Friday, May 29, 2015 (BD2-0239) through Thursday, June 4, 2015 (BD2-0245)
Friday, May 29, 2015 – After arriving just after midnight and getting a few hours of sleep, we spent the morning going to various appointments; having lunch at the Bradenton Yacht Club, turning in the rental car; playing a little bit with Emma (our 21 month-old granddaughter); and then taking a nap; we ate supper with the family and went to bed early in anticipation of tomorrow.
Saturday, May 30, 2015 – We made a quick stop at the grocery store to pick up what we thought we’d need for the weekend – crackers, cheese, wine, vodka, gin and tonic. Then met our friends Ken and Jackie at the Bradenton Yacht Club to ride with them on their boat, Snowman, up to the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel for a long weekend with them and our friends Bill and Ruth on Bandit. We all arrived at the marina just after noon and, after us getting our room and the couples on their boats getting settled in, we all met at the hotel’s sports bar, Champions, for lunch. We were to meet again around 6, but Rick got a migraine headache, so I called the others to cancel out on supper. The picture below is from the hotel’s website http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/tpamc-tampa-marriott-waterside-hotel-and-marina/
Sunday, May 31, 2015 – We went down to the boats and found that the dock master (Tony) had sent us a welcome tray of fruit which we ate for a late breakfast. Later we took a cab to Ybor City and had a wonderful lunch at the Columbia Restaurant. We took the trolley back to the hotel and Jackie met Rick and me for a dip in the pool (which is on the third floor of the hotel). Rick left me and Jackie in the pool and when I returned to the room, I discovered that he had another migraine. So I went down to the boats to join the others for supper without Rick. We went to a fairly new restaurant on the “Riverwalk” which is called Ulele. I had a wonderful pork chop dinner. We were spending this weekend together to celebrate both mine and Ruth’s birthday – June 1. Someone must have told our server because we were presented with a birthday card with both of our names on it at the end of the dinner.
Monday, June 1, 2015 – Wonderful news. The Tampa Bay Hockey Team, the Lightning, is in the Stanley Cup Playoffs! And, their arena is right across the street from the hotel. The first playoff game is here on Wednesday night. Since Ken is on vacation all of this week, they have decided to stay here for the game. We all walked over to the arena’s gift shop where Ruth and Jackie both bought Lightning T-shirts. (Ken had already bought a shirt at the hotel gift shop.) Ken checked on getting tickets and, of course they were sold out (for both the first and second home game.) But, they have a wonderfully big patio in front of the arena where they show the game on a big screen TV, so they have decided to do that on Wednesday night. From the arena, we decided to continue walking over to an area called Channelside. This used to be a great place to go for food and other entertainment, but, unfortunately, several of the restaurants that we used to love there have closed. We had a lite lunch at Hooters and then walked along the River Walk back to our hotel. While Rick went to the pool, I went to the spa for a birthday massage. When my massage was finished, I met Rick at the pool, but it was getting overcast so we went back to the room. We had made reservations at a well-known steak house for our birthday dinner, but were concerned that we had not brought the appropriate apparel. So, Ruth called and talked to them about it and the group decided to cancel those reservations and eat at the hotel’s restaurant instead. We met the others in the lobby bar around 4:00. When we told the bar tender that it was Ruth’s and my birthday, he gave us both a free drink. Then we went out to the boats and discovered that they had delivered a fruit and cheese plate along with a bottle of sparkling wine and a bottle of white wine accompanied by 6 glasses for each. This was also a gift from the dock master for our birthdays. The six of us ended our evening together having a very nice, relaxed, casual supper at the Waterside Café. At the end of the meal, Ruth and I went to look at some displayed deserts. We decided to order one piece of cheesecake with six forks. There was a gentleman there dressed in a suit who said that he would tell our server. A few minutes later, the server came to the table with two pieces of the cheesecake and six spoons. He told me that he had already ordered two pieces before I spoke to the manager. The cheesecake had a fudgy chocolate bottom layer and a hard chocolate top layer. When it was served to us, there was an extra piece of chocolate on top that said happy birthday. This was another gift from the hotel and it was very good.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015 – We went to breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant with Bill and Ruth, while Ken and Jackie stayed on their boat. Bill, Ruth and I had “to-die-for” eggs benedict while Rick chose the breakfast buffet. We were ready to leave on Bandit around noon, but (it’s a boat) the generator was overheating. So, Bill got down in the engine room and replaced the impeller on the water pump before we took off, in the rain, and returned to Palmetto.
Wednesday, June 3, 2015 – I scheduled several doctor’s appointments for myself. We went to the club for lunch then went to a marine surplus store to see if they have some bilge pumps that we need and to check on some prices for some friends.
Thursday, June 4, 2015 – I went to see my family doctor then, I repacked for our next week in Ormond Beach. We will leave in the morning and are looking forward to attending the Hoffmeister Family Reunion.
Friday, June 5, 2015 – Thursday, June 11, 2015 (BD2-0246 – BD2-0252)
We left Palmetto just after noon on Friday and drove to the east coast of Florida to Ormond Beach for the Hoffmeister family reunion. There were approximately 47 in attendance.
The reunion was organized by the three daughters of Phil Hoffmeister, Sr. (Rick’s grandfather). Joan provided goody bags to each couple. They included T-shirts, bottles of water, candy, sparklers, games, a kite and more. The bag, alone, was a great treat – thanks Aunt Joan.
The dinner that evening was provided by Aunt Tillie and her husband Jimmy Parker. It was take-out from one of the family’s long-time favorite restaurants, Mario’s. Thanks, Aunt Tillie and Uncle Jimmy.
On Saturday, we visited on the beach while some of the group surfed and some swam in the Atlantic Ocean. Rick and I went for a walk on the beach, ending up at the grocery store where we bought some snacks. We also spent some time enjoying the view.
Around 5:30 p.m., Joan took some family pictures as well as a group picture.
In our family picture, Mom is holding a picture of Eileen and I am holding a picture of JP, Vanessa, Emma and Kellie. Eileen’s son, Mat, brought his “main squeeze” Lindsay with him from Knoxville to the reunion (they are on the right). In addition to a cake, Saturday evening’s supper was BBQ from a local restaurant called Dustin’s and was provided by Aunt Mary and Uncle Scott. Thanks Aunt Mary and Uncle Scott.
After supper, Aunt Helen showed us a picture of the Hoffmeister family which was taken in Germany
and Tillie passed out documentation on the family tree as well as hosting a family trivia game.
Some of the family members had to leave on Sunday, June 7, 2015, to return to work on Monday, but about 16 of us went to supper at a popular local spot called Lulu’s and had a very nice meal.
It may take you away from your favorite sport, hobby or going out with family or viagra price glacialridgebyway.com friends.
Mary and Scott and their family stopped by Mom’s house early Monday morning before leaving town. Mary and Scott would eventually be travelling back to California. Then Mat and Lindsay left to catch a flight from the Sanford Airport back to Knoxville. We sure enjoyed our short visit with them.
Rick and I took over the guest space at Mom’s house to stay for a few more nights.
Mom had a surprise visit from Rick and Judy Hoffmeister on Tuesday morning before they left to catch their flight back home to Pennsylvania. My Rick and I spent most of the day relaxing. He made some of his “famous” crab cakes for supper.
On Wednesday, we met my brother, Bill, his wife, Mary, and our niece, Melissa, for lunch at the Panera Bread in Port Orange for lunch. Time was short, but enough for all of us to “catch up” with one another. Rick was coming down with a cold, so the rest of the day was spent taking it easy at Mom’s.
Thursday was another day of rest. But Rick told us that he had a tightness in his chest and had contacted Moffitt to see if he could get his appointment moved up from the end of the month.
Friday, June 12, 2015 – Thursday, June 18, 2015 (BD2-0253 – BD2-0259)
We left Mom’s just before noon on Friday and got to Palmetto in time for me to call and change a couple of my health appointments next week to accommodate the changes in Rick’s appointments at Moffitt. We ate supper with JP and his family. On Saturday, we went to Lowe’s to look for some electric outlet covers but had no luck find the size we needed. After lunch at the Bradenton Yacht Club, we came home to rest before going back to the club to meet Ken and Jackie to watch the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team play in the Stanley Cup finals. On Sunday, June 14, 2015, we slept too late to go to church. JP and Kellie took Emma to Emerson Point Park around noon. While we were eating lunch at the Riverside Café, Ruth called to say that she and Bill were going to the Bradenton Yacht Club to watch the final weigh in for the Firefighters Charity Fishing Tournament of which their business was a sponsor. Rick dropped me off at the house and met them over there for the afternoon. We ate supper out and got home just before a good rain storm. We spent all afternoon on Monday at the Moffitt Cancer Center as well as most of the day on Tuesday. Wednesday found us at the eye doctor in the morning and Manatee Diagnostic Center in the afternoon. Both of these appointments were required for me to remain in the best category for my health insurance, as was my annual check-up which was performed on Thursday morning. Rick went to West Marine in the afternoon and we ended our day with another family supper.
Friday, June 19, 2015 – Thursday, June 25, 2015 (BD2-0260 – BD2-0266)
I went to the dentist on Friday afternoon and then we went to the Bradenton Yacht Club for the Year-end, High-end Wine Tasting. As we were driving back in our neighborhood, we noticed that Curt and Ann’s lights were on, so we stopped there around 10:30 and visited with them until about midnight.
The Yacht Club’s pool has been closed for renovations since we’ve been back in town and it re-opened today. So, Rick and I went and enjoyed the pool Saturday afternoon.
Sunday, June 21, 2015, was Father’s Day. We left Palmetto about 9:30 and drove to the Ocala Forest to spend some time with my Dad. We had made arrangements with my brother, Bill, to meet him and Mary there and for us to pick up BBQ lunch for all of us. Bill has just taken a new job in Denver and they will be moving out there on July 5, so we were really glad to have the afternoon to spend together. Dad has a birthday at the end of this month. He will turn 85. But, we will be on our way back to Compass Cay that day, so we celebrated both Father’s Day and birthday. It was a very special day, because my brother, Rick, also joined us. So, all three of his children were with him to celebrate Father’s Day and an early birthday.
Monday was our “make-up” Father’s Day with JP and his family. We went to the grocery store early and then I put a pot roast in the crock pot to cook. Rick got a new battery put into my waterproof watch while I watched Emma and JP went for a run. He is training for a marathon in December. We had a nice, family dinner with JP and his Dad both receiving gifts that they really appreciated.
Tuesday morning, I had a 9:00 appointment for a therapeutic massage (a birthday gift from JP and Kellie) and then I went shopping at Beall’s Department store looking for a large bag. I had some money left over after buying my Teva brand water shoes. I used that money to buy a large and very colorful bag. It was sale priced at 40 percent off and then, because it was Senior Tuesday, I got an additional 15 percent off – making the bag cost almost exactly the same amount of money I had left from Rick’s Mother and brother for my birthday.
Rick went with me to the Manatee County Employee Health Benefits office on Wednesday morning to meet with my diabetic counselor and then turn in the paperwork to continue my health insurance with them. That evening, we had a lovely dinner with our friends Steve and Joy Fredrick which gave us time to catch up on our mutual adventures. They have left their sail boat in Antigua this year where it will stay “on the hard” until they return in January.
On Thursday morning, the air conditioning repair man came by because JP said that there was no air blowing into the bedroom on the northwest corner of the house. Geno found a problem where the vent connected through the ceiling and fixed it. He also recommended that JP install a thermal board in the western facing windows of that room and the master bedroom to try to reduce the summer afternoon heat. JP and Rick found the material and installed it in both bedrooms with west-facing windows. Thursday night we met Bill, Ruth, Ken, Jackie, Rick and his wife, Linda,(owners of the restaurant) at the Riverside Café for a wonderful lobster dinner. (We had given the Bahamian lobsters to the Bakers and they added some local lobsters for our feast.)
Friday, June 26, 2015 – Tuesday, June 30, 2015 (BD2-0267 – BD2-0271)
We drove over to the east coast of Florida on Friday to visit with Rick’s mother and brother in Ormond Beach, Florida, for the night. She is recuperating after having some cancer removed from the top of her head. The stitches are scheduled to come out on Tuesday. We left their house on Saturday morning and drove south down I-95 to Vero Beach where we met Tucker (from Compass Cay) and his cousin Cedric for lunch before crossing back to the west coast and returning to Palmetto. After going to church on Sunday, June 28, 2015, we went to the Sarasota airport to pick up our rental car. We spent the afternoon at the Bradenton Yacht Club pool and had supper with the family before packing up the car – getting as much done as possible tonight rather than before 7 tomorrow. We spent all morning Monday at the Moffitt Cancer Center. Our last appointment was with the oncologist. He told us to come back next month. So, we left Tampa and drove, through rain, to Ft. Lauderdale, where we checked into a motel, went to get some supper, and then to bed early for our 7 a.m. flight in the morning. We got to the Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport and the Watermaker Air hanger about 6:15 on Tuesday morning. As we were boarding, Rick asked the pilot, Nick, if he had flown through the storm yesterday. He replied that he had not but he heard that the customs office at the Executive Airport was hit by lightning and the afternoon Watermaker flight had to land at the International Airport for the passengers to check into customs. Nick said that he hoped that it would be fixed by the time he came back this afternoon. We had a comfortable flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Black Point. (The air strip on Staniel Cay is still closed – with no immediate plans to fix the potholes.) Loan Rolle was at the government dock waiting for us with some of the guys from the Exuma Land and Sea Park. It seems that one of the other passengers on our flight works at the park and they were coming to pick him up, so they gave Loan and us a ride back to Compass (which was a little bit bumpy). We were very happy to be welcomed back home to Compass by a number of Rolle’s and some boaters that we knew as well. Rick hung out on the docks while I put things away. We both took afternoon naps and had an early supper.
