Florida - first few days full of surprises!

I had a lot of preconceived ideas about Florida......I thought it would be flat, with crime-ridden sprawling cities lit up by almost constant lightning. I couldn't have been more wrong. While some aspects were true - some of the cities are pretty big, others wildly over the top, flashy and pretentious - Florida also has wild, desolate places full of amazing wildlife, tropical beaches to die for, and a unique, very enviable lifestyle.

I spent my first few days with my former Internet now very real friend Dee and her husband just north of Tampa and, as well as exploring, here was an opportunity to at last give full reign to my art store addiction - visiting as many as possible with the patient Dee bearing up admirably watching the shopping cart get higher and higher.

First trip to Michael's!

Another opportunity to eat from a huge range of different cuisines, massive breakfasts and supermarkets I could live in.....Dee and Jim live in a charming, very peaceful house by a lake - so I was constantly rushing back and forth with the binoculars "Oh look, there's a sandhill crane", or a hawk eyeing me from a nearby perch, or pine warblers, or herons, osprey, stunning red cardinals and much much more. I think you get the idea. My hosts were patient with me, were great company and I miss them still.

NUMBER ONE GREAT DAY was the day they took me to see the manatees. I had heard of these weird, lumbering sea creatures, said to be the origin of the mermaid myth, though any creature less like a mermaid would be hard to conjure. The weather was cool, so they were gathered at the outlet to a large power plant on Tampa Bay. Hundreds of them. They also seem to be the origin of the term 'to hang out', for that is just what they do. They kind of hang suspended in the water, going with the flow - what a great life! I was enthralled and captivated, a great day, rounded off by a visit to a strawberry parlour in the middle of acres of strawberries, and a restaurant serving food from the South buffet-style. I was reluctant to move on, but my itinerary called and so I had to head south......











I loved the Spanish Moss. Draped like Mrs Haversham's wedding dress over seemingly willing trees, the trees became sun-dappled, secretive and mysterious, like peering through net curtains.