We even got to spend time with Sarah, their daughter, who is visiting from Los Angeles this week. We are blessed to have a continually expanding circle of amazing friends and family in our lives.
On Sunday, Dec. 17th (2023), Gary & I said goodbye to Cheryl, Joe, Denise, Carol Ann, and Sarah and let them have some time alone. We then drove 2 hours to Everglades National Park. It covers 1.5 million acres of wetland (wow!) and is the third largest National Park in the contiguous U.S. after Death Valley and Yellowstone. We had limited time to explore so opted for an airboat ride where we saw lots of sawgrass, which can grow 6 ft tall, and marsh plants all contributing to the “River of Grass” nickname for the Everglades… and, of course, we saw gators!
On the drive into the park we saw lots of mangroves and various birds including egrets, herons, ibis, and spoonbills but, unfortunately, there wasn’t time to park and walk a few of the boardwalks we passed and take photos. Next time! Such a unique park!
Gary created a short video of our airboat ride on Sunday in Everglades National Park…
On Monday, Dec. 18th (2023), Gary & I first visited our cousin Stewart who lives in Indiantown, FL. So wonderful to re-connect with him. It had been too long. Afterwards we visited Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, FL. It was a trip down memory lane for Gary, as he and his brother Wayne visited here as children with their parents. The 70-acre gardens and 205 ft Singing Tower were spectacular! So worth a visit!
The gardens and tower were established in 1929 by Edward Bok, who was editor of the Ladies Home Journal, a Pulitzer Prize winning author, and a philanthropist. He commissioned the tower and gardens as a gift to the American people. Bok was from the Netherlands. His grandmother challenged him to adopt his grandfather’s motto for life with these words: “Make you the world a bit better or more beautiful because you have lived in it.”
The 205 ft. tall Singing Tower houses one of the world’s largest carillons. It has 60 bells weighing more than 123,500 pounds (or 62 tons) and occupies the upper third of the structure. The largest bell, called the Bourdon, is 22,400 pounds (just under 12 tons) and the smallest weighs 16 pounds. The steel frame is sheathed in brick. The brick is overlaid with a layer of pink and gray marble, contrasting with coquina, a fossilized shell limestone, and there are tile mosaics, animal carvings, and custom ironwork on the Singing Tower. There are daily carillon concerts here. We were fortunate to hear the carillonneur playing live while we were visiting. The bells remain stationary. It’s the striker inside the bell that moves. The carillonneur plays a keyboard to strike the bells. This is the 4th carillonneur in the history of the tower. Talk about a niche career! A screen is on display outside showing the carillonneur while he is playing.
The 70-acre gardens were established by renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. who also created NYC’s Central Park as well as the grounds around the U.S. Capitol and the Biltmore Estate in Asheville to name a few!
Also on the property is a 1930’s 20-room Mediterranean-style mansion named “El Retiro,” meaning “retreat” in Spanish. The home was built for Charles Austin Buck, a Bethlehem Steel executive and has been renovated and is nestled on the outskirts of Bok Tower. It was closed for tours the day we visited.
C&J and Sarah arrived back to the campground the day we visited Bok Tower. We enjoyed time with Sarah while she was in town including a few campfires, and we all played Bingo at the clubhouse one evening. Everyone won but me!
A short video if you’d like to hear the carillonneur playing…
My brother Bob and Deb flew in from Texas two days before Christmas to spend a week with us. We thoroughly enjoy spending time with them. On Christmas Eve we played cornhole, grilled dinner, played card games and watched the Dallas Cowboys lose. We had 9 of us for Christmas… Cheryl, Joe and their daughter Sarah, Deb & Bob, Gary & me and our dear friends Diane & Mike from Englewood, FL who arrived Christmas Day with their RV to visit with us for the week. Since there were 9 of us, we decided to set up dinner at the campground’s pavilion. The weather cooperated! Then we came back to our tiny home to watch a couple of short videos that Sarah was in. She has a budding career as an actor along with her professional photography. A fun day!
Our Christmas Tree
On Tuesday, Dec. 26th (2023), our expanded pod visited Tarpon Springs. Sarah flew back to Los Angeles today and Diane & Mike were having a much needed day of rest so there were six of us for this little adventure: Bob & Deb, Cheryl & Joe and Gary & I. Tarpon Springs is one of the few areas in the world where natural sponges, suitable for commercial use, can be found. Since 1890 Tarpon Springs has been known for its sponges, and by the 1930s over 200 sponge boats operated out of Tarpon. Sponges were Florida’s most lucrative sea product in the 1900s and the town became the largest sponge port in the country. The practice of sponge diving was common in Greece, and the town attracted many Greek immigrants. Now Tarpon Springs has the highest percentage of Greek Americans of any city in the U.S. There are Greek restaurants and bakeries all over town.
The sponge industry has declined but the boats still go out looking for natural sponges. The divers can be out on their boats for up to 30 days at a time. Wearing a wet suit, construction boots, a mask, gloves, and a weight belt, the divers walk on the bottom of the sea looking for sponges. They cut the sponges with a knife and put them in a net they carry. Rather than scuba diving, they hookah dive using a 600-ft air hose hanging on the back of the boat. They go out from 2 to 20 miles from shore and from 6 to 60-ft deep water to find sponges. There are murals all over town depicting the sponge industry.
Regarding how the town became known as Tarpon Springs… the name is said to have originated by a woman settler. She was standing on the shore seeing fish leaping and exclaimed “See the tarpon spring!” In fact, the jumping fish were most likely mullet rather than tarpon. But apparently the name stuck!
A cool town! Our expanded pod walked around town and had ‘linner.’ Next time I would opt for a boat ride to learn more about the sponge industry.
On Wed., Dec. 27th (2023), Gary and I did a second visit to the Univ. of Tampa with Brother Bob, Deb, Cheryl and Joe. The gorgeous moorish-designed main campus building with its minarets was worth a second visit. This time we visited the Henry B. Plant Museum, housed in the historic building, for its Annual Victorian Christmas Stroll. The museum is celebrating its 90th anniversary with 90 Christmas trees on display! All different shapes and sizes and themes. There was also a mixture of vases and pedestals on display. At one time the pedestals would have been out in the gardens strategically located for guests to sit on. Not the most comfortable I wouldn’t think!
As mentioned in a previous post, the historic building was originally the Tampa Bay Hotel, built in 1891 at a cost of $3 million by Henry Plant, a railroad tycoon. It became the social and cultural center of early Tampa. Purchased by the City of Tampa in 1905, it has served as the main building of the University of Tampa since 1933.
The Henry Plant Park (est. 1891) is located adjacent to the University and sits on the banks of the Hillsborough River. A fabulous green space for the students to enjoy. The first time we visited earlier this month the students had strung up a dozen hammocks across the trees and were chillin’ on a beautiful day. Sign me up to attend University here in my next life!
A very enjoyable final few days here in Riverview FL with our extended pod… including family (Bob & Deb) and friends of 40 years (Diane & Mike)… plus, of course, Cheryl & Joe. We played games and cornhole. Some of us made one final trip over to the Manatee Viewing Center. However, because it’s Christmas week, it was packed! No parking was available so we continued on to Apollo Beach and enjoyed one last walk on the beach. An evening walk in the campground one night happened to coincide with a space launch from Cape Canaveral. Beyond cool!.
Bob & Deb left us on Dec. 30th to begin a Caribbean cruise out of Tampa. For New Year’s Eve, our remaining pod of 6 celebrated with pizza, a campfire, games and champagne. What more do you need?!
We’ve thoroughly enjoyed our 2-month stay in this lovely part of Florida. The traffic is a little intimidating in the Tampa area, but our campground was located in a quiet town, and we would definitely stay here again. We got to explore some natural wonders, visit fascinating museums, and see amazing architecture, and most importantly, we were blessed to connect with family and friends while here.
Being parked for an extended stay also gave us a chance to get caught up on some RV maintenance issues. For example, Gary replaced our oven! And we had our RV brake bearings inspected and re-packed. Always nice when that can be scheduled on-site! On the medical side of things, unfortunately I needed two root canals. Yikes! They were taken care of in early December. Thank goodness for good pain meds!
A fabulous two months exploring the Tampa Bay Area and now a new year begins…
Apollo Beach with Diane, Deb, Bob, & Gary.
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