The First Annual "Lot Crawl" at SLW

Thursday, February 26 - The First Annual "Lot Crawl", a recap

And the winner is...."Archie's Biker Bar"(above), Lot #5 on the Crawl!

Last night, Wednesday, Feb. 25th, the first annual St. Lucie West Lot Crawl was held here at ORA. This was the "brainchild" of Karen and Kevin D.,(lot owners) and it was a HUGE success!

The idea was for each lot involved in the "event" to come up with a theme for their lot, then provide hors d'oeuvres and libations based upon their theme. Simple, eh? Participants in the "crawl" met at the clubhouse at 4:45PM for instructions and maps of the "crawl" route. Just before 5PM, all were sent on their way to lot #1. The stop at each lot lasted about 20 minutes, or until the food/libations were gone. Then, it was off to the next stop. There were 9 lots involved, and about 100 "crawlers". At each lot, the crawlers were asked to make notes about the lot theme, and at the end of the evening, everyone voted for what they thought was the best-themed lot(s) along the way. Also, at each stop, each participant was given a playing card, and the person who held the best seven-card stud poker hand at the last lot won a cash prize. When all votes had been tallied at the last stop, "Archie's Biker Bar", which featured a LIVE BAND, was voted the winner in a landslide! After the votes were announced, most of the participants again made their way back to "Archie's Biker Bar", where the Band played on until about 10:30PM, for dancing and partying.

I believe that the first annual "lot crawl" here at SLW was a smashing success. Kudos to Karen and Kevin for coming up with the concept. Be sure to check out the photographs in the album.

Here's the link to the web album with all the pictures. Enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/cbenoitiii/LotCrawlORAPSL?authkey=FbXxGAdsnlQ&feat=directlink

Ed Zachary!

Friday, February 20 - Stranger in our midst?

Last Saturday evening, at dinner, Gail, unfortunately, brought up the story of Ed Zachary. Since then, Ed had been a constant part of our conversations. Funny thing is, even though the story is a SAD one, we can't help but laugh every time his name is mentioned! I have never met Ed, and I am confident in saying that I don't believe that anyone in the group have ever met him personally. No matter! We all feel a compelling urge to mention his name whenever it seems appropriate in our conversations. For example, someone might remark, "Boy, the economy really is going into the crapper lately." Immediately, someone else will remark, "Ed Zachary!" In order to fully understand who Ed is, you must first spend some time with Gail, as she seems to have the most poignant insight into Ed's essence, although we have all heard his story.

We are now back in our coach, and alone again! As you can plainly see in the photo, above, we are truly sad that our company is gone! We dropped Don and Toni at West Palm Beach airport this afternoon for their flight back to Boston. Yesterday, we visited Bob and Sidney at Cape Coral, where they have a new vacation home. We spent some time at the house catching up, then we all headed out to Olive Garden for lunch. After lunch, we said goodbye to Bob and Sidney, Rich and Elaine left us there and drove up to Punta Gorda to visit Daisy, and we (Don, Toni, K and I) headed back to Port St. Lucie.

Here is our situation: Dick and Elaine are on the west coast of Florida, Don and Toni are back home, Gail and George are back in NH until March. Most of our friends/family are not here in PSL. Those that are left will have to console us over the next few weeks, until we get over the loneliness.

One GOOD thing that came out of the past week is that we have collected quite a pile of can tabs for Gail. She is collecting them for a worthy cause, and we were only too happy to oblige her, because she did such a GOOD job explaining Ed Zachary to us! Ed Zachary!!!

Be sure to check the web album, because it has lots of good pictures of Bob and Sidney's place in Cape Coral, the "gang", etc.

Here's the link to the web album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cbenoitiii/VisitToCapeCoralEtc?authkey=bjxoJz-490Y&feat=directlink

Oh, The Fun We've Had....So Far!

Wednesday, February 18 - Enjoying our company from up north.

Don, Toni, Dick and Elaine arrived at Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades Cruise Terminal on Saturday morning, around 7AM. We traveled down from Port St. Lucie to meet them, arriving about 10AM. The above picture is their cruise ship - Celebrity Cruise Lines. Don and Toni drove back to PSL with us, while Dick and Elaine went to the rental car agency to pick up their rental. Once everyone got back to PSL and settled into their hotel - Best Western at PSL - we all got together at the RV Resort and spent the rest of the afternoon just hanging out and catching up. Did some pool time, then we all sat down to a nice steak dinner, compliments of C & K. We had invited our friends, George and Gail, to join us for dinner and meet our company, since we felt that we would all just meld well together, and we did! We laughed, drank, laughed and drank some more, into the night, and a good time was had by all!

On Sunday, we met at the hotel and all drove down to Jupiter, Florida, to see some of the sights there. We started off at the Jupiter Inlet Park (above). The day was made-to-order - sunny, warm, nice breeze. After leaving the Park, we headed down into Jupiter, to the Abacoa Town Center, where "Arti Gras" was going on. This is a huge, annual arts fair down in Jupiter, held on President's Day weekend. When I say it was HUGE, I mean really BIG. We only got to see about half of the booths. From Arti Gras, we headed back to the inlet for lunch. We had originally planned to lunch at the Juno Beach Fish House, but when we arrived we found that it is only open Monday thru Friday! Nice to be able to close for the weekend, eh? So, we headed up to the inlet, to the Jupiter Inlet Crab House. We ended up back up at PSL and just chilled for the evening. On Monday, we headed out to Jensen Beach for brunch, then we drove out to Hutchinson Island for a tour of the fabulous hotels, condos and homes out there. Once again, we ended up back at PSL to chill. Yesterday, we decided to head down to Stuart to the Martin County Fair. We got as far as Stuart's "old town", where the girlz got to do a bit of shopping and the boyz just walked around and scoped out a place to have lunch. When the girlz finished their shopping spree, we went to a little place called "Key Lime Cafe" in Stuart. We sat outside, under little tiki huts, for lunch, libations and laughs. An aside, here...one of the best investments we have made here was to purchase our Odyssey van. We have been traveling everywhere together in it, with plenty of room for everyone. Our guests have repeatedly remarked at how comfortable it is to ride in, no matter where they were seated.


Today, Wednesday, Toni is making her "gravy" in the coach, and we will all enjoy a great Italian Pasta meal tonight. I took the picture, above, at the Key Lime Cafe yesterday, because I thought it would fit well with today's activities!

Tomorrow, we will all head west to Cape Coral to visit Uncle Bob and Sidney in their new vacation home in Florida. Dick and Elaine will travel in their rental, and they will travel north to visit Daisy, as she lives not too far from there. Don and Toni will return to PSL with us, and we will drop them at the West Palm Beach airport on Friday afternoon. Sadly, we will be "on our own" again. We've had so much fun since D,T, R and E arrived, it's going to be a huge let-down after they have gone.

Be sure to check out the web album, as there are some great group photos.

Here's the link to our web album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cbenoitiii/FunWithTheFamilyInFlorida?authkey=LWZPAEk8qqg&feat=directlink

Getting Ready to Entertain in PSL

Monday, February 9 - Furnishing the lot

Since we are unable to have any work done on our lot, i.e., concrete poured, wiring and lights installed, etc., and we are expecting company this Saturday, we have decided to begin adding some of the required furnishings, such as a grill to accommodate more than 2 to 4 people; a small table and a couple of chairs to relax on the patio. Check out the web album for photos of the new furnishings.

As this is Monday, tonight was BINGO night at the clubhouse. We began the day this morning with breakfast at the clubhouse (free coffee, donuts and bagels, fruit). Next, we ran a few errands around town, then we had lunch with George and Gail. I got to christen my new grill doing hot dogs, which were delicious. We sat at the picnic table to eat, then we talked for about an hour after eating. Actually, we laughed, mostly. We have really gotten to know George and Gail since we returned to PSL, and we absolutely love spending time with them. After lunch, K and Gail worked on finishing the picnic table covers, while I rode around on my bicycle. For dinner, we were invited to George and Gail's, where we laughed some more, ate a great meal, and drank some wine. Then, we headed off to the clubhouse for BINGO! Unfortunately, we did not win anything tonight, but we had lots of fun, nonetheless.

Tomorrow night is Card Night at the clubhouse. We are looking forward to tomorrow night, because we hope to have at least two more couples for cards, and we can really have a good time. We might even have a tournament. Wednesday night we are undecided about what to do. There is a pizza party at the pool, and we've been invited to that. There is also an "art show" up in Fort Pierce, which we would like to take in. The Art Show is between 5 - 8PM, while the pizza party starts at 5:30PM. What to do? Beginning on Thursday afternoon at 5PM, there is a cocktail hour, sponsored by a local Motor home dealer, followed by LIVE entertainment to kick off an RV show here at the resort. Friday morning begins with a "catered" breakfast at 8AM. After breakfast, the motor home exhibits open for viewing until 5PM. This is followed by a "hot dog social" (free), with a special guest appearance by "Slider", the NY Mets mascot. We are advised to "come hungry and thirsty". On Saturday, the exhibits are open from 10 - 5PM.

Also on Saturday morning, we will be heading down to Fort Lauderdale to meet the cruise ship that our "company" is on, and bring them back to PSL, where they will spend the week visiting. We are hoping to take lots of pictures, so be sure to stay tuned for those.

Here's the link to the web album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cbenoitiii/NewAdditionsToLot66?authkey=Afr9b09BmNg&feat=directlink

Pardon Me, Is My Age Showing?

Wednesday, February 4 - Caught in the act!

Last Monday night we got a call from Mike. I had to put him off, as we were at the clubhouse playing "BINGO"! When I mentioned to K that he had called, she immediately blurted "Oh, boy! We'll never hear the end of this!" Right she was! We called him back after our session, and he was giving us the "razz" for playing BINGO. However, since K won the biggest game of the evening and shared in the $215 pot, we could handle the razzing. I think we'll be playing BINGO every Monday night we are available as long as we are here.

In another bout with senility, I got a phone call on Monday afternoon from XM Radio, reminding me that my trial subscription would expire on Feb. 19th. They were calling to find out if I would be interested in continuing my subscription. When I told him that I had not yet made up my mind about continuing my subscription, explaining that I was not sure about whether to pay monthly, or to go to one of the annual plans, he offered me an incentive. XM Radio would extend my "trial subscription" for another 3 months for only $21. At the end of the new "trial" period, I would then either cancel, or sign up, but, If I decided to cancel, I would have to let them know BEFORE the end of the trial period. I really did know that my trial subscription was about to run out, but I was procrstinating about making a decision to subscribe or not. So, maybe it's good to sometimes be "absent-minded" about things of this nature.

In other "Senior Citizen" news, we finally purchased our copy of "Enjoyment", which is a coupon-filled booklet containing hundreds of dollars worth of coupons for dining, services, and entertainment. As we found out, our fellow RVers here at the resort would not THINK of going out without first checking the Enjoyment" book to see if there is a coupon for whatever it is they are planning. We have already used some of the coupons at local restaurants, where we can get two meals for the price of one! Also, we usually only shop the local stores on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, when some of the stores offer an additional 15% discount to "seniors"! And, I ALWAYS get my "senior citizen" discount at Dunkin' Donuts. Ahh yes! Sometimes it's good to be a Senior Citizen. Now, if only we can find a filling station that offers seniors a discount....

Yes, as you can see, life IS good down here in "snowbird" land. In addition to the things I've already mentioned, the FREE activities here at the resort add to our enjoyment! Here's a sampling of what we get here for free: Monday mornings from 9 - 10AM, coffee and donuts, bagels, bananas, fruit. Monday nights - BINGO (with good prizes, too!). Tuesday nights we play cards at the clubhouse. Thursday afternoon - Ballroom Dancing; Thursday evenings - darts. Friday evening, 5 - 6PM - Social Hour, with free hot hors d'ouvres, beer and wine, and soft drinks. Occasionally, some local merchants will sponsor cookouts at the clubhouse, with free food and drinks (we will have 2 of these this month). Next week, for example, there will be an RV show here at the resort on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with a cocktail hour on Thursday evening from 5 - 6PM; a "catered" breakfast on Friday morning from 8 - 10:30AM, and exhibits to explore at our leisure.

I hope that this will explain how we sometimes are unable to account for why the time goes by so quickly here in Florida. Our days are usually packed with so many things to do that the time just flies by, and, before you know it, the month is over and you sit back and say "Damn, where did the time go?"

Catching Up

Sunday, February 1 - Super Bowl Sunday

I'll begin this entry with a couple of pictures of "the boys" after their first grooming here in Florida. Beasley looks like he was "scalped", while Wilson looks as handsome as ever! We brought them to a local animal hospital, which also does grooming, last Friday afternoon. They both needed a bath desperately and we were reluctant to bathe them in the motor home. Plus, they also needed to be trimmed. So, here they are:


A couple of weeks ago, in one of my entries, I promised to post pictures of K's induction into "The Margarita Society" here in Florida. The picture, below, shows the "Society" members, each one sitting behind their margaritas. This induction ceremony took place at the local TGI Friday's.

The members are, from left to right, Kathy B., K, Nancy B., Leah D., and Gayle M.

Here's a shot of Gayle and K sharing a Margarita. Look at the size of those drinks! I never realized that they came in a Jacuzzi tub. After polishing off two of these babies each, you can understand why they were reluctant to drive to the pizza parlor to join us men for dinner, and why we had to pick them up! Good thing they were only a mile away from the park, and right on the way to the pizza place.

OK! That's all I have today. I have included some photographs we took during the month of January but never posted to a web album. I hope you enjoy them.

Here's the link to the web album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cbenoitiii/MiscellaneousPhotosFromPSLTampa?authkey=1ia1tGpWkCg&feat=directlink