Country Music Dance at Ancient Oaks

Saturday, January 31, 2015


The sell out crowd at Ancient Oaks RV Park had an enjoyable evening at the Country Music Dance held at the Ancient Oaks club house.  The ancient folks from Ancient Oaks were encouraged to dress Western style with cash prizes awarded for the best costumes.  The offer of cash was all it took for most of these seniors to don their best Western outfits, and a variety of great music was provided by the ever popular Three Bob Band.

Here's Pat and Ted showing off their...matching handkerchiefs!

"The Wedding Couple" Barb in her wedding dress and Henry with his boots on.

AC and Carol getting ready to boogie

Dan's trying to arrest Pat

Kathleen and James took a stage coach to get here.

 Kitty and me sitting on our...saddles!

This is either a slow dance or a hug fest!

We couldn't have a dance without some line dancers!

Miss Kitty is dancing with Marlene

Norma and Ken actually stood still just long enough for this picture!

Check out these boots on Pat!

 Susan enjoying the music

Fresh off the ranch Debbie

Ted's ready for some good old country fun!

 Here's Tom asking Joan if it's time to leave!

Dan won the best costume for single guy!

Debbie and Randy won the best costume for couples!

Ancient Oaks' very own Three Bob Band!

L to R: Ted, Randy, Barry

Let's toast Wendy and Ginette (not shown) for helping to make this dance happen!

The Country Music Dance night was a lot of fun and we are all looking forward to attending again next year.  We only have 364 days left to find the perfect costume!

Lake Placid, Florida

Monday, January 26, 2015

Today we are headed to Lake Placid along with Kitty's cousin from Kentucky, Freda, and her husband Dewey.  Lake Placid is home to more than 40 murals that depict some of the history of this region and community.  For more details about these beautiful murals, please see my blog titled "the Murals of Lake Placid" dated December 4, 2012 and, "The Murals of Lake Placid Part 2" dated March 17, 2013.

Of course, no one should stop in Lake Placid without having a Bodacious Banana Split at the Main Street America Restaurant. This banana split is something dreams are made of and I must caution you not to attempt to eat this decadent treat if you're wearing tight fitting clothes! You will surely pop a button or two!  Also, don't stop here on a Monday like we did because the restaurant is closed all day on Monday!  Darn!  It also closes at 1 pm on Sunday too.  There should be a law against this place ever closing, and  I suspect another trip to Lake Placid is going to happen sometime in the near future!

Our tour of the murals began at the chamber of commerce building where helpful information about the murals and the artists that painted them is available. There's also a short ten minutes video about the murals that is interesting and informative, and maps to help you find your way around.  A booklet describing each mural and it's location is a must.  Many of the murals have hidden objects painted in them and it's tons of fun trying to find all of the objects.

Here we are standing in front of Caladium Fields, a 60 foot wide mural. 

L to R: Dewey, Freda, Kitty, and Craig.  Maggie is the one with four legs!

 No, this is not a mural.  It's Freda and Kitty looking at a mural.

Now this is a mural!

This is the first mural to be painted in Lake Placid and it's titled "Tea at Southwinds."

Lake Placid has more than 40 murals.  There's well over twenty lakes around here and they all have plenty of monster bass in them-like this man eater!  Look out Dewey, this bass is looking for its next meal!"  Around here the bass are so big, if you don't catch them they will catch you!

Please check out my previous blogs for more of the murals at Lake Placid.  The murals and the fishing offers will keep you busy for quite some time.  But, if you like to clown around, you can do that here too at Toby's Clown School!  Lake Placid has something for everyone, and it's interesting, amazing, and fun for all!

Caloosahatchee River Walk in LaBelle, Florida

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Kitty and I, along with Kitty's cousin Freda and her husband Dewey, visiting from Kentucky, decided to head to LaBelle, Florida so we could show them the Ortono South Campground, have some lunch at one of our favorite BBQ places, and enjoy the Caloosahatchee River Walk.

We arrived in LaBelle and headed directly to Honest John's Log Cabin BBQ located on State Route 80 in LaBelle.  Every time we have have been to this place, Honest John is always there to greet us with a smile and today was no different.  Honest John always makes an effort to talk to each and every customer and thanks everyone for their business.  If you want extra hot BBQ sauce, you have to ask for it.  I can't tell you what happens when they bring it out.  But, it's worth asking for it even if you don't intend to use it. Their BBQ is scrumptious, and they offer a free cup of soup and a free dip of ice cream for desert.   It's a combination that's really hard to beat and makes the 75 minute drive to LaBelle well worth while.

After thoroughly enjoying the BBQ, free creamy potato soup, and free hand dipped cookies and cream ice cream, we headed to the Caloosahatchee River Walk.

Here's Freda, Dewey, and their dog Maggie

Kitty, Freda, and Dewey enjoying this sunny January day on the River.

Be careful, Kitty!  Don't step back or you might become gator bait! 

"Look Kitty, the bridge is up," I said.  Not hearing exactly what I said, she responded, "what bitch is up?"  We are still laughing about that!

The LaBelle Marina offers boaters traveling between Florida's east and west coast a place to dock and rest with a max stay of four days.  There were people on each of these boats enjoying life on the river and sharing tales about their travels. 

Maggie, you are such a good girl!

Here's a couple of pictures of the Corp of Army Engineers campground at Ortono South along the Caloosahatchee River. 

It was an enjoyable day seeing the sights in South Central Florida and spending quality time with Freda and Dewey!  Let's do this some more!