Margate, Florida

New home at Aztec RV Resort Margate, Florida. Convenient to interstate 95 making it easy to get all around the area from Miami to Palm Beach.
Most of the folks at this luxurious park are owners of their lots and are from Quebec Canada. And most speak French almost exclusively. An interesting experience. An English-speaking group met weekly and we enjoyed the company of many people including Ed and Dorothy from Minnesota, and Bud and Pat from Iowa. Played some golf with Ed and Bud; didn't lose too much money.
Visited the South Beach Food and Wine Festival. Mary negotiated some reasonably priced tickets from a "vendor" on the street. Had great time trying various wines and food all day. Also watched the celebrity chefs (Emeril, Rachel Ray, others) preparing various things. A fun day.
Again used our bikes to tour around the various beach areas. Very easy to pick out a bar/restaurant to visit, lock the bikes to a tree or pole, and enjoy. Nice to sit outside at the Drunken Margarita for lunch, people and boat watching, in the warm weather.
Took the Art Deco tour of South Beach. Very interesting to learn about the history and have the architectural aspects of the area explained. Lunched at a great little side street Italian restaurant, Hosteria Romana, with the best bread ever.
Went to a Cardinal spring training game with Mike and Terri, Rick and Carol and Melanie. While at the game Terri "consulted" with Cardinal owner Bill DeWitt and general manager John Mozeliak. Expect good things from Cards this year!
It was time to take a break from all this winter sun and fun and travel to Mexico to vacation with our Meadowbrook friends.
After returning from Mexico it was time to travel back to St. Louis.

Florida Keys

Spent interim night in Homestead, Florida to shorten slow drive to Keys. Probably should have gone all the way without stopping. Could have avoided the red ants that feasted on my feet and hands. Required our first medical stop at an emergency room to get drugs and ointment to deal with the itching and swelling. Took about a week to get over.
New digs on a spit of land at mile marker 39. That's 39 miles from Key West. Spent couple days visiting Key West. Used bikes to get around since parking is crazy. Turned out to be the best way to see Key West. Toured all over the town, locked bikes to trees or fence or whatever when visiting bars or restaurants. And there are plenty of those. Some of our favorites were Hogs Breadth Saloon, Sloppy Joe's, Smokin Tuna.
Visited the Harry Truman little White House. The guy who said "the buck stops here" might have been talking about the poker games apparently played regularly on the porch of his digs.
Visited the southernmost point in the continental US and mile 0 of I-95.

Biked around some state park areas and took guided beach tour to understand what we were walking on.
Time to move on so going northward, but not too far, to Ft. Lauderdale area.

Florida winter.

Back to Florida for the winter. First stop Naples. Sunny and warm weather.
Relaxed in the sun, played some golf. Met Jack and Patti for dinner at Marco Island.
Next stop, headed for the Keys.

Hitting the road again!

Time to hit the road again. Packed up the suv with everything we could get into it for the long trip. Stopped at the traditional Athens, AL stop to visit with Mike and Terri, Dave and Mary II. Bob was there too. Too many margaritas so stayed an extra day.
Headed back to Bushnell to pick up the RV. Repacked and then set sail for Naples, Florida.