Last Day in Florida

Monday 6 July 2009; via Satellite from Florida--

Today was to be our last full day in Florida; what surprises did our hosts have in store? 'Twas a ride through the country-side around Green Cove Springs [Grumpy has finally gotten used to calling it that instead of Green Cove Acres!].

The day began, though with "Rat Pancakes" stirred up by none other than Old One-Eye himself, using the Grand Mother's old family recipe which has now been handed down for three generations. Grumpy thought they were delicious -- not as good as the Grand Mother mixed up the day before, of course, but still pretty darn good. They were apparently so good that Grumpy caught the Grand Mother, perhaps in a fit of jealously, "hitting the bottle" -- (so early in the morning, too! Tsk! tsk!).

Then off we went to do some last-minute shopping for "supplies" to sustain us on that 5-hour flight to Seattle -- in the interest of ticket price competition, the airlines no longer offer complimentary meals. That's okay, the meals they served weren't that spectacular any more anyway.

After the shopping was done (and a gully-washer of a rain storm had passed so we could get to the car without getting drenched!) we went to "Chick-A-Fila" for a delicious lunch of -- what else, Chicken. This chain, which is headquartered in South Carolina, is recommended for those who like chicken. Not as greasy as KFC, and always prepared fresh when you order it.

On our way back to the Retirement Castle on the Hill, we spotted three Great White Egrets and a stork lolling on the edge of a storm-water holding pond. The egrets flew away before we could get a photo of them (although Grumpy took several wing "shots" as they arose from the pond and disappeared), but the stork was totally nonplussed and remained standing on one leg as Grumpy cautiously walked up to the chain-link fence surrounding the pond and poked his lens through an opening to get this unobstructed photo, complete with the stork's reflection! Click on the photo for a larger size view.

This post would not be complete without showing some of the flowers that graced the yard around the Retirement Castle on the Hill. The red-colored flower cluster is a typical Crape (or Crepe) Myrtle (this Myrtle comes in several colors and shades, including white, lavender and pink; further, it will grow in the Pacific Northwest!!).

The deep-golden yellow Hibiscus had two big flowers on it this day, but another day it had seven flowers open! Curiously, the flowers are pointing away from the sun in this mid-afternoon shot.

In addition to the flowers shown, there were miniature and standard Tea Roses along the walkway into the house. Also around the house and yard was a "Bottle Brush" (a red flowering bush whose flower resembles a baby-bottle brush!), a Wisteria vine (clamoring to "escape" into other trees!), and a night-blooming Jasmine, claimed to give off a downright intoxicating aroma! Grumpy missed getting a photo of the one Wisteria flower-bunch and the Jasmine is still a "youngster" and not ready to bloom.