Christmas 2013 in South Florida

Our Christmas this year was spent in Homestead with Ryan, Najla, Baby Emma and Maryann. The weather went from 37 to 80+. Having grown up in Miami, it brought back memories of a tropical Christmas with nice breezes and damp sheets when you went to bed at night. The breezes were a nice change, the humidity not so much. It also reminded me of why my hair was always frizzy,

On Sunday we went to the Everglades NP for a little walk around. Emma really enjoyed running on the board walk and looking at everything. I couldn't post a video on blogger, so I'll just post some pictures. I was able to get the videos on to You Tube under Tails from Tennessee.



Emma, playing on the very large lanai at her house.

 

Emma really enjoyed walking around and looking at the birds, water and animals. Very few alligators to be seen this time.

 

 

Her hair is really getting long and is sort of a strawberry blonde.

 

After a walk in the Everglades we went to The Big Chill in Key Largo for lunch. There was a little barking dog at the next table and Emma couldn't take her eyes off of him.
 

Christmas Morning

I didn't take many photos Christmas morning, mostly videos. Here are a few.
Being in South Florida, there was no need for winter clothes on Christmas. Emma came to the gift opening wearing her Santa panties.

 

One of their gifts was matching winter pajamas, so they all dressed in them for a quick photo. Very warm for 80 degree weather.

Bailey is patiently waiting for her gift----a rather large dog bone which she proudly carried back and forth through all the unwrapping time to show off her prized gift.

 

Emma unwrapping some new books and puzzles.

 

Her new kitchen is unwrapped, but not yet put together. It took Dad and Pepere a while to get that done.

 

A Visit to Robert is Here

If you have been though Homestead and never stopped at Robert is Here you are missing an experience. RIH has been here for decades and on the weekend you have to park a block away just to get near the entrance. It is a fruit stand, but so much more than that. It began when Robert as a young boy was sent to the corner to sell fresh vegetables. No one bought them. So the next day he made a sign that said "Robert Is Here" and he sold all his vegetables. From that point on his business grew and grew. Today it is his family business and sells all types o tropical fruits, fresh vegetables, jams, jellies, candy, sauces, honey and other products. It is a site to behold. The most popular is his milkshake stand made with fresh fruits of all varieties. On the weekend there is a live band. In the back is a petting zoo. You can wait in kine a long time for one of his milkshakes. Today we were lucky. It pays to go in the middle of the day on a Monday.


 

A few of the oranges, and other Florida fruits.

A menu for their milkshakes or smoothies. They are to die for. I decided on a Key Lime Milkshake. It was a toss up between that and a Passion Fruit/Key Lime. YUM!!!!

We bought a couple of the unusual fruits to bring home and try. This is a Jack fruit. It tastes like vanilla pineapple.

These are Black Sapote and you wait until they are oozing black juice to eat them. They taste and look like chocolate pudding.

Lady Red Papaya. These are so big and heavy. One papaya goes a long way.

Canistel when ripe tastes like sweet and creamy egg custard.

Emma enjoying a Black Sapote. banana smoothie.

Look at the size of these avocados. Nothing like what you see in our grocery.

It was a good day at Robert is Here. 

Day 21 & 22 Leaf Peeping

We took some time to drive around the area to do a little leaf peeping. The colors are more beautiful each day that we are here. The pictures are not nearly as brilliant as the trees themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the seaplane parked at the dock next door.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 20 Another Day at Camp

Every morning when we wake up, the fog covers the area. By about 9:30 it is almost gone. Today, we decided to go to Rangeley and then Farmington.

This is the current view from the back of the camp. The building there is the River's Edge Sports Shop. It used to be that we couldn't see any of it due to the line of trees and bushes. Now it is a clear shot view

We wanted to visit the "discount" store in Farmington called Reny's. It was located right downtown, and they had lots of stuff, some good, some bad. We found it was not a bargain. I could get the same items for the same price or less at home.

 

Just so our trip to Farmington was not a total loss, we went to the Harvest House Restaurant for lunch. We both had a lobster roll which was very good---even better than Linda Bean's in Freeport.

 

Back to the camp and great views. The fall colors seem to be more brilliant than when we arrived.

 

More tomorrow.

Day 19 A Quiet Day at Camp

We spent a quiet day doing not much of anything in Oquossoc. Glynda had to leave early to drive to Portland airport for the flight home.  Too bad she had to leave. It's so nice and quiet herein the Fall after all the tourists have gone home.

We decided later to go the The Gingerbread for breakfast. The Gingerbread is right down the road and has really good food. Thirty years ago it was a one room old wooden hole in the wall with about 4 tables and a wood stove to heat the place, wooden floors and an ice cream bar. They served breakfast for about $3.00 and lunch was hamburgers, hot dogs, and sandwiches. Hamburgers were about $3.00. Locals hung out and ate here all the time. No dinner service

Years late,r some entrepreneurs from NJ decided it would be great to buy The Gingerbread and turn it into a nice restaurant. They kept the same name, front, and look but totally renovated it with Mexican tile floors, new tables and fixtures, and added about 1000 sq ft. including a nice glassed in summer room to view any wild life and the woods out back.They also quadrupled the prices. Their business went out the door along with the locals. Then they caught on and dropped the prices. We noticed yesterday the prices have looked the same now for many years. Time has caught up with them. Their food was good and their business was booming. You gotta eat at the Gingerbread when in Oquossoc. It's tradition.


Then we went to "Roger's" to get the Sunday paper. It is actually now called Oquossoc Grocery, but we still call it "Roger's" because that's who owned it 32 years ago when we started coming up. The new owners have done a great job. They now have a better meat counter, deli and sandwiches for takeout, a liquor store license, an ATM and it just looks nicer inside. Gone is the laundry in the basement (which we could use right now).

Back to camp for our relaxing day.
We have had fog every morning and today the clouds are still hanging down over the wider part of the lake.

This is the other side of the camp, near the bridge. There is fly fishing only in front of the camp, so David sometimes will walk down to the bridge to fish. He didn't fish this trip.

 
There were several geese out on the lawn, but by the time I got Bentley in his stroller, they were swimming away. 

Bentley always enjoys time out in his stroller.

It was a quiet day. I did some sewing and David puttered around with the motor home. A very nice day. We don't want to leave either  so we decided to stay 2 more days.