Living Our Dream

Hurricane Prep and a Day Trip to Fort Pierce

Wauchula, Florida - Events of Friday, July 26 to Monday, September 2, 2019

We have completed most of our preparations and are currently in a holding pattern waiting for Hurricane Dorian to arrive. The storm is predicted to stay offshore, so we aren't expecting anything too severe. However, hurricanes are notably unpredictable, so we are hanging loose with a couple of backup plans should we need them.

In the meantime we thought we would post an update on a few things we have been doing over the last month. Back at the end of July, we tried a newly-opened Mexican restaurant in Sebring called Azul Tequila. 

Azul Tequila

The decor at Azul Tequila is very attractive with upholstered chairs that have carvings in the wood backs and with taller, barrel-type seats in the bar area. There are interesting silhouettes of rustic wagons and figures in sombreros in the upper windows, wagon wheels embedded in the walls, and attractive murals.

Azul Tequila has a menu that is typical of most Mexican restaurants with prices that are $1 to $3 higher than our favorite, Pancho's Villa in San Antonio, Florida. We both had chimichangas with queso sauce. Margery had ground beef, and Paul had shredded chicken.

Margery with her chimichanga

Azul Tequila is almost as good as Pancho's Villa, and it's about a 1½-hour shorter drive, so we'll definitely be going back. In fact, we liked Azul Tequila so much, we did go back less than two weeks later.

With Hurricane Dorian still a long way off, we took a day trip on Tuesday, August 27, to Fort Pierce to visit the Navy SEAL Museum located there. Admission is $15 for adults ($12 for seniors 65+, veterans, and first responders).

Entrance to the Navy SEAL Museum

The Navy SEALs originated in the early days of WWII when the U.S. Navy recognized the need for covert reconnaissance of beaches and enemy coastal defenses. The Amphibious Scouts and Raiders were formed just 9 months after Pearl Harbor, and a training center opened in Fort Pierce. Other names for the Navy SEAL predecessors include Naval Combat Demolition Unit (NCDU), Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT), and Frogmen. The special operations program was expanded in 1960-1961 during Vietnam and that is when the Navy SEAL name was adopted. The name comes from where the teams operate - in the SEa, in the Air, and on the Land.

The museum begins with the modern-day story of the SEALs starting with a display on the global war on terror that began with the 9/11 attacks. One of the things in the display is a section of a steel beam from the World Trade Center.

Section of a steel beam from the World Trade Center

This part of the museum also features a scale model of bin Laden's compound in Pakistan. The SEALS trained on a full-size replica of the compound built in Nevada before the actual mission took place.

Scale model of bin Laden's compound

Also in the modern era display is the Maersk Alabama lifeboat. SEALs rescued Captain Richard Phillips, who had been held for 5 days on the lifeboat, after the cargo ship of which he was captain was overrun by Somali pirates back in 2009.

Maersk Alabama lifeboat

Along with a Black Hawk helicopter, the modern day exhibit features examples of several types of land transportation used by the SEALs including a dirt bike, a 4WD truck, and the sand rail and specially-modified side-by-side shown below that were used in Desert Storm.

Sand rail and side-by-side used by the SEALs

Included in the display was an MCU/2-P gas mask. Paul worked on the development of the lens for this military gas mask, and its experimental predecessors the XM-29 and the XM-30, when he worked as a plastics engineer at MSA.

The masks feature a flexible lens that allows the user's eye to be pressed close to the scope of a rifle while maintaining protection against poison gas. It was extremely difficult to mold the lens with good optics because of the nature of the material that was specified, and Paul came up with a way for the molding operators to inspect the lenses for optics right at the press using polarized light. With defects being discovered at the press, adjustments to the process could be made right away to minimize scrap.

MCU/2-P gas mask

The museum has separate areas for displays on Korea/Vietnam and for WWII. There are also several excellent short videos throughout the museum that describe different operations conducted by the SEALs as well as the very rigorous SEAL training.

From the WWII area, visitors exit to the outdoor displays that include a number of boats and submersibles from WWII to the present day. The photo below shows several of these vessels. Also on display are two training modules for the Gemini and Apollo space programs (the white, conically-shaped objects in the far distance). Navy frogmen participated in the recovery of the space capsules after splashdown.

Boats, submersibles, and space capsule training modules in the outside display

Shown below is a MK-V Special Operations Craft. At 82' long, it's a lot bigger than it looks in the photo. It has two 2252 HP diesel engines and costs $4500 an hour to operate.

MK-V Special Operations Craft

Also outside is a memorial dedicated to SEALs and their predecessors who gave their lives for our country.

SEAL Memorial

From the outdoor displays, we went back inside to watch a longer video on the history of the SEALs. With that video, with the numerous shorter videos, and with all the exhibits, we spent about three hours at the museum. We highly recommend the museum for all patriotic Americans.

The museum is located adjacent to a beach, so we took a short walk before heading home.

View of the beach adjacent to the Navy SEAL Museum

We made tentative plans to have lupper at a nearby seafood restaurant. However, the restaurant closed at 2:00, and we spent so much time in the museum it was about 2:10 when we were done. Because we had a two-hour drive to get home, we decided it was also too late to go our second-choice restaurant because it was about a 25-minute drive in the wrong direction. Not only that, but they closed at 3:00. Therefore, we made a quick stop at Chick-Fil-A on the outskirts of Fort Pierce for some chicken nuggets, then made another stop on the way home about 30 minutes later in Okeechobee for dessert at Dairy Queen.

Shortly after visiting the Navy SEAL Museum, Hurricane Dorian intensified, and the predicted track had moved inland. We were doing a lot of running around gathering emergency supplies in preparation for the arrival of the hurricane. On the way home from Walmart last Friday, we stopped at the Pioneer Restaurant located two miles down the road from the Co-op in Zolfo Springs. We have visited most of the other restaurants in Wauchula and Zolfo Springs, but somehow we never made it to the Pioneer.

Pioneer Restaurant

Pioneer has mostly diner-type food. We heard they had good burgers, so we both had Texas cheeseburgers (about $6.50). The Texas burgers are probably close to half a pound. We split an order of fries (about $3). The food is all pretty reasonably priced, but the soft drinks - not so much. We paid $2.79 each for Cokes. The glass wasn't that big, and for that price they don't even give free refills.

The burgers were okay, but we think the ones at Dee's in Sebring are better. Dee's burgers are thicker, juicer, and are hand-pattied whereas the ones at Pioneer are pre-formed.

Margery with what's left of her Texas burger

When we got home following our lupper at Pioneer, we were happy to find the predicted track of Dorian had moved back offshore where it remains at the time of this posting. We're about 100 miles inland from the Atlantic, so we're supposed to get some rain and 20 to 30+ MPH winds, which isn't that bad because we can get gusts that high during some of our afternoon thunderstorms. We'll try to post a quick update after the storm passes, the timing of which will depend on power and internet outages.

Highlands Hammock State Park

Wauchula, FL - Events of Thursday, January 10, 2019

By the time we returned from our trip to Pittsburgh, we realized the cold Paul came down with two days before Christmas had turned into bronchitis. Bronchitis is an inflammation of the bronchial tubes. It's usually caused by a virus, so antibiotics won't help. Bronchitis will normally go away by itself, but it can take two to four weeks. Paul's lasted a total of about three weeks, and he had lingering tiredness for a week or so after that.

Paul was finally feeling a good bit better last week, so last Thursday we decided to go on a tour of Highlands Hammock State Park that was organized by one of the couples from the Co-op. The tour included a tram tour, tours of the CCC museum located at the park, hikes, and a picnic lunch. The state park is located about half an hour from the Co-op near Sebring.

A hammock is a stand of hardwood trees, usually surrounded by wetlands. The hammock may be only a few inches above the surrounding land; but this higher ground creates dryer conditions making the growth of the hardwood trees possible. The hardwood trees at Highlands Hammock State Park are mostly varieties of oaks and hickory.

There are several other ecological zones besides the hardwood hammock located within the park. We'll have a little more on that later. 

Our group had over 40 people. Since the tram only holds 30, we had to schedule a tram tour at 9 a.m. and a second one at 11 a.m. We were on the first tour. It was one of the cooler nights of the fall/winter season, and it was in the low 40s when we boarded the tram. Although the sun felt warm, most of the tour goes through the woods. Also, with the tram traveling at speeds up to 10 or 15 MPH at times, we needed to bundle up to stay warm.

Kevin, who was our driver and guide on the tram tour, is a volunteer at Highlands Hammock. He gave us a brief description and history of the park before the start of the tour. He was very knowledgeable and interesting.

Kevin, our volunteer tour guide

Highlands Hammock State Park opened in 1931 as one of the first 4 state parks in Florida. The CCC, which was formed in 1933 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression to give meaningful work to able-bodied men, played a big role in the initial development of the park. More on the CCC later.

The first point of interest on the tram tour was a 1000-year old Live Oak. It isn't the biggest tree in the park, but it is the oldest.

1000-year old live oak tree

Live oak trees tend to rot out from the inside, which is what happened to this one. In the late 1990s, much of the tree collapsed in spite of (or maybe because of) efforts back in the 1930s to clean out the rot, add steel reinforcing rods, and fill the hollow trunk with concrete. One of the large branches can be seen still lying on the ground to the left of the tree. In spite of losing major branches, the tree still is alive with new growth sprouting from the top of section of the trunk to the right.

Next, the tram tour passed through the hardwood hammock. Sabal palms also frequently grow alongside the hardwoods.

Hardwood hammock

Within a short distance, the elevation started to drop, and we entered yet another ecological zone - a cypress swamp. Cypress trees are one of the few deciduous conifer trees, and they lose their needles in winter.

Cypress swamp

As the tour went on, the elevation began to rise again, and we entered a dry ecological area known as a pine flatwood where the vegetation is made up primarily of pine trees and under-story palmettos. Back when the first Spanish explorers first arrived in the 1500s, 70 to 90% of Florida was pine flatwoods.

Pine flatwoods

The existence of pine flatwoods depends on periodic fires. The pines and palmettos are resistant to fire and will survive. In fact, some pines rely on fire to open the cones to release seeds. Hardwood saplings and other under-story plants on the other hand, will be burned up before they can become established. Fires can occur naturally, primarily through lightening strikes, but naturally-occurring fires can be very unpredictable and dangerous. Therefore, prescribed burns are conducted every few years to preserve the nature of the pine flatwoods in a controlled, safe manner.

The final area on the tram tour was a drive along a canal that was dug back in the day to help drain excess rain runoff from the park. This is an excellent location to see wildlife, and we saw dozens of birds including the ones shown in the following photos.

Great Blue Heron

Anhinga

Ibis

Great Egret

On sunny days, there are usually numerous alligators sunning themselves on the banks of the canal. It was early on a cool morning, so the tour guide thought there might not be any out yet, but we saw a small one that was 15 to 18 inches long and the one shown below that was about 3 or 4 feet long.

3 or 4-foot alligator

The tram dropped us off at the CCC museum. As we said, the CCC played a big role in the development of this park and many others across the country. The museum at Highlands Hammock State Park is housed in what was the rec hall for the CCC back in the day.

CCC museum

The CCC provided young men with food, housing (many times in tents), clothing, and a wage of $30 a month. The men got to keep $5, and the rest was sent home to their families. Over 3 million young, able-bodied, unmarried men participated in the CCC with a maximum enrollment at any given time of about 300,000. The CCC provided manual labor for the conservation and development of natural resources on lands owned by federal, state, and local governments. The CCC built shelters, lodges, service roads, trails, and service buildings in over 800 parks across the country. They also planted over 8 billion trees. The CCC was discontinued in 1942 shortly after the U.S. entered WWII.

Map showing the locations of CCC camps

Margery was interested in the CCC museum because her dad was in the CCC. We found on the map the camp where he worked in the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania back in the day.

Margery checking out a display of some of the tools used by the CCC at Highlands Hammock State Park

Because we had previously scheduled haircuts for both of us for shortly after noon in Sebring, we only stayed for the tram tour and a brief tour of the museum. We missed out on a docent-led tour of the museum and a couple of hikes that were planned for later; but with Paul just recovering from bronchitis, going on a hike probably wasn't a good idea anyway.

After our haircuts, we stopped at Dee's Place in Sebring for a late lunch of half-pound burgers. We then headed back to the Co-op to relax with an evening of TV.

We had friends from out of town scheduled to stop the next day for a visit. We'll tell you about that in our next post.

Orange Beach, AL Part II

Orange Beach, AL - Events of Tuesday, September 18, 2018

The Blue Angles is the flight demonstration squadron of the U.S. Navy. Their home base for summer is in Pensacola, Florida. They practice every Tuesday morning, weather permitting, and the public can attend the practice for free. Lora and J. Michael had never seen the Blue Angels so we planned to go since Pensacola is only about 40 minutes from where we were staying in Orange Beach.

Practice was scheduled for 11:30, but they say the parking lot can fill up as early as 9:30. Once the lot is full, they close the gates and that's all that can attend the practice that day. Therefore, we decided to arrive around 9:00 or 9:15 and visit the Naval Aviation Museum, which shares the same parking lot, for an hour of so before heading down to watch the Blue Angels practice.

The museum has a collection of about 150 restored aircraft, and admission is free. We went to the museum in 2011, but Lora and J. Michael had never been there. We didn't have time to see everything, but we had enough time for to hit some of the highlights so Lora and J. Michael could get a flavor of the place. Lydia had a good time, too.

Lora and Lydia trying out the cockpit of a retired Blue Angels jet that was on display

J.  Michael and Lydia in front of a P-51 fighter from WWII

Looking down from the second floor

Lydia in the cockpit of a helicopter

Around 10:30 we headed down to the flight line to find a spot to watch the practice. It was sunny and hot, and there is no shade so we took along bottled water (coolers are not permitted), chairs, and umbrellas for shade.

Waiting for practice to start

Practice was delayed about 15 or 20 minutes because of a mechanical problem with one of the jets, but they managed to get it fixed so all 6 planes could participate. The "Blues" have three different air shows they can fly depending on weather conditions. We had a lot of low clouds and even a rain shower off to the north so most of what they practiced was from the "flat" show that doesn't have high altitude maneuvers. Below are just a couple of the many maneuvers we saw.

Delta formation

Delta break maneuver

Following the show, we drove back to the villa and headed down to the pool to cool off. Later in the afternoon, we drove a few miles to the east to The Gulf Restaurant. The Gulf is made up of stacked shipping containers and has all outdoor seating. The Gulf has always been a favorite of ours because it makes you feel like you're on vacation on a tropical island.

Margery, Lydia. Lora, and J. Michael enjoying the shade while waiting for our food

The adults all had grouper sandwiches ($12.75), and Lydia had toasted cheese. We also got several orders of fries ($4) to share.

After eating, we hung around a while to soak up the atmosphere. We stopped in the gift shop on our way out where Lydia checked out a pink octopus.

Lydia checking out a pink octopus in the gift shop

Back at the villa, we relaxed for the evening. Stay tuned for our next post with more Orange Beach adventures.

Solomon's Castle

Wauchula, FL - Events of Tuesday, March 13 to Wednesday, March 14, 2018

As we said in our last post, we finally had some sightseeing planned with our friends from Maine, Mike and Peggy. We picked them up around 1:00 last Tuesday and headed to Solomon's Castle located about half an hour away in Ona, Florida. We went there last year, and we liked it so much we wanted to share it with Mike and Peggy.

Solomon's Castle is the brainchild of Howard Solomon, who upon his return from living in the Bahamas in the early 1970s, bought 40 acres of land at the edge of a swamp near Ona.

Howard was a creative artist who made sculptures from found materials like old car parts, discarded tools, and used oil drums. He built his home and workshop to look like a castle and covered it in old aluminum printing plates he obtained from the local newspaper.

Solomon's Castle

The castle began attracting so many curious visitors Howard began giving tours for $2 thinking the fee would discourage people from coming. Boy, was he wrong. Visitors began showing up in such large numbers he was eventually able quit his regular job to work on his art full time. He frequently took time out from working in his shop to give tours himself until his passing in 2016.

Howard had a great sense of humor. Not only are the titles of many of his works very funny; but the narrative that goes along with the tour, most of which came from Howard himself, is filled with one pun after another and jokes galore. The two suits of armor built by Mr. Solomon that stand outside the entrance to the castle are examples of his humor. One is painted white, and one is painted black. He called them "Knight Light" and "Night Knight."

Tours of Howard's home and gallery (the castle) cost $12.50. New this year is the opening of a second exhibit building containing Howard's collection of pre-1935 automobiles and works from his later years. The cost to tour the second building is $10.00, but a combination admission is available for $18.50. We opted for the combo. By the way, Solomon's Castle does not accept credit cards - only cash and checks. There is an ATM on the property.

It was much more crowded this year than when we went to Solomon's Castle last year. We waited for almost an hour for the tour of the house and galleries. They say they are busiest on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The probable reason they are busy on Tuesdays, which is when we went, is because they are closed Mondays. We're not sure why they're also busy on Thursdays.

Howard's work displays a high degree of creativity. He could look at something most of us would consider trash and envision it as part of a sculpture. The next photo shows a figure with motorcycle chains as hair, pieces of exhaust pipe for arms, and an automobile differential cover as a hat.

Figure showing creative use of found materials

Another example of creativity is a tractor made from an old gasoline jerry can. The fenders are made from a frying pan cut in half.

Tractor made from a gasoline jerry can

Howard's work includes several three-dimensional recreations of Norman Rockwell's art. The photo below shows Howard's rendition of Rockwell's cover from the July 8, 1939 Saturday Evening Post entitled "100 Years of Baseball." A copy of the cover is shown to the right.

Howard Solomon's rendition of a Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post cover

The humor continues in the tour of the living quarters. The old cameras placed on the sill of the stained glass window in the next photo makes it a "picture window." Incidentally, this is one of several dozen stained glass windows Howard made.

Picture window

After we finished up the tour of the gallery and living quarters, we walked down the path past the replica of the Alamo built by Mr. Solomon to the other exhibit building. We again had to wait for the next tour, but this time it was only about 15 or 20 minutes. As we said, this building contains a collection of pre-1935 automobiles.

Part of the collection of pre-1935 automobiles

Because Howard bought the antique vehicles as an investment and because he was so busy creating all his sculptures, he didn't have time to restore or tinker with them. Therefore, they all had to be in reasonably good condition and not require any further restoration, and they all had to run.

Most of the works in the second building are transportation related. The next photo shows Howard's last work completed just before he passed. It is a train engine whose boiler is covered with old, copper printed circuits.

Howard's last work

The tours are kind of long, but they are interesting and fun. However, waiting for the tours to start made for a very long day so we were all quite hungry by the time we finished. Our plan was to stop at Slim's Bar-B-Q & Grill in Arcadia on the way back to the Co-op.

In addition to barbecue, Slim's has lots of other dishes including seafood, chicken, salads, sandwiches, and burgers. Dinners range from $7 (1/4 chicken with one side) to $19 (10-ounce ribeye with two sides). Sandwiches and burgers are $6 to $11.

We all had barbecue in one form or another. Peggy had a rib/smoked turkey combo plate ($16), Mike had rib/smoked chicken/beef combo plate ($17), Margery had a rib plate ($16), and Paul had a smoked turkey/pork combo plate ($16).

Peggy, Mike, and Margery at Slim's

The ribs were tender and smokey, but not as moist as we like. The pork, which is served sliced rather than pulled, wasn't very smokey and tasted like pork that had been reheated. The turkey, however, was outstanding. It was smokey and moist and was so flavorful it didn't even need barbecue sauce. By the way, the house-made barbecue sauces (both hot and mild) were okay, but nothing to rave about.

Smoked turkey/pork plate and rib plate

After dinner, we headed back to the Co-op, dropped Mike and Peggy off at their rig and settled in for an evening of relaxation. The following evening, we stopped by to say "good-bye" to Mike and Peggy since they were planning to leave the following morning. It was good to take time out from our busy-ness to spend time with them.

Cracker Trail Museum

Wauchula, FL - Events of Tuesday, January 24, 2017

When we were in Pittsburgh for Christmas and Paul was having lunch with his former co-workers, he found out one of them was planning to be in Florida with his wife for a week in January, so the guys made tentative plans to get together. A couple of weeks ago, Paul got a text from Roger saying that he and his wife, Paula, would be passing through Wauchula last Tuesday. We made plans to do a little sightseeing when they stopped by and then to maybe grab a bite to eat before they continued on their way to Lakeland that evening. We haven't done much sightseeing since we've been in Florida this year so it would be a welcome break.

Unfortunately, high winds on Monday postponed their plans for an air boat ride until Tuesday morning, so they arrived at the co-op a little later on Tuesday afternoon than planned. We had scheduled a visit to Solomon's Castle located in nearby Ona, Florida, but the castle closes at 4 p.m. Therefore, we went with Plan B, which was to go the Cracker Trail Museum in Zolfo Springs because the museum is only about 5 minutes away and it is open until 5. After chatting a while, we headed to the museum.

The Cracker Trail runs east and west across central Florida and was used by pioneers in the early 1800s to move cattle across the state to ports on the Gulf and the Atlantic Coasts. The trail runs from Fort Pierce on the Atlantic side to Bradenton (called Bradentown back in the day) on the Gulf of Mexico. The road on which the SKP Co-op is located (State Route 64) is part of what was once the Cracker Trail. We first encountered the Cracker Trail last year when we visited Manatee Village in Bradenton. Click here to read about that visit. The name "Cracker" comes from the crack of the whips of the cowmen as they drove their cattle.

Beginning in 1987, a group called the Cracker Trail Association began a ride of the 120-mile trail on horseback. The ride takes 9 days with overnight stops at various ranches along the way. Up to 250 riders participate in at least a portion of the ride.

The Cracker Trail Museum is part of Pioneer Park, which is run by Hardee County. The park also includes a campground and a wildlife refuge. We didn't have time to visit the wildlife refuge, which sits at the far end of the park along the Peace River, so we'll have to go back someday.

The museum isn't very big, but the admission is only $2.00 plus tax ($2.14 total), and they do have some interesting artifacts. The museum consists of two rooms, the smaller of which has household items such as furniture, cookware, sewing machines and looms.

Room with household items

The larger room has artifacts from the early days of Zolfo Springs and Wauchula.

Larger room of the museum

The larger room is dominated by the tanned hide of an 11-foot alligator.

Tanned hide of an 11-foot alligator

As if the 11-foot 'gator isn't big enough, they also had the skull from a 14-footer.

Margery checking out the skull of a 14-foot 'gator

"Zolfo" is the Italian word for sulfur, and that's where Zolfo Springs gets its name. In the early 1800s, a crew of Spanish and Italians who were coming down the Peace River searching for phosphate came across a spring in the area that smelled of sulfur.

Wauchula gets its name from the Indian word "wa-tu-la," which is the name for sandhill crane. Wauchula was originally settled to support Fort Hartsuff, which was one of many U.S. Army forts in Florida during the Seminole Wars in the mid-1800s. Wauchula later became the seat of Hardee County and was a center for phosphate mining, cattle, and citrus. It was also once known as the "Cucumber Capital of the World," but citrus and watermelons are much more important today.

The museum has displays of fossils from prehistoric sharks, camels, horses and mastodon that once inhabited the area. Most of the fossils were collected from the banks of the Peace River.

Fossilized mastodon teeth from the Peace River

In addition to the fossils, the museum's collection includes Indian artifacts and items representing early businesses, ranches, and residents of the area. One interesting item is a reproduction of Florida's first flag. The flag never became the official flag of the state because of the controversial motto.

Reproduction of Florida's first flag

Outside, there is a small collection of old buildings. There is also equipment such as a sugar cane press and a sugar kettle, an old pump from a phosphate mill, and a mobile irrigation device. The outdoor display is dominated by a wood-burning locomotive that was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Co. in 1914. The 2-6-2 locomotive was donated to the county by Kervin Revell who used it in his crate mill in Wauchula.

1914 Baldwin locomotive

The outdoor display also includes a cabin built in 1879 by W. H. Hart. The cabin was relocated to the park in 1979 from its original location elsewhere in Hardee County.

1879 Hart cabin

We have been doing research into local restaurants ever since we first go to the co-op late last year, and Giovanni's Main Street Kitchen is a place that gets good online reviews and that was also frequently recommended by fellow co-op members. It is located close by in downtown Wauchula, so that's we headed for dinner after the Cracker Trail Museum.

Giovanni's Main Street Kitchen

Lunches at Giovanni's range in price from $6 to $11 and include hot and cold subs, pizza and pasta dishes. Dinners are $9 to $16 and include a number of Italian classics such as ravioli, chicken Parmesan, linguini with clam sauce, and lasagna. All entrees include the soup and salad bar. Paula had Chicken Marsala, and Roger had Tilapia Bella Napoli, which is a tilapia fillet covered with shrimp, mussels, clams and squid served over pasta. Their meals looked amazing, and they both said the food was delicious. We shared a pizza with sausage and mushrooms. The pizza was baked in a wood-fired oven. It was also yummy.

After dinner, Roger and Paula continued on their way to Lakeland and we relaxed with an evening of TV. We needed to rest up for a big, multi-day event scheduled to start at the co-op the next day. We'll tell you about it in our next post.

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