Fishing trip

We went fishing today.  Bruce knew better than to go.  He would have been sea sick, not liked getting his hands yucky while baiting his hook, and would not have liked the smell.  He stayed behind and enjoyed reading his book.  Meanwhile we fished in Destin  - "the luckiest fishing village in the world"  .  That sure wasn't true for us.  One of the guides said today was the worst fishing he's had out there in 12 years!  I caught 2 fish and Mark caught a small shark - all of which had to be thrown back.  Less than a dozen keepers were caught by the whole boat of fisher people.

 Mark & Doreen ready on the boat.

 Doreen baits her hook!

Mark fishing.

 Fish bait (sqiid and fish parts)

 Some of the splashes when the boat was moving - I got soaking wet!

 Coast guard boat stopped while we were fishing and the FL fished & game wardens came aboard to check on the fish we had caught - we laughed because fishing was pathetic!

 Destin shoreline.

 Doreen rides up high on the return trip.

 View of our resort from the boat.

Our room is in the lowest red one that is in the center right above the white building in front.

Mark & Doreen join us

Mark & Doreen arrived on Tues.    Weather is cool and yesterday was rainy but Doreen & I fit in a walk at the beach on Tues afternoon,  had some delicious breakfasts at the resort restaurant,  played some cards, and enjoyed the pretty views from our room.  Bruce & I have enjoyed catching up on some of the news from the home front. Today is supposed to be sunny but cool so we're waiting for it to warm up a bit before we head out for a walk.

 Doreen enjoying the beach walk.

 Yummy breakfast!

All done!  That should be good until "linner"

Beach walk

Yesterday it poured rain!!  This morning it was beautiful again and we tried to go for a paddle but it was too windy and the waves were too high so we came back, dropped off the kayaks and went for a walk on the beach (not one of Bruce's favorite things to do but he knew he needed to do something!)
Saw dolphins swimming last evening and again while we were beach walking.

 Proof that Bruce was on the beach!

Me too!!  Look at the color of the water!!  Sand is so silky here!

Bike BooBoo

Today Bruce & I left for a bike ride to check some of the area out.  About 2 miles into our ride, I got gaping off to the side and ran into Bruce's bike.  Damaged his derailler hanger so he couldn't ride his bike.  I rode back to get the car while he started walking his bike back.  Found a bike repair shop and took his bike there.  Unfortunately, because it was not a Cannondale dealership, they didn't have the part he needed so it will have to be ordered.... so Bruce will be bike-less until the end of next week.

Destin

Arrived in Destin. FL yesterday afternoon.  First time here for us.  

 View from our balcony

 Another view this morning.

 Our personal balcony sitting & eating area.

 Another personal sitting area.

 Today, a chili cook-off festival was being held on the Harbor Walk - view from balcony.

 Live music performances going on.

This afternoon you could see why it is called the Emerald Coast.

Should be a fun couple of weeks.

Barbara here visiting

Our friend Barbara (summers in Canada Lake & winters in Inverness FL) came to visit this week.  Today we went and walked around Downtown Disney in the morning and then spent some afternoon time at the pool.  Glad she was able to come and spend a couple of days with us.

 Bird sitting on our car this morning.

 Barb & Bruce at Downtown Disney

 Band from Waterford - Halfmoon School in NY performing this morning.

 Barbara

Good times!

Reconnect with a nephew

One of Bruce's nephews moved just south of Tampa 2 years ago.  We haven't seen Rob in about 30 years.  We met up with him on Sat and met his wife and son with hopes to meet up again in the future.   What a nice family.

View from our deck

Today was a beautiful day - did a 25 mile bike ride on the bike path in Winter Park.  Upper 60's when we started.  Lots of people out enjoying the day.
Nice enough at supper time to enjoy supper on our screened in deck - usually it is too hot for Bruce but was very comfortable today.

An egret walks around the lagoon as we eat. 

 Bruce has a candy bar for dessert.

A view of the lagoon & lake from our deck.

Life is good (no...great!)

Glasses?

Thurs., Fri., & Sat. were cool & rainy here so Bruce & I played a lot of BOGGLE.  We were getting ready to play the other day & Bruce was searching for his glasses!  Not that hard to find on his BOGGLE stuff!!

Ice Cream

Today is our friend Deby's birthday so Bruce & I thought we should celebrate it by going to Cold Stone Ice Cream and having ice cream in her honor.  Hope you had a Happy Birthday, Deby.  Thanks for giving us a good excuse for eating ice cream!  Too bad you weren't here with us!

Paddle in the Twilight Zone

On Sunday morning, we went up to Windemere to paddle on the Butler Chain of Lakes.  When we got there, it was foggy!

 Felt like we were going out into the twilight zone.

 Going through the channel between lakes was really spooky.

 Fog starts to lift.

Blue skies.

Found out that one of the multi million dollar houses we go by on this lake belongs to Shaquille O'Neil.  He has a superman model on his dock.

Bike ride in Celebration

We enjoy bike riding around Celebration.  It is a planned community with many "green areas" in the squares between homes.

 One of the green areas.

 Not a lot of traffic in the residential areas.

 These green arrows were marking a route for something.  Bruce & I had fun trying to follow them - would lose them occasionally and then would find them again a few blocks away.  Went backwards first to locate the start and then followed them back to area near our car.

One of the many boardwalks for bikers and walkers.

Puzzling

Bruce & I like to build puzzles on our travels.  We don't work on them together because we both have different methods of building,  so we have to have our own building areas.

 My area - the edge of a coffee table.

Bruce's area - a large puzzle board with 2 smaller boards for pieces (he brings them with us.)

Hilton Head Kayaking Fun

We did get 4 kayaking paddles in.  Would have liked to do more but the wind played a role in keeping us on land.  We tried to time our paddles so that we would be going with the tide.  Liked it when we could paddle going with the tide both directions!!

 A cloudy day paddle.

 Bridge we crossed on our bikes - view from the water.

 A little sunnier this day.

 Bruce still likes going under the "bridges"

 Lunch on sea shell reef.

 Can you spot the dolphin?  Saw several of them throughout the week.