We decided to escape the cold in Tennessee by spending several weeks camping and sightseeing in Florida. Unfortunately, it was the coldest March that Florida had experienced in 80 years. Plus, there was a strong wind all the time. We slept in long underwear and all our jackets, since we hadn't brought our down sleeping bags. However, daytime temps were nice, we had great campgrounds, and the sightseeing was fun.
We stayed four days camping at the Venice Beach Resort, which wasn't on the beach, but a wonderful inlet of the Myakka River. A mother manatee with her baby came in and out of the inlet every day, which was really exciting.
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| Alan at our campsite |
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| Small alligator and turtle facing of on log next to our campsite |
While we were camping at Venice, we went sightseeing. One place was the Gamble Mansion, near Ellenton, south of Tampa. This antebellum mansion was built in the 1840's on a sugar plantation. The builder may or may not be a distant relative of Alan's.
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| Gamble Mansion |
We spent almost a whole day at the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota. Ringling's collection of baroque art is really amazing. He built the museum and bequeathed the collection to the State of Florida, even after he had lost all his money in the depression.
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| Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota |
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| Ringling Home in Sarasota |
We only went to the beach twice because of the cold wind, but we did go to see the sunset once.
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| Rhoda wades in the water, despite the cold. |
We spent a most enjoyable four days with my brother Art and his wife Dolores at their beautiful new home in Port Charlotte. We hadn't seen them in several years.
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| Art and Dolores in the lanai of their house, next to the pool |
We were able to see lots of manatees when we camped in the Crystal River area. We both went on a chartered boat to go manatee snorkeling. Alan snorkeled, seeing manatee very close. I stayed on the boat, but still saw a lot of manatees.
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Alan in his wet suit before snorkeling
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