February- Early March in Southern Florida

Resting on Bradenton Waterfront (Cool Breeze)

In late January Paula and I again met up at her parent’s home in Bradenton, Florida.  (She had spent the early winter in Vermont).  Except for a couple of days when I snuck out to nearby Lake Manatee State Park, 6508 Tahitian Drive was our cozy winter home until the middle of February.  The Cozzy’s and friends at Hawaiin Village were great hosts, and ace mechanics!

Tom & Regina Cozzy

Dad, can you help me with my brakes?

We did punctuate our stay with Tom and Regina Cozzy by traveling to see Joanne (former Pines Bus. Mgr.) and Mark Blair in Cape Coral on Super-bowl weekend (160 mile round trip). 

The following weekend, we also  motored down to  Everglades City, at the southern tip of the Gulf in Florida, to attend a Seafood and Music Festival (300 mile roundtrip).

Everglades City Seafood & Music Festival

The seafood festival weekend involved a long motorcycle ride with alligators lining the highway in places.    

                                                 

The first evening in the motorhome in Naples involved being  awakened by gunshots, while the second was more restful in the parking lot of a large community church only a mile away from the previous spot.  

We attended services there on Sunday morning, before heading back to Bradenton.  {Please note that churches where we occasionally parked on a weekend were very welcoming to us, especially so if we attended a service and shared our story with them.} 

Grassroots Festival in Miami

On February 12 we drove southeastward via the Immokolee/Seminole Casino and then into the Big Cypress National Preserve where we stayed two nights at the Midway Campground.  On the 4^th morning, we drove U.S. Route 41 across the northern side of Everglades National Park through Miami onto the Rickenbacher Causeway and Virginia Key [def. = a small flat island near the coast].  The following 8 days and nights we were camped at the Grassroots Culture Camp and Bluegrass Festival.

This experience reminded me of Woodstock, as the festival was full of ‘free spirits’, and probably more marijuana than alcohol.  People of all ages and persuasions practiced yoga, slept in tents and vans, shared in the group meal preparation, and listened to bluegrass into the early hours of the morning.  Paula and I enjoyed ourselves (and Paula demonstrated a lot of patience) as we attended several days of duet singing and  

"The School of Rock"

Grassroots Festival "Midway"

songwriting workshops.  {Ask about "Poetry in Motion" and "More Than a Feeling" when we return.}  We both had similar favorite performers during the festival, but "The School of Rock" was my favorite musical group.  They were a band of teens from an area arts high school, much like the group that actor Jack Black led in a movie of the same name as the group.

Short sidetrips to Key Biscayne to have lunch with my niece, and an evening ride into Miami Beach to have dinner with Paula’s brother were especially nice diversions while we were in the area.  We also attended the morning worship service at an Episcopal church in Key Biscayne, where they honored visitors with a small bag of chocolate chip cookies!  (How about that for luring the lost sheep!)

Jerry, Paula & Bro Chris

Tim, Paula, JC and Niece Christine in Key Biscayne

Latest News from Son Chad

My son Chad, whom many of you have met, is now advertising on etsy.com for color illustrations of pets and homes.  If any of you are in the market for a gift of this type for a family member or friend, I hope you’ll think of him to provide such. 

Here is his current portfolio website and link to his etsy.com page:

http://chadlewishess.tumblr.com/ 
www.etsy.com/shop/ChadLewisHess 
 

The water color above is one that he did from the photo for a person that was evaluating his talent.  He is really quite a gifted artist  (BFA in Fine Arts from the School of Museum Arts and Tufts University in Boston), and was encouraged by artists and friends in Los Angeles to pursue this venture.  His father wishes him the very best!

Lake Okeechobee and the Treasure Coast

After leaving the Miami area on February 23rd, we drove northwest toward Lake Okeechobee and stayed in the Palm Beach County's South Bay RV campground for a short week.  This is a very agricultural area dominated by sugar cane and seasonal vegetables.  The towns in the area are obviously economically depressed (a large fruit and vegetable processing plant closed down about 5 years ago in Belle Glade).  There is a very evident migrant worker population in south central Florida, and Spanish is the language most often spoken in stores and businesses.

South Bay RV Campground - Lake Okeechobee Levee in Background

  

We left the Lake Okeechobee area and headed northeast to Stuart, Florida, and what is referred to as the Treasure Coast (due to Spanish galleons filled with treasure that sunk here during hurricanes in the 1800's) .  I'll fill you in on the rest of March around Easter weekend!  Hope you are all well.

Tim (and Paula)

12-ft Alligator