Favorite Places, Favorite Things

Doc Ford's

We all have special places that we like to visit.  One of mine is Sanibel, Florida.  There are wonderful places to eat and visit.  A few of mine are the Bubble Room for lunch, Bailey's General Store (especially the hardware), Doc Ford's for a sandwich and beer and Captiva at sunset.  For this last visit, I had the grouper sandwich and a Blue Moon at Doc Ford's.  Good company, good food, unrelenting sunshine.

Smokey Mountain National Park

In late July, we took a family vacation to Tennessee.  One of the best parts was our tour through the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.  At Beth's suggestion, we started early.  It was a great idea as we missed the heavy traffic and we toured during the cooler part of the day (the heat rose to 98 degrees in the afternoon!)  During a time when we were the only car in a secluded area, we were fortunate enough to see a black bear crossing the road in front of us.  I'm not sure who was more surprised. Besides the bear, we saw lots of deer, wild turkeys and the most beautiful views of the mountains.

It Finally Feels Like Retirement

My last official day to work was July 1st.  This week, I am finally realizing I am retired!  I finished quilting a queen-size quilt on Van's Gertie Gammell and had time to browze the Barefoot Contessa's site for stuffed cabbage.  The stuffed cabbage was wonderful with Nicky's fresh tomatos for the sauce.