First week in Florida

We're back in Florida, after spending almost three weeks in the Cayman Islands.  The first thing we did, after settling in and getting the necessary groceries, was head to the golf course.  Driving range, actually, because neither of us had played golf since August or September of last year.  Hmmm............  about that.  I know there is a golf swing in there somewhere.  Luckily for me, I'm not trying to make a living out of playing golf.  Still, I hit some good shots.   Walter, of course, hits the ball about 300 yards.  As an aside, it turns out our next door neighbours in our condo complex are golfers.  They're from Rainy River, Ontario, down here for a month or so.  We promised to get together for a golf game at some point.

Anyway, after hitting a bucket of balls, we decided to do some exploring.  We ended up in Melbourne - not a surprise, as we both like the place.  We decided to have lunch at the Bald Strawberry, a place that got really good reviews on TripAdvisor.  So, we plugged the addressed into our GPS, and drove there.  Found the place. Looked great.  And then noticed the sign.............  Closed on Mondays.  Just happened to be the day we were there.  Oh well, Back to TripAdvisor and off we went again.

 Had lunch - fried clams, yummy - at Squidlips Overwater, a great little place near the Eau Gallie pier.  Would definitely go there again.

Then we walked along the pier.

We met a charming fellow, Pat, originally from Brooklyn NY, now retired and living here.  He regaled us with stories about his life in Brooklyn, and told us what we can expect to see at the pier.  Including the occasional dolphin.  While he talking about that, two dolphins crested the water and dove in again.  The sun was out, disappeared, then it rained hard for about 20 minutes, after which the sun came out again.  All while spending our time talking with Pat.

I had forgotten that Florida has toll roads.  On Sunday, when we were heading to Costco, we ended up on a ramp to a toll road.  This particular ramp had only two lanes - the EZPass lane, and the exact change lane.  I guess Florida has had problems with people not having exact change, as one of the options was 'drive now and mail in the toll'.  So we grabbed an envelope and off we went.  As we entered the toll road, we heard alarms go off.  I'm pretty sure that triggers taking a picture of the license plate.  We have 10 days to mail in the toll.  The envelope indicates the ramp, and all we need to is indicate date, time and our license plate.

The toll was $0.75.  No cash in the mail, just cheque (or as the Americans say check) or money order.  So on Wednesday, we went to the post office to get a money order for $0.75 - which cost me $1.20 and $0.34 for the stamp.  Oh well, better than a fine, I'm sure.

The post office is in Celebration - a Disney built town, just down the road from us.  Of course, while we were there, we had to explore.  Couldn't let that opportunity go by.  The market square area is very nice.  Very clean (it is after all Disney).  There are some walking/biking trails around the lagoon that I would like to explore later.

The hotel from the other side of the lagoon

 Great American ibis.

 The post office, seen from the bank tower.  Someone described it as Disney meets Dr. Seuss.

Walter walking toward the square.