Fun Filled Day on Pine Island

Saturday was the day to do some fun things along with some necessities!  It had rained relatively hard during some of the night on Friday, so we woke to windy conditions and wet!  I still headed to the tennis courts to meet Ed.  After some sweeping of the court, we finally got to play.  Then Jim and Steve joined us for some doubles.  Nice that the "boys" let me play with them.  Ken rode bike to St. James City while I played returning to observe the last few games we played.  Did some food prep when we got back to Willie and then headed to Matlacha for the Arts Festival.  Walked along the Main Street going in and out of the shops and galleries.  Then we had some delicious ice cream at the Happy Licks homemade ice cream shop - sooo good!

On to the grocery store and then to the fish market to get Ken some grouper to make on the grill tonight for dinner.  We were back by 3:15 to get ready for our "dinner guests".  We had to borrow some folding chairs from the clubhouse so we could all sit around our table.  (We had left our 2 folding chairs at home thinking we would not need them for this trip!  Fortunately, we were wrong!)  I provided the oven roasted potatoes, dessert, and some chili with nachos.  Betsy and Coy brought a large tossed salad and wine and Regina and Paul provided strawberries and cheese. Everyone brought their own meat for the grill.  What a wonderful evening of sharing adventures, trips, and just enjoying each others company.  This is the 1st camping trip for Paul and Regina and their excitement is contagious.  They are amazed how friendly everyone is at the campground.  We feel fortunate to have met these folks and being able to spend time with them.  We all had such a good time that we decided to meet tomorrow morning for breakfast at the Raymary Street Grille near Bokeelia at 9:15.  We still have more to talk about!!!!

Last night was the 1st cold weather we have had since leaving PA 3 weeks ago!  (Has it really been that long???)  It was soooo windy during the night and the temperature dropped to 43 degrees.  Not nearly as cold as back home, but quite a change for how it has been in Florida.  Supposed to continue being windy today, but should get close to 60.  We will see!  Had to get out the jean pants today with a warm vest.

Nancy and Neil Savage from East Petersburg PA are to arrive at the campground around noon today after leaving Venice.  We will spend time with them today and tomorrow and then we leave for Venice on Tuesday morning.  Fortunately we have a few overlapping days.  We met Nancy and Neil at the RV Dreams Rally in Hershey this past Sept., never having known them before.  We are looking forward to reconnecting.  We did have lunch with them right after the New Year to learn to know them better and to talk about possibly meeting up in Florida. 

Ken took this photo of the "local" eagle on
his way to St. James City  riding his bike!

Very end of the island at St. James City!

Love the painted electrical poles!  Done by local artists!

My 80 year old friend, Ed, playing tennis with me!
Hope I'm close to this healthy when 80!

This is the front yard of a residence in Matlacha!

One of the old fishing shacks that is now a cute
boutique in Matlacha!  Every building has wild colors!

A dock behind one of the Galleries in Matlacha!

This is the place we renewed our wedding vows
2 years ago - Lovegrove Gallery!

This is the residence of the owners of Lovegrove!
A polka dot house!

Dinner in Willie with our new camping friends -
Betsy, Regina, Paul and Coy.  We had a great
evening together!