October 8, 2014 Wow, time flies when you are having fun. We spent a week in Jacksonville and had a great time with cousins Des and Cat Miller. It was a very relaxing week for us. Non travel works every once in a while. It is nice to be near the water again. From Jacksonville, we stopped overnight in Palm Bay to have dinner with some friends of ours who are both originally from Lima, Ohio. Jim and Dianne (Beck) Randall were our realtors and sold our home in Miami when we moved to Ohio. We met Diane on a bus trip to an Amway convention when we lived in Miami, and once we found out that Diane and I were from the same home town, we became fast friends. It really is a small world. We had dinner at a delightful Mediterranean restaurant followed by a sunset walk on the beach. It was delightful. Our next stop was in Ft. Lauderdale to visit son Quinton Thornton and his fiancé Tracy Rower. Since they are both part of the working world, we did not get to spend too much time with them but they treated us to some very nice meals. They have a beautiful house in Hollywood and are happy there. That makes all things good. While there, at Quinton’s, he recommended we try Jaxson’s Ice Cream. Sam and I shared a one pound chili dog, fries and a sundae. It was the best hot dog I have ever eaten in my life. I asked for a glass of iced tea as did Sam. We were each served a pitcher and a straw with the admonition that refills were free. There is nothing small at Jaxon’s. Jaxson’s is in Dania Beach and is a must experience if you get down that way. Next came the Florida Keys where we stayed at Skip and Rita Harings on Long Key. We were able to attend church at the little church we were married in Marathon. It is Martin Lutheran Chapel, a small church on a small island. We felt like we were home when we hit the keys. It would be great to live there again, but it has become quite expensive and once the no-see-ums started biting me, I was ready to leave. My legs look like I have measles from all the little red welts where I was bitten. From the Keys, we stayed three days in Largo, Florida, just outside of Tampa. We saw cousins, Beth and Tuck Bebbinger and their three children; Collin, Chelsea and Pyper. We were able to go to the aquarium and saw Winter, the dolphin from the movie Dolphin Tale as well as many of the sets from the movie. Having not seen Beth in over twenty-five years, it was an enjoyable visit. Now we sit in Alabama, at the Yogi Bear Campground between Lillian and Elberta Alabama. I can see myself living someplace like this and hope we find something as nice in Arizona. Last night we went on a Dolphin Cruise. Two boats carry passengers and travel parallel to each other. The wake that is created between the two boats becomes a dolphin playground. They like to “surf” the wake where they can frolic without expending much energy. We had three different sightings including a mama and baby dolphin. What fun it was to watch them. I posted a short video on Facebook that so that you can see for yourself. It was worth $10 per person for the boat ride alone. The dolphins were just icing on the cake. We will stay here until Friday morning when we will begin our journey to Lobelville, Tennessee to see brother Bill and his wife Kathy and all their young ‘uns in the area. Good luck trying to find that one on the map. See you on the flip side!
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 17:31:18 +0000