Saying "So Long"...

I am reaching the end of my stay in Florida and it is almost time to push north.  The weather has been so mild this winter I probably could have started weeks ago--but I'm a Goldilocks.  I don't like to be too cold or too hot.

I stopped at Don's one more time to give a last 'goodbye' and check the progress of his garden.  If you recall some weeks back we got some lettuce planted and there were a dozen little tiny plants poking their heads up.  Well two weeks later and look at this................!

We actually had a lettuce salad!  Wow!  What fun to see the results so quickly.

So we planted a bunch of flowers and started some tomato seeds.   Don has promised to take pictures and send them to me and if he does I will definitely share them.  Anyway, the 'widow ladies' at Lakeport are most impressed with farmer, Don, and will soon be trading cakes and cookies for fresh lettuce and tomatoes.  Also, Don has a great new pick-up line..."Would you like to come up to my apartment and see my crops?"
I want to say 'Goodbye and Thank you' to all the wonderful residents of Lakeport who made me feel so welcome.  I will not remember every name because there were so many but you were, each and every one, so warm and friendly--Willi, Loren, Helen, Francis, Jean, Judy, Jules, Walter, the other Walter, Gloria, Marion, Leon, Pat--and more.   I hope to see you all again sometime.

A friend from California asked what my impressions were of Florida so I will share a few of them here.     First of all everyone here is an artist and art (?) appears in the unlikeliest of settings.....

"Fat Cat", front and back, adorned the walls of a restaurant bathroom.

Churches of every stripe abound!  There must be more churches per square inch in Florida than anywhere else in the country.

There are some real snappy dressers here--or not.

There are amazing homes....

and more art (note the cat)  in gardens....

or peeking over hedges.

There are lots and lots of palm readers, consignment and resale shops, check cashing stores (the above is actually a chain), and....

 

The largest Goodwill stores I have ever seen.  I don't know if that is a barometer of the economy here or not but it certainly is thought provoking.  There are a gazillion tourist attractions--Disneyland, Epcot Center, Busch Gardens, alligator farms and on and on.  I managed to avoid most of them.  There are also some of the most amazing museums, gardens, homes, hideaway beaches, and parks.  I tried to hit as many as possible.  I still have St. Augustine and Jacksonville to report on before I completely leave the state but I must say--Florida has been great!