Today was another beautiful day on the Loop. Dr. Bell phoned this morning to tell us he was leaving for Hawaii tomorrow. Each year around this time he and Ms. Brenda go there to escape the cold of Moreland, GA. I am not sure the city will survive without their most outspoken councilman.
Sometime during the night something must have frightened the birds on the dock and as they took off they released their excess baggage, shall we say, in a perfect pattern across our white windshield cover. While I addressed other chores Jan was sweet enough to go out and wash it down before the stain could set. The worst thing about bird poop down here is that you can certainly tell that their diet is 100% fish! Almost had to get out the KOOL-Aid for this one.
We spent some time planning the next week to see if we could work some stops in to our itinerary. We will shove off from Marina Jack’s mid morning and travel only as far as Venice where we will tie up at the dock of a longtime friend Goree Waugh and his lovely wife Barbara. I will ask him to tell me how he got that name.
Anyway, we met in 1968 at the University of Georgia. I pledged his fraternity, Delta Tau Delta, and he was the Treasurer. You never had to worry about the money with this guy in charge. I will tell you more about him in the next blog.
We decided to join our favorite travel companions Ken and Pat from 20BUCK$ on a visit to the world famous Yoder’s Restaurant for dinner. We took a cab and what should arrive but a Lincoln Town Car driven by Orrin O’Brien. He is from NJ and his father was a mathmetician and wanted to be able to call him O2.
Yoder’s is in the Amish community and serves the best food around and has been featured on the Food and Travel Channels many times. They make more pies than Mrs. Smith and they are delicious. You have to stand in line to get in. We arrived about 1715 and here we are.
We had the best time and met a lovely couple from Maine who shared pie with us and I recruited them to read the blog.
After dinner we went shopping in the market next door. Bought some tomatoes and a Florida onion. The guy claimed they are sweeter than Vidalias. That I will have to taste.
Our new friend Orrin came back to get us and I gave him a boat card and hope he is reading this. He came up with the idea of using a black Lincoln Town Car as a cab and now regulars call Yellow Cab and ask for the black car. So if you are in Sarasota and need a ride, Orrin is your man.
I guess I forgot to explain why there are so many Amish in Sarasota. It seems that they need vacations from the cold weather in Pennsylvannia and many years ago one of them discovered Sarasota. They are allowed to use a motorized conveyance only if it is a necessity or if the distance is too great for a horse. So they ride a bus or train here to rest and relax. Even on the beach they wear traditional garb but all seem to be having a good time. They rent houses or mobile homes in a huge area out on Bahia Vista and Yoder’s came into being to help feed them. I leave you with this last glimpse of Sarasota.
