Updates and Travels 2024

 

In the warehouse at Buffalo Trace Distillery.

It has been several months since I published a blog. My time has been filled with travel, drawing and painting, family genealogy research, gardening, golf, etc! I’m not having a problem filling the days! High school friends recently reminded me that they enjoy reading my blog, so it’s time to work in writing too.

Steve and I along with our friends, Vicki and Fred, spent several weeks in February and March in Florida along with the road trips down and back. This year we were  based in Clearwater with a two-week trip that included a couple days in Naples and Marco Island, a cruise, a drive to Key West and exploring the Everglades.  Below are highlights from those travels.

The tasting after the tour at Buffalo Trace

Buffalo Trace Distillery – although I am not a Bourbon fan, my husband is. I do enjoy a good brewery or distillery tour. On the way to and from Florida we stopped at Buffalo Trace for tours and to purchase their specialty bourbons. Only one of those coveted brands is available each day, and you don’t know which one until that morning. You can only buy one bottle per person every 90 days. Steve and Fred were happy to scoop up 3 different bottles. Yes, we did go to the distillery 4 different days, to get those 3 specialty brands.

It was a cool winter in Florida (but still warmer than a warm Minnesota winter). We wore sweatshirts over our swimsuits the first couple beach days. The weather got progressively warmer, and we enjoyed beaches in Clearwater, Sand Key State Park, and Honeymoon Island.  

As always, the seafood was delicious! Grouper was a specialty on many menus, and we enjoyed fresh shrimp prepared at home.

Whimzyland House in Safety Harbor had a variety of funky decorations surrounding it

There are a lot of attractions and parks in and near Clearwater that we explored this year. Safety Harbor is east of Clearwater. It has a quaint main street just a couple blocks from the water. If you are in this area, don’t miss Whimzeyland, a house near downtown that has been converted into an art piece.

Johns Pass is south of Clearwater Beach along the coast. It has a fun boardwalk with restaurants and shops, along with an outdoor shopping area. We enjoyed lunches at restaurants along the docks, watching people, pelicans and dolphins.

Dunedin is north of Clearwater. It has a variety of restaurants and shops in the central area, as well as a Saturday farmers market.

We hiked and enjoyed parks in the Clearwater area including Cliff Stephens Park, Florida Botanical Gardens, and Moccasin Lake Nature Center.

A mama manatee and her baby at Crystal River 

Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge is one and a half hours north of Clearwater, but definitely worth the drive to see manatees! Manatees spend the winter in the Three Sisters Spring fed pond, as well as in the canal out to the bay. There are small beaches and towns along the way to stop for lunch or dinner. We stopped at Robert K. Rees Memorial Park in New Port Richey to enjoy a beverage and views of the bay.

This year we were lucky to spend time with family and friends during our time away. Fred and Vicki’s daughter and family joined us during their spring break. We also enjoyed visits with college and high school friends, Illinois neighbors, and Minnesota friends. It was such fun to reminisce and catch up with everyone as we enjoyed the Florida weather!

Fred, Vicki, Steve and I on the boat tour in Nassau

The beautiful white sand beaches and blue water on Norwegian's private island.

We scheduled a 5-day Bahama cruise out of Miami on Norwegian Cruise Lines in mid-March. Of course, there were a lot of young spring breakers on the ship. Once the initial first day frenzy to get alcoholic beverages calmed down, we discovered the bars that didn't have a long wait for drinks. We enjoyed a beautiful beach day on Norwegian’s private island, a land and sea tour of Nassau, and a jeep tour (with really old jeeps) on Grand Bahama Island. The key takeaways included gorgeous turquoise blue warm water, silky white sand beaches, the usual island trinkets sold by the locals, lots of choices on what to eat and drink, and relaxing as the ship cruised through the beautiful water.

In Key West at the Southernmost Point of the Continental USA

The swimming pool with Hemmingway's writing studio in the back

After the cruise we jumped in the car again and headed south on Highway 1 to Key West. The drive went smoothly with no traffic delays. We had lunch on a patio with a mother hen and her chicks running among diners’ feet, met up with friends Burdette and Maxine from Illinois, shopped, and watched the sunset at Mallory Square. We booked a cute condo just off Duval Street for the night. The next morning, we walked to the Southernmost Point in the Continental USA for a picture – when the line was much shorter. After breakfast at the Banana Café, we took a tour at the Hemmingway Museum, which was interesting and informative. Lunch was Kermits Key Lime pie which was delicious on a hot day. After a tour of the Key West First Legal Rum Distillery, we headed north to Marathon for the night. The next day we went to Crane Point Hammock Nature Center which featured interesting history, nature trails and animals including racoons and tortoises. We stopped at Robbie’s of Islamorada which is a good stop if you need a break on the drive, but basically a tourist trap.

One of the many boardwalks in the Everglades area

An alligator sunning in the water

Everglades National Park was next on the agenda. The first day we stopped at the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center and drove the Main Park Road to Flamingo. We stopped at several spots to take short hikes, many on boardwalks to see the everglades. “Robert is Here” Fruit Stand was a fun stop on the way to the hotel. It featured so many kinds of fruit and great milkshakes, as well as rescued animals including cows, goats, turtles, iguanas, emus and more.

Our second day in the Everglades included an airboat ride with Cooperstown tours, one of the companies recommended by the National Park Service. The ride through the river of grass was interesting and we did see a few alligators. After a long wait to enter the Shark Valley Visitor Center, we were able to get tickets to go on the Tram Tour. We saw birds, alligators and one elusive crocodile, and we took a climb up an observation tower to see the everglades for miles. We did quick stops at the Gulf Coast Visitor Center (in a trailer, not much to see) and Big Cypress Bend in Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park on our drive to Naples for the night.

A beautiful sunset in the Keys

The sandcastle we created on our final day at the beach!

We spent another week in Clearwater and its beaches before heading home to Minnesota. Of course, we expected it to be spring in the Midwest in early April, but winter wasn't over and we drove through snow in Illinois and Iowa! The realities of living in the Midwest! As always, we enjoyed our time away in the winter, but were happy to be home.

We are enjoying our summer in Minnesota with a few trips to Wisconsin and Iowa to see family. Steve and friends are building a deck on the back of our house – in between rain showers! We golf a few times a week, spend time with friends and family, and are planning our next travel adventures.

I hope you are all enjoying the summer. As always it is speeding by too quickly!

One Year into Retirement

Hiking in Banff National Park

What? I’ve been retired a year? Yep, I retired a year ago on February 3 from a 38 year career at Johnson & Quin, a direct mail printing company. Time has moved along quickly, yet at times it seems longer than a year. There have been a few times when I felt at loose ends, uncertain about what to do with my day. But I now have plenty of projects to work on and my days are full. 

Retirement started with a trip south, out of the Minnesota winter. With our friends Vicki and Fred, Steve and I spent 5 busy weeks starting in Texas, then heading east to Florida. We enjoyed the Texas Hill Country, New Orleans, Clearwater Florida, Nashville, and many sites and attractions along the way. 

New House Projects 

Over the spring and summer, I added a small garden in the backyard, planted perennials, and went overboard as usual with pots of annuals. Unfortunately Steve started to have back problems which hampered his ability to build a deck and get his work areas organized. He was finally able to maneuver the medical worlds between Illinois and Minnesota to find a doctor here that was able to solve his back pain. And with the mild December winter, he built a shed in the back yard to store yard tools. 

The shed which will be painted in the spring.

We organized closets and pantries, put up pictures and made our new house feel like our home. This spring a deck will be built on the back of the house, with finishing the basement on the project list next. We’ve had several family and friend gatherings in the past year, so our house has been broken in. 

Golf 

We joined the Northfield Golf Club. Little did we know what a good decision that was! Steve is a golfer, but I have golfed maybe a total of a dozen rounds in my life, and none for years! In addition to being outside on a beautiful golf course getting exercise, we have met many new friends. I golfed with 7 other lovely ladies on Wednesdays, Steve golfed in the men’s league on Tuesdays, and we golfed as a couple on Friday afternoons. Of course, after golfing there were drinks and dinner and great conversations. It was a good brain workout to remember everyone’s name, and then details on their familes and lives. Looking back on the year, I certainly didn’t predict that we would meet so many wonderful people in our first year! 

Fresh Fruit and Veggies 

Northfield has a great little farmers market where I bought fresh veggies every week. Silkey Farms is near our house where I picked strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and apples. Now that I had the time, I made a lot of freezer jam, as well as freezing the fruit for future smoothies and baking. My Mom and Aunt Joan froze sweet corn when I was growing up. I used their recipe (with cream and butter so it had to be delicious) and froze bi-color corn from a local farm. 

Raspberries and ingredients, ready to make jam.

Cutting corn for freezing. Delicious in the winter!

Girls Weekends and More

I was lucky to spend weekends with high school and college friends. I hosted three long-time high school friends this summer, and we explored the Northfield/Dundas area. In October six Iowa State roommates met in Galena, Illinois. It had been many years since we had seen some friends, so the weekends were such fun catching up and reconnecting. We enjoyed a family weekend up north in Crosby MN - biking, hiking, kayaking, games, and just hanging out with our children and our grandson, Xander! In addition, there were weekends to Wisconsin to see Steve's mom and Iowa to see family. 

More Traveling 

We plan to travel a lot these next few years. while we can. In August Steve, our daughter Alyssa, and I took a road trip to southwestern Colorado to see several national parks and historical sites. Along the way we avoided the interstate highways and stopped to see many local and state attractions. 

Alyssa and I at Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

Alyssa and Steve at Scottsbluff National Monument in Nebraska.

In September we took another road trip with college friends, the Behrs and Goldsmiths, to Glacier and Banff National Parks. The scenery was amazing in both the U.S. and Canada, and we met so many interesting people along the journey. Hiking and driving through national parks reminds us of the beauty of this world. And spending time with friends was the best! 

Having lunch at Seeley Lake MT on our way to Glacier.

Creative Outlets 

In addition to writing a blog, I have recently started getting back into art. I took art classes in high school, and majored in Advertising Design and minored in Journalism at Iowa State. Alyssa nudged me back into painting by giving me a watercolor set over a year ago. Painting on my own wasn’t working when my Silver Sneakers membership started offering painting and drawing classes. Taking those basic and intro classes has made the difference, and I now have direction in my painting. I have also found artists and videos on YouTube that are providing further instruction. 

Online watercolor classes resulted in these paintings.

A class on Zentangle drawing, described as meditative doodling, introduced me to this type of drawing. I love it! Check out Zentangle.com for more information if you are interested. Examples of the drawings I have done are shown below. 

Examples of Zentangle drawings.

Future Projects 

I have discovered that I need a plan for the day. It can be a very loose plan, but I like to have a list in my head of things to do as I start the day. In the future, I would like to start quilting since I was an avid sewer until my babies arrived. Our families genealogy also interests me. We have bins of pictures and historical information from my mom, as well as Steve’s mom, so those need to be organized, scanned and shared with our families. 

The big travel destinations are planned for 2024, so look for information on those as we venture out this year. Until next time, enjoy whatever the remaining winter brings!