June 28, 2026

It’s been a minute. We are currently in Vancouver, looking forward to boarding Symphony on Tuesday. We spent the winter and spring on Longboat Key and had a wonderful time. The highlight of our stay? James and Kristin visited with Claire and Isabel. I’m just going to do a basic photo dump here as I try to navigate around the changes that WordPress has made to this site. I’m also just now …after all these years… figuring out how to use the gallery feature to upload and arrange photos…so please bear with me.

We spent the week after Christmas freezing and hating on the snow. We also spent a fair bit of time planning some future trips. We shipped the car and flew out of JFK into Fort Myers airport…our car was waiting and we drove to our rental on Longboat Key.

I loved waking up every morning on the beach…like really, really loved it. I made friends with tons of shore birds.

This guy, right here became my best friend and walking companion.

The top two pics in this block are from our clubhouse…really nice common spaces and a great gym. The first pier is owned by the St. Regis hotel. The second pier is home to all my new friends.

One night we met Arlene and Gill at Indigenous…we were so busy catching up that I only took these pics of our meal. Pitiful.

Every walk was a joy…even the early January trudges into the wind.

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Dinner at Speaks on St. Armand’s Circle…then a lovely sunset.

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We took two film classes at OLLI…Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Ringling College in downtown Sarasota and attended several other lectures and performances on the Campus. There’s a cool little cafe where we could grab a bite between classes.

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We were so happy to have the LoveBugs visit…we swam in the pool…they swam in the freezing gulf, played mini golf, walked the beach and had a most perfick visit.

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Friends who protest together (No Kings Day) …dine together ♥️

xOur condo complex brings in Food Trucks 3-4 nights a week and there’s also a roving bartender “Gulf Coast Bartender”…the choices were varied …barbecue, burgers, lobster…all really yummy…and so perfick…we never had to leave the beach.

The line on lobster night is always so long…there’s Tim waiting on line…I was back at our table waiting for him with a margarita.

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Longboat Key has a completely different vibe from Siesta Key…Siesta is more lively and tourist centric, Longboat, because most condo complexes require 3 month minimum rentals, is much quieter and way more peaceful …I love it so much.

You see the crows atop our beach chairs? They loved me and followed me all over the beach…true story. They were fine, but I much preferred the ibis and snowy egrets.

Sometimes we’d cross the bridge to have lunch downtown…here we are at Classico…one of my favorite spots in Sarasota. I always order the same thing…fire roasted oysters and the fungi flatbread. Timmy had scallops. The sunset from our condo was something else that night.

Top photo- look closely and you will see the most beautiful green parakeets trying to blend into the background. I came upon them one morning after my walk…never saw them again so I feel really lucky that I came spied them when I did. Another fun lunch…Shore restaurant, I love their Mai Tais and I hold my breath when I pose the drinks on the rail. One of our favorite afternoons was spent at Ringling College listening to Carl Hiaasen talk about his life and his new book. He’s so funny and very charming. I read Fever Beach -it’s super.

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After 16 wonderful weeks it was time to drop the car off in Fort Myers and fly home. I cannot tell you how happy I am that we no longer have to make that drive from Sarasota to New York. Flying >Driving. We stayed overnight in Fort Myers and had dinner in a restaurant recommended by ChatGPT- Adriatico…highly recommend…very yummy food. Because we are old, we hitched a ride on a buggy at JFK …the best though? We didn’t have to fetch baggage because our suitcases were in the car. We use Go Auto Plane to ship the car. It’s a perfick set up…in January drop the car off at MacArthur airport…they ship it to Fort Meyers…get off the plane in Fort Meyers and there’s your car. Do the reverse in May. Speaking of May…it was 45 degrees on May 3 when we returned home- yikes. We caught a few Lacrosse games …that’s Isabel…number 10…she scored 4 goals that day. The last pic was taken at Claire’s last game. It’s such a joy watching them compete.

Family is everything and we had such a wonderful time celebrating our nephew T Parry, his college graduation and new job. My sister Regina hosted a very special party…that’s her in red, with two of her dearest friends. And while we are talking about celebrating…how ‘bout them Knicks????

Returning home, I fell into a comfortable routine – walking in our neighborhood everyday, enjoying the deer and wild turkeys and finalizing plans for our summer trip.

A very cool event takes place every spring in Center Moriches…on the night of the combined Junior/Senior Prom…the entire town is invited to the “Red Carpet”. Prom attendees are celebrated by the community…it’s so much fun…

Claire, a sophomore, was invited by a very handsome senior. Gracie, Gillian and Charlotte joined the sidelines too and we all cheered loudly when Claire and her date were announced. Oh and Claire was selected “All Division” for her accomplishments on the Lacrosse field…remarkable for a sophomore on a team that didn’t even make the playoffs. #proudgrandma

Anyway…here we are…all caught up…we had a super day in Vancouver and can’t wait to join Symphony tomorrow.
Thanks for following along. 🩵🩵🩵