FUN IN THE SUN FEB. 1-29 IN FLORIDA ON GULF OF MEXICO BEACHES
JOAN ENJOYING FUN IN SUN ON SIESTA KEY BEACH, RANKED #1 IN FLORIDA AND TOP 20 IN THE WORLD
Funtastic
29 days
In the sun
In February
Florida
Joan and I had a marvelous Feb. 1-29
winterizing in Florida.
Joan agreed with me, posting on
Facebook: “I loved getting to know all of John’s favorite places. Such a grand
adventure!”
We put 2,024 miles on our Enterprise
rental car, a Toyota Cambry, that we picked up after landing at
Sarasota-Bradenton Airport.
And walked 1 to 3 miles each time we
took a day trip from Arcadia, our rental mini-house.
We had reunions with Bill Meredith,
Class of 1957, in Sarasota. And Paula Stone Tucker, who once co-owned the
Tallmadge condo till she left permanently for a home she bought in The
Villlages, Florida. And Joan had a reunion with her nieces and relatives in the
Lakeland area.
PAULA STONE TUCKER GIVING JOAN AND JOHN A TOUR OF THE VILLAGES, FLORIDA WHERE SHE MOVED TO FROM TALLMADGE
Our home base was in Arcadia, an hour
from Sarasota and across the street from the Trinity Methodist Church, which
made it an easy landmark for us to spot and know where our mini-house driveway
was.
So we picked a beach or attraction to
visit, went there, spent the day there, ate dinner there (Arcadia dining in
downtown shuts down at 5 pm, if you can believe it) and then returned to our
mini-house behind the main main house of a fantastic, friendly and helpful
landlord, Allen Reesor.
Every morning we are
greeted by a sunrise lighting up our Arcadia Florida mini-house. Beautiful way
to wake up!!! Haven after day of visiting Gulf beaches and other Florida
attractions!
Between our mini-house February haven
and Allen’s main house, which he also rented out to snowbirds, is spacious outside
area with lounge chairs for 15 to 20 people, a BBQ pot to cook on, and cats and
dogs loitering looking soulfully at us to fill their water and food containers,
which Joan did faithfully while we were there.
One of the short-term renters of the
main house was a woman from Indiana so we talked about legendary Indiana
University coach Bob Knight, who once lived not far from our Tallmadge condo in
Wayne County.
JOAN IN OUTSIDE AREA BETWEEN OUR ARCADIA MINI-HOUSE AND MAIN HOUSE
We visited Siesta Key Beach, ranked #1
in America and in the Top 20 in the world, four times. Our month in Florida
went so fast it felt like 29 hours instead of 29 days. Fun in sun, indeed!
Such as our trip to Myakka City, near
Myakka Park which we also visited that day, to see the Lippenzanner horses
perform at their winter headquarters. Later, they tour America and world.
The horses were saved from being killed
by the Russians, because they were “German” horses, in World War II by
declaring them “American troops.”
Later, they were brought to Myakka City
to perform for America and the world.
LIPPENZANNER HORSES PERFORMING AT WINTER QUARTERS IN MYAKKA CITY
We also had a short visit to Lake Okeechobee.
We got a hotel Feb. 23 and Feb. 24 in
Wildwood area of The Villages, Florida where Paula Stone Tucker, who once
co-owned with me the Tallmadge condo that I now share with Joan, gave us a
glorious tour of The Villages.
The tour sparked many memories of my
time there with Paula, but The Villages – America’s largest unincorporated area
for senior citizens – has added so much more property.
The Villages is a string of properties
(villages) touching another Villages property in 3 counties and has almost
150,000 people. One owner must be 55 or older to purchase a home there.
JOAN HAD REUNION WITH ALYSSA, JOAN'S NIECE, AND HER SON, MATTHEW AND TIM, HUSBAND OF JOAN'S NIECE, LISA, IN SIXTY ONE RESTAURANT IN LAKELAND
The third day we spent in the Lakeland
area visiting Joan’s relatives. It was one of the most heart-warming reunions I have witnessed.
There was Alyssa, Joan’s niece, and her
son, Matthew, and Tim, husband of Joan’s niece, Lisa.
I enjoyed handing around large Mirror
Lake in Lakeland while we waited for Joan’s dinner reunion friends to show up
at Sixty One Restaurant. We walked 3.1 miles in Lakeland checking out the
sights.
When Jim McDaniel, Class of 1960, who lives in Behobothbeach, Delaware, saw my Lakeland post on Facebook, he responded: “Barry
McIntire, one of my friends from Worthington, likes in Lakeland. Also, his
uncle Andrew Fluharty and Barry’s mom, Margie Fluharty. Both are deceased.”
Mike Williams, seeing the same post,
responded: “My wife Jane’s aunt and uncle lived in Lakeland. The town is
lovely, truly earns its name.”
We also spent a day in the Crystal
River area where manatees, unhappy with the coldness of the Gulf of Mexico
waters in winter, migrate every year for the warmer Crystal River water.
In previous visits there I’ve seen 300
manatees soaking up the warm water. But now humans seem to have
compartmentalized stretches of the river so that only a few dozen manatees can
congregate.
JOAN CHECKING OUT $2.1 BILLION WORTH OF ART IN MABLE MUSEUM OF ART IN SARASOTA, INCLUDING LOANED REUBENS
Joan and I were mesmerized by the $2.1
billion works of art including a loaned Reubens collection in the Mable Museum
of Art in Sarasota, with many mementos of the Ringling and Barnum circus
nearby, including the cannon that shot a performer into to the air and onto a
safety net. I took a photo of Joan in front of the giant cannon.
And, as usual during my 35 stays in
Florida, I visited my favorite banyan tree in Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.
Marie collected tropical plants from everywhere and had them planted on her
property which became the Selby Gardens. My banyan tree is more than 200 years
old!
Joan and I also enjoyed the Mote Marine
Laboratory & Aquarium where it’s much safer to check out sharks, dolphins
and other sea creatures without swimming out into the Gulf of Mexico.
We visited Charlotte Harbor but didn’t
see the dolphins advertised in the Gulf waters offshore.
On another day trip from our Arcadia mini-house
we had lunch at Der Dutchman Amish Kitchen restaurant with Bill Meredith, Class
of 1957, and his wife, Roleta, super organizer for reunions of her Clarksburg
Washington Irving High graduates with as many as 150 showing up.
Bill and I notified Monongah High
graduates of the reunion, but no one showed up. Bill and I had hoped for 20
Lions to have a reunion.
At least Karen Myers Naffa, daughter of
the late Mary Frances Miller Myers, Class of 1951, showed up. Not to eat, but
to chat with Bill and I.
Karen and I had been communicating via
Facebook for months so she knew we would be there and drove 10 miles from her
Florida home for the chat.
Karen’s grandmother is Minnie Miller
Everson. Minnie’s sister and Dietta Goush’s grandmother, Nancy Miller Harden, are
sisters.
Bill and Roleta’s daughter, Anita, also
was at the Der Dutchman dinner with Joan and I. I’ve eaten there many times
during my 35 winters in Florida of 1 to 3 months each time, always including
all of February.
Great time to NOT be in the nasty Ohio
winters with its snowy, icy, slick roads and shivering temperatures! Although
Ohio had its mildest winter in years while we were gone. I’m glad for them.
Bill was kind enough to give me a
Fairmont Times clipping of my parents’ 25th wedding anniversary
article. That would be John W. Olesky, Sr. (he added the W, which stood for
nothing, and the Sr. so that, as he said, “I won’t have to pay for your
bills.”) and Lena Futten Olesky.
My mother was born in Pellizzano,
Italy. My grandmother (“Nona”) was a waitress in Mione when my grandfather (Sam
Futten in America) walked in. She dropped her boyfriend when she saw the
charming guy with magnificent wavy hair and they got married not long afterward.
I once visited my Nona’s birthplace and
home till she got married. It is an 1848 stone house that still exists, with
cows that returned each evening in what ordinarily would be a garage below the
first floor of the home. EIGHT people slept in the ONE bedroom.
Mione is about a 5 block by 10 block town at the foothills of the Alps in Italy, which was part of Austria till after World War I, when Austria gave up the territory to Italy as the losers’ part of the settlement.
For dinner we attended the annual Greek
Festival hosted by St. Barbara Church, which they call a Glendi. Best Greek
food I’ve eaten over the years, and I’ve been to Greece to eat, too.
There also are the St. Barbara Hellenic
Dancers who perform.
Another fabulous dinner was at
Starkey’s on the Pier in Venice. Fantastic sunset in the Gulf of Mexico for a
bonus to the amazing food.
It’s outside dining, but everything is
under a roof. Just no walls. And we walked onto the pier and met two women from
Michigan “fishing” but mainly enjoy the sunshine on their swimsuits.
And, since I always wear my WVU cap and
Mountaineer clothing, West Virginians stop and chat with me. I got some warm,
welcome “howdies” from Beckley and Barboursville-connected West Virginians.
Bart Costello from Fairmont, nephew of
Frank Costello, who owns the blockhouse near the Monongah Town Hall, stopped by
to chat with me. Small world!
Seeing my
post Joanne DeMary responded: “My mom was Costello from Rivesville,” which is
where my sister, Jackie Olesky Straight, Class of 1955, lives today.
A
Maryland car parked nearby and its driver talked to Joan like old friends. Joan
left Glen Bernie, Maryland to live with me in our Tallmadge condo. Small world
indeed!!!
A
woman in a Massachussetts shirt had a nice chat with Joan, who also spent a lot
of time in Mass, incluing her graduation from Northeastern University in
Boston.
And
a woman in a Ravenna Guido’s Restaurant shirt came into my view. I had my photo
taken with her since Guido’s in Ohio is where Bill Meredith, Roleta and I and
their elderly friend met for dinner year after year when the Merediths came to
Ohio, usually to check on the Meredith Brothers business near Columbus, then to
visit their female friend and me. Again, small world!
My WVU clothing got the same reaction
in nearly all of the 56 countries and 44 states that I have visited, including
in China, Thailand, Europe and Africa.
JOAN ENJOYING 1 OF 12 FLAVORS OF ICE CREAM AVAILABLE AT GROOVY SMOOTHIES IN ARACADIA
Near Arcadia we often enjoyed dinner at
Reef & Beef, as in seafood and steaks. Plus daily walks from our mini-house
to the Groovy Smoothies ice cream parlor with 12 choices of delicious flavors.
Joan and I tried all 12 during our month-long stay in Florida.
We enjoyed the Lions, Tigers and Bears
preserve just outside Arcadia where the guide, FROM MORGANTOWN at one time,
showed us around for several hours.
LION AT LIONS, TIGERS AND BEARS PRESERVE OUTSIDE ARCADIA
We saw lions, tigers and bears, plus
monkeys and, uncaged, peacocks who flew wherever they wanted to search for
food. The preserve is on a dirt road past the Arcadia Stockyards.
After leaving our Arcadia mini-house we
spent Feb. 28 night in the Quality Inn in Bradenton so that we could leisurely head
for the Sarasota airport the morning of Feb. 29.
We flew back to Ohio from Sarasota on
Feb. 29 with a layover in Charlotte, North Carolina airport.
And waited almost an hour for the only
“taxi” that picks up travelers to show up. It was a grumpy guy with a “Taxi”
sign slapped onto his passenger-side front window.
Never again! Either family or friends
pick us up or we’ll make other transportation arrangements to get home. That
was a strenuous and tiring way to wind up a month of fun in the sun.
The only drawback to a month in
Florida is a month away from family so we'll have to do some serious catching
up once we recover from driving the rental car in Florida more than 2,000 miles
in 29 days.
After our return to Ohio we had dinner
at the Chowder House in Akron and a woman at the next table, who lives in
Cuyahoga Falls a few blocks from where I did for 35 years, had a chat with Joan
and I.
She also had relatives in Venice,
Florida, one of our beaching places. When I mentioned to really enjoyed Starkey’s
on the Pier in Venice she told us that she had eaten there too. Starkey’s
treated us to a wonderful sunset while we ate.
More details later after we
recuperate, decompress and get back into our Tallmadge routine.
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