Life in Florida

The appeal of Florida in the month of March is sunshine and I am truly enjoying it. The picture from home today showed snow covering everything and while it may be a last hurrah for Mother Nature I am glad to miss it.

This past week I was able to play golf three times with friends at three different courses. Both Steve and I played at The Oaks with our friends the Bacheys. Then I played at Lemon Bay Golf Club with Ann L. And at Laurel Oaks with Jean R. While the Floridians were complaining about the 67 degree weather I played in shorts and short sleeved shirts. All of the days were ideal golfing conditions and I enjoyed all of the courses. (Some holes were more fun than others but on new courses there is always the thought of what you would do differently if you knew the course). The game is in winter hibernation but that is okay for vacation golf. There were some great shots and as always in the spring there is the hope that this will be "The Year".

Lemon Bay is an Audubon sanctioned golf course and on each cart there is a card that shows the birds of Lemon Bay. We did see many of the birds including the bald eagles and their nest. This is an idea we may pursue with Belmont since we have started the bluebird trail. The first bird we identified was a (Toledo) Mud Hen. I am not sure I had ever seen one before. Lots of Florida gators here too. I like the free lift and place rule around a gator. I even got to use it once.

 

 

Laurel Oaks is a Country Club community with 2 golf courses. I had played here with Jean and the Chandlers two years ago. We played the East course then and this time I played the West course. I am going back this week to play again and at least I'll get a second chance on one of the courses. Jeans group of ladies were fun to play with and I even learned a new game. It is called 30. When there are threesomes you need to use 30 net scores. You must use one score on each hole so there is some calculating on when to use more than one score and still have each hole covered. When they play in a foursome it is called 40 and you must use 40 scores. It is a fun game because if you are totally out of a hole you can pick up. Might have to bring this game back to Belmont too.

 

This is a picture of the white Pelicans that were "fishing" a pond at Laurel Oaks. The white Pelican does not dive like the brown ones but rather they work together driving the fish into shallow waters at one end of a pond. They were very graceful birds almost looking like swans as they swam on the ponds.

 

And finally a new activity I found this week. As Ann was showing off her home and the cute Boca Grande Island she mentioned that her son is a Geocacher. I had heard about this so I did a little more research when I got back to the computer.  I decided it might be just the pastime for me while I am alone in Sarasota. It is something that  AJ and I can do  when I get back to Perrysburg. Hiding caches in unique locations sounds like fun. This is an example of something I would never have found if I hadn't been geocaching. These houses are called the Nautical Houses and are in a neighborhood near downtown Sarasota. So much fun to explore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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