Winter 2013
March:
Before leaving St. Cloud we enjoyed a day with long-time
friend Luke at Fantasy in Flight in Polk City, Florida.
The aviation-themed museum included a cute little restaurant, The Compass
Rose, which reflects the same characteristics of stylish diners associated with
airports during the 1930’s and 1940’s.
The food was good and the atmosphere was fun.
We enjoyed another evening at the Amway Center in Orlando, where we watched our beloved Indiana Pacers beat the Orlando Magic. There were several other Pacer fans attending and we had a great evening.
A beautiful Sunday afternoon we attended the Houston
Astros preseason game in Kissimmee, losing to the visiting Philadelphia
Phillies. We’ve also found a little
time to play Scrabble, enjoying hot tea in the Scrabble mugs we received from
Bob’s sister Cynthia, for Christmas.
We are spent a week in Largo, Florida, just north of St.
Petersburg. We attended the 3-day
Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, where we had great seats in the first turn
and were able to see plenty of action.
Unfortunately, our team didn’t do as well as expected, but it was great
to see a first-time winner in James Hinchcliffe, and to see Simona deSilvestro
do so well. It should be a very
exciting Indy car season! We also
enjoyed a chilly but sunny afternoon at John’s Pass at Maderia Beach, where we
strolled the boardwalk, browsed through the shops, had a delicious dinner at The
Friendly Fisherman, and watched dolphins frolic in the water.
We are now at Navarre Beach Campground in the Florida
panhandle, between Pensacola and Destin.
The campground is right on the beach with a nice pier into the gulf.
The weather has warmed a bit, so we’ve enjoyed sitting on the beach.
It is a nice park with a many amenities.
We plan a little more sightseeing before we continue north, arriving in
Indiana in late April.
February:
We spent a beautiful day in early January at Kennedy
Space Center. The weather was
perfect as we strolled the outdoor rocket garden and enjoyed the bus ride to the
Apollo/Saturn V Center. On the ride
we passed the Vehicle Assembly Building, and the shuttle launch pad, as well as
a six feet tall, 39-year old bald eagle nest.
We were able to see a bald eagle and an alligator as well as all the
interesting space things. We
enjoyed two IMAX movies, included in our tour.
We ended our day with a delicious meal at Rusty’s in Port Canaveral,
where we could watch cruise ships leaving port and dolphins frolicking in the
water.
We spent most Sunday afternoons during the NFL season
and post season, joining other fans in cheering on our Indianapolis Colts at
Sidelines Sports Grill, within walking distance of our RV park.
A much better season for the Colts than anyone expected!
We enjoyed cheering our Indiana Pacers when they visited
the Orlando Magic at Amway Center in Orlando.
Although we didn’t win, we had a great time, including an early dinner at
Draft, a sports bar across the street from the center.
We look forward to seeing them in Orlando again in March, hopefully with
a better outcome!
We spent a nice afternoon at the Warbird Museum in
Kissimmee, where we read about WWII and saw several aircraft up close and
personal. We talked with Scott, a
volunteer who was working on a winter tune up of the North American P-51 SR
Mustang, owned and raced by Thom Richard, who we later met.
We watched the takeoff of 2 Texan T-6 planes for formation flying.
It’s a nice, small museum with very personable staff that was a wealth of
information.
Longtime friends, Wayne & Sally spent a day with us
before continuing further south to Fort Myers Beach.
Earlier that same week, we learned that Pat, a mutual friend of Kathy &
Sally, also from Greenfield, winters in this same park, so she was able to join
us for dinner. It was quite a
surprise for Sally and we all had a great visit.
January:
Bob has enjoyed a the Chess & Games Club in Orlando. He is currently taking lessons from Senior Master Alex Zelner and is working with an elementary school chess club. Bob also continues to expand and enhance his Chess Lab for Amateurs section of this website showing many of his games, pictures, and tips for amateur chess players.
We returned to Indiana for Christmas, and had a wonderful time with family. While there we had a blizzard, the second one of our lifetime! Fortunatly is was not as bad as the Blizzard of 1978! It looked beautiful, but we were fortunate enough to leave the snow behind and return to warm, sunny Florida! Son Mike and his family were able to come to Indiana this holiday, although delayed a day by the weather.