Supper in the sunroom

It's been a 650 mile day, give or take.  Tal and I started out from Lyn's at Lakewood Ranch after breakfast.  I was sort of amused by myself, my eyes lingering almost longingly on two distinct aspects of her neighborhood -- the tile roofs in a variety of colors and configurations and the numbers of lovely shore birds in the cove.  We headed south, back to Punta Gorda, to pick up Mom and begin the drive back to the South Carolina coast.

While planning our trip, the three of us had talked about stopping for the night somewhere along the way on our drive home given the distance involved.  I think, if Mom and I were to be completely honest, we suspected -- despite the talk -- that we would end up driving straight through.  Her Buick hummed right along and even with traffic and road construction we pulled into Mom's Pawleys Island driveway before 8:30.

From Charleston on, Tal and I discovered, Mom had been thinking about what was in her refrigerator.  By the time we had rearranged the cars and brought in the luggage she had a lovely, light supper under way (complete with libation) -- which we settled into comfortable chairs in her sun room to eat.  A nice, nourishing and relaxing conclusion to a long, safe drive and happy trip.

Farther south on I-75

Goodbyes and hellos today.  Goodbye to our sweet Wesley Chapel family as the work and school week began.  Hello to my mother's brother and his wife in Punta Gorda.  For Tal and me another goodbye there was followed by wonderful reconnection with our hello to a dear friend in Lakewood Ranch, wintering there from Philadelphia.

Florida's spring is significantly ahead of South Carolina's.  The maples seem to be in full bloom, showing a deep red.  It's the more local flora, however, that has claimed my attention, in particular, the palms and palmettos.

Next to Lyn's driveway her neighbor has an amazing tree, which Lyn calls a fan palm.  In additional to their dramatic shape the fronds are a nice blue green.  It's just one example of intriguing growing things I cannot identify in this part of the world.

Our afternoon included walking with Lyn, becoming acclimated to the neighborhood and its place in the larger development.  We also enjoyed the cool breezes on the lanai, each of us with a book.  

When evening began to fall so did the temperature.  I hated to have to move inside.  But, Lyn's tilapia supper dish made it all worthwhile!  Oh my, how delicious.