We Must have Dessert

It was hard to leave the Clearwater/South Haven area, its been my home for 20 years and leaving all my friends behind was tough but I still had to have dessert so Monday morning I headed down to Waterville, MN to pick up my brother, Steve.  He works at Potential Unlimited with about 20 other people and when I walked in the door and saw my sweet little brother, I knew it was well worth the drive.  Then we headed over to Mankato to see my older sister Noreen.  She too is very special and even took the day off so we could spend it together. 

Noreen, Margaret & Steve leaving for lunch in Mankato.

We had a wonderful lunch and then it was time for a movie.  We had the whole theater to ourselves.  It was a beautiful day in Mankato but unfortunately my brother is having lots of trouble with his ankles so walking was just too tough for him.  It didn't take a lot of arm twisting to take them to the movies.  We had a very nice time and it was very hard to leave.  It always is.

Margaret & Ted trying to use chopsticks.  I used my fingers mostly.

Then I headed back to Ted's for my last nite in town.  Since he lives within walking distance of so many bars and restaurants, we headed out for a nice dinner.  We first stopped at a Green Bay Packers bar which was standing room only due to the big Monday nite game.  Unfortunately we didn't have our GB jerseys or cheeseheads with us so we had to forego that place which probably saved our lives since there may have been some serious sobbing when they lost in the last second of the game. I wanted to go over there after they lost wearing my Vikings shirt but Ted thought it was too risky.

I forgot how pretty the trees are in the fall in Minnesota.

I love Minnesota in September, it is still beautiful weather, the trees are changing and the kids are back in school.  I used to love that.  But my home is in Florida now and that's not too bad either.  There's lots on the menu here too, we just have to get busy checking it all out.

Back in Florida, Tuesday nite.

So thanks to everyone who put up with me for a little while.  I had a great time with each and every one of you.  When I get hungry for some Minnesota grub, I'll be back.   Love m

On to the Next Course - Yummy

After leaving the flat Hillman area, I headed back to the Clearwater area to meet up for my third course of exotic flavors.  The weather was cool but sunny and when I got to Jan's house, she was all set for our time together.  Rudy grilled and we played cards, just like old times. But we were pretty tired, Jan from running after her little grandson all day and me from staying up way too late the nite before and we had lots of plans for Sunday so it was an early nite.

Sunday morning we went for a long walk on country roads in the cool Sunday morning and then made our way to the golf course. It was a perfect morning for golf and while I am pretty sure I won, Jan conveniently lost the score card so who knows. Of course we had to stop for some of the best Margaritas in central Minnesota after golf at Southbrook and one thing led to another as it always does after a couple Margaritas. I mentioned to Jan that I wanted to go past our old house and no sooner did the words leave my lips that Jan zoomed down our driveway cause the gate was open. Once the dust cleared, we saw the garage was open, cars were inside but Jan decided it wasn't a good idea to meet her new neighbors after a couple Margaritas so she whipped the car around and flew back down the driveway. I think we might have hit a raccoon or cow, it was just a blur.

Margaret, Sharon, Jan, Gwen, Carol and Deb





And then it was party time at Jan's.  All the neighbor ladies came over to visit and paint nails, catch up, complain, bitch, and pose for lots of pictures.  Carol brought her camera so we all know what that means.  It was so nice to see everyone, no one has changed much but it sure made me realize how good I had it in South Haven. 

Pumpkins from Jan's Garden.  Who knew Jan had a garden?

The Clearwater time was very tasty and I highly recommend everyone try it when they start missing old friends.  m

PS - My camera was broke during my time with Jan and the girls so thanks Carol.  I stole some of yours. 

The Second Course

Friday morning I was on my way to St. Cloud and Hillman, MN.  My second course consisted of four toasty friends sharing a special course up in the Hillman area.  We started off at Brothers Bar which is at the crossroads in Hillman.  I am not sure why it is called Hillman because its pretty flat.  Maybe there's some anthills somewhere.

Anne, Jill, Margaret & Doris at Brothers

We spent the afternoon catching up, eating lots of good stuff, testing some beer and wine, watching Weeds, sightseeing in Onamia and talk talk talk.  At about 2 am we called it a nite after deciding an all nighter was too risky at our ages. 

I'm resting my eyes in Onamia.  Jill is drunk.

Saturday was a beautiful fall day so we figured jumping in the lake would be a good idea after sitting in the hot tub for a while.  It was COLD but so fun.

Running out of the lake - COLD.

Before we knew it it was time to say see ya later.  We'll save goodbyes for another time.   m

Warming up after our jump in the lake.

Minnesota on the Menu

On Thursday last week I landed in Minneapolis for a little taste of Minnesota.  Its been almost a year since I was there and I really had a taste for some north country. 

After landing at the airport, I got a call from my son, Ted, wondering where I was.  He was there to pick me up.  He was on time.  It was a Christmas Miracle!!!  But its not Christmas so its just a plain miracle.  Ted and on time usually don't exist in the same sentence.  Life is full of surprises.

Ted just sold his house in Minneapolis and recently moved to the uptown area.  Such a fun area and so much to do there.  We ended up at Pat's Tap which is a few blocks away. I thought it was a place for tap dancing and I left my tap shoes in Florida.  But it was a different kind of tap.  Beer tap.  Don't need shoes for that.  My niece, Louise, lives nearby so she showed up too. And then my sister and her hubby made the trip over.  This was just the appetizer.  And it was very tasty.

Ted, Keith, Louise, Margaret & Anita - Pat's Tap

The next day, it was time for my first entree.  Stay tuned.....m

Amazing Orchid





When we moved here for good last November, I brought some houseplants from Minnesota and I am happy to say that the plants in the house are doing great. I also brought an orchid that I got from my son for Mother's Day. When I got the orchid, it was in full bloom but that didn't last too long. I hated to throw the plant away even tho it looked dead so I brought it along with me down here and somewhere along the line I read that you should just throw it in a tree and I thought, why not. Its not doing too good in a pot or in dirt so I opened the back door, hit a tree and thought, yeah, that will work.  And its been hanging in the tree ever since.

 

And today I looked out the back door and well, just let the pictures tell the rest of the story.  It is truly amazing.  I don't recommend trying this in Minnesota tho.  It would probably be covered with snow when it blooms and you would miss the whole thing.  I just wonder why else I can throw in that tree.  Margaret

Don't Rock the Boat Baby

On Saturday we joined a group of our neighbors for a canoe trip down the Peace River.  The river is located in Arcadia which is about an hour northwest of us.  Gary plugged in the GPS with the address off the internet and when we arrived at the address, we were in a field in the middle of nowhere and there was no river.  There wasn't even a puddle.  And since we do not know the area we had no idea which way to go.   The GPS was worthless at this point and after lots of blame, we  found an old guy working on his yard and asked him for directions.  Apparently this happens all the time so  he knew exactly how to direct us to Canoe Safari on the Peace River. Since this is a second rate operation, we didn't get going for about another hour so we had plenty of time to figure out that Gary was to blame for our getting lost.  Of course.

Gary and I, across the river the nutty ones are swinging into the river on a rope.

The Peace River has several options to pick from as far as length of trip, we decided to go with the 9 mile ride which required very little paddling and lots of sitting.   The river flows pretty quickly so we really had very little to do but eat, drink, dodge branches and search for gators.  There were none, the water was nice and cool, there were rope swings scattered for the more adventurous and some sandy beaches to sit on even more.  We had a great time altho one of our group members did end up capsizing and going into the river.  There was not much we could do but watch their mustard, cooler and beer float by.  Luckily this happened near the end of the trip so most of the beer cans were empty which made it less tragic.  But still, one full beer is one too many.

Group of neighbors at Peace River.  Couple in front capsized and were not happy.

Then this morning as we were laying in bed watching the news wondering if there were any events for the girls since we left them at home all day on Saturday, we saw the Weiner Dog Fest set for today. It was a miracle! So we packed up the girls and headed for the Shell Factory for a day full of weiner festivities. There were weiners everywhere. A couple were even noisier than DeDe. We entered DeDe in the weiner dog race and of course she had no idea what to do so she lost. Twice.

Photo op at the Weiner Dog Fest before the big race.  DeDe looks nervous.

But we had a lot of fun, saw lots of other weiners and their owners and decided to put DeDe into training for the next race.  We see a future for her if she would just focus.  Now if she would only understand what focus means. Margaret

We're All in the Same Boat

Since we have moved here permanently, there have been a few things we had to leave behind in Minnesota.  A big thing was our friends.   I tried to talk some into moving down here too but so far they either didn't listen or moved here and forgot to tell me.

Anyway, after getting the house pretty much finished and having more time on our hands, we joined the New Residents Club.  This club is primarily for people just like us.  New to the area with no friends.  And its a different experience at this stage in our lives.  In the past, we met people we worked with or lived by or our kids' friends' parents or some just fell in our laps.  A person forgets how it all happened, it just did and now we stumble along trying to figure it all out. Again.

The New Residents Club is very organized here, we are with a group of people who joined in July and August of this year.  We have been to several functions and have met some nice people.  So its a beginning.

Last weekend we were invited to a member's home for a Labor Day picnic and boat ride.  We really didn't know what to expect but when we saw the boat sitting by the dock, we decided these would be good friends to have.  Their boat is a 60 foot cabin cruiser, it has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a full kitchen and a big screen TV.  I think I could move in and they wouldn't even notice. We took a two hour cruise with about 15 people comfortably on the boat.  Gary and I decided that the New Residents Club was a pretty good idea after all. Hoping we'll all be in the same boat for a while.  Margaret

Ave Maria

Since this is Gary's birthday weekend, I decided to take him on a little trip.  About a month ago I found a Living Social coupon for Orange Jeep Tours.  The deal included a 90 minute tour in a jeep that went off road into the wetlands and tropics of Florida.  We were able to see gators, turtles, lots of birds, really dirty water where gators live, butterflies, hawks, vultures, just lots of native animals and plants to Florida.  Our guide was great even tho he sometimes forgot he was driving a jeep while he was talking and got a little too close to the water full of gators for me. 

Church really is standing up in middle of town, not laying on side.

But I loved it and thought it was well worth the trip out to Ave Maria which is where the jeep tour started.  This little town is brand new to Florida.  Apparently the guy who owned Dominos Pizza had too much money so he dreamt up this completely Catholic town in the middle of nowhere complete with its very own Catholic university. 

The town was started in 2005 and you have to drive about a mile off the main highway to get to the center of town which is where the big church is located.  So its Saturday and Gary and I are headed to church.  What's wrong with this picture?    The church is in the town square which is surrounded by new buildings which include stores and restaurants and above all that are brand new condos.  There are new homes around the town square and the university sits about 3 blocks from the downtown area.  Very nice, everything is so new and clean.  All it was missing was people. 



Happy Birthday Gary!!!

We both noticed it as we drove into the town, there were no people anywhere.  It was like driving into the middle of a Twilight Zone episode.  When we finally got on our jeep tour we asked our guide about the town and he filled us in with all the good stuff.  I asked him when school started and he proudly said it already had.  Gary and I looked at each other.  Where are all the kids?  We had colleges next to us in Minnesota and when school starts, you can't help but trip over all the kids that come out from under their dorm beds sometime in the middle of the day to find food and beer.  But that's the thing.  No beer, liquor, porn or condoms are sold anywhere in town.  Now we were really wondering, why would any kid want to come here? 

So, check it out on the internet when you have a chance.  Who knew we had our own little cult less than an hour away.  Just remember to bring your veils and rosaries.   Margaret