Holiday Happiness & Fun Adventures!

Holiday Road Trip

What a wonderful time of year! The holiday season kicks off with Thanksgiving. This year I spent Thanksgiving week in Florida with my Travel Buddy, Theresa Hall. We hit the road Saturday morning. Our base was in Orlando and everyday we ventured out, including on the way to Orlando … We started our week of adventure road trip with a stop at the Kanapaha Botanical Garden in Gainesville, Florida. It was a nice break on our road trip, as we got started started. That was Saturday, the day we left Atlanta. On Sunday, we actually took it easy, but did visit the Blue Springs State Park to see the Manatees, also known as ‘Gentle Giants’. They are about 10 feet long and weight up to 1,200 pounds. They are very slow moving. We actually saw several Manatees. The river was so very clear. Learned a fact about the Springs. The water remains about 72 degrees year-round. This was also true of the water where the Turkey Paddle was held … more on that later. This excursion was a last minute add-on. Just love when you can just add on stuff!

Breakfast with Old Friends

Throughout the week we visited friends in St. Petersburg, including my former hosted Emory University student, Erica, who graduated in 2020 with her Masters degree in Public Health. Due to the pandemic, they did not have a formal graduation ceremony. She is now married to her boyfriend who followed her from the University of Missouri (MIZZOU) to Atlanta, and who knew her father had said, nothing is happening before she graduates! They had a wedding ont he beach, have had a beautiful house built and she is working at a wonderful job! I am sooo very proud of her!

While in St. Pete, a friend and former roommate, along with her granddaughter, Azaria who was a newborn baby at the time, and now a pre-teen, arranged for an old friend from BNN (Black Newcomers Network), Gloria who had relocated to Florida and was being visited by her daughter, Julie who we had not seen in a while, and then another big surprise was Andrew, the Health and Wellness Director for the National Senior Games! He and Lynda grew up in the same neighborhood! What a a great time we had at our late breakfast get together at a popular restaurant in the area Kissin Cuzzins. And, to top it off, they all lived in very close proximity of each other, including where the restaurant was located!

Museums & Historical Walking Tour

Well, after our great time together, we headed for the Dali Museum. Salvador Dali had a very intriguing. life … creating a renown surrealist artist, before his time, now with quite notoriety! From there we walked the St. Pete Pier where I bought some vegan cashew brittle from a vendor. It was delicious! I bought two bags so I could bring one home! Actuallu, eating it now, as I am writing this newsletter … ummm good!

On all my trips, including the group tours I organize, I believe you should have fun, but also learn something enlightening and educational about your visit. Well, this trip was no different. We visited the Zora Neale Hurston Museum of Fine Arts in Eatonville. Did a self-guided, walking tour of Eatonville, her home town, whose current population is less than 2,200. We visited the Elizabeth Park there where through the ‘Rise’ Mural Project a mural was painted by various artists, with the primary piece being that of Zora Neale Hurston. The park was unoccupied, except for four young men sitting at the picnic table silently engrossed in their cell phones, during the time we were there. The park was very clean.

Continuing on our explorations, we visited the Wells’Built Museum in Orlando. The museum was originally a hotel built by Dr. William Monroe Wells for African Americans visiting Orlando. It was also an entertainment venue that hosted now famous African American performers. It has displays from the Civil Rights era as well as African art and artifacts. A very interesting museum, indeed. On February 4, 2000, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic places.

The next day was, Wednesday, my Weekly Walk for Wellness, Just Walk! a program of Walk with a Doc. Although I was not in Atlanta for the in-person walk, I engaged with those who join me virtually from around the country! We, I should say, Theresa drove (she did all the driving) us to Tampa, where I was setup for my walk on the Tampa River Walk. Well, I was was able to walk the River Walk before I was scheduled to go live, I ended up being rained out. However, I was able to get under a cover for an outdoor restaurant and walk in place and engage my walkers virtually. I am sooo very grateful for them! The rain was spotty. When we finally left there, we drove to the Clearwater beach. We started our walk, but once again, got rained out, and just headed back to our base in Orlando. We had rain most of the way back.

Turkey Paddle & Live Mermaid Show

So, on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, we left at 5:30a.m. for our Turkey Paddle adventure at the Weeki Wachee Springs State Park. The river was sooo clear and calm, it was absolutely amazingly beautiful! Photos did not do it justice! We kayaked 3-miles. We laughed and had a super fun time. Unbeknownst to me, it was their 1st Annual Turkey Paddle. We earned a finisher medal, got a t-shirt, and they had breakfast for us! What a great time we had! Following that, we went to the ‘Live’ Mermaid Show there at the park. The show was absolutely mesmerizing to watch. The cast remained underwater, without snorkels or scuba tanks, for most of the time for the whole half-hour show! They had a breathing tube they used from time to time and made air bubbles, but they were lip-syncing underwater, with their mouths open!!! We still have not been able to figure out how they did that!

We stopped at Whole Foods at about 2:00p.m. They were scheduled to close at 3:00p.m. They literally had a guy with a bright green vest, like a crossing guard, directing traffic, at the self-check-out registers. Yes, that is how busy there were. I got my all vegetable Thanksgiving dinner from there. We then drove over to Perkins restaurant where Theresa got her Thanksgiving dinner plate. We made it back just before dark to the resort where we were staying. A very long day … but worth every minute!

I appreciate having a sister-friend like Theresa who likes to explore and try new adventures. She knows she can count on me to join her!

Speaking of new adventures … I need to mention that just a few weeks ago she graduated from learning how to swim, at 71 years old! How phenomenal is that!!! The amazing thing is, she has always loved water sports and vowed this was her year to learn to swim. She has gone kayaking, whitewater rafting, sailing, tubing and jet skiing!