Christmas has come and gone. Wow, where does the time
go?
Here are some photos of the hotel and a few birds in the area:
sunrise
Egyptian Geese (they were far away on the roof of a building)
Roseate Spoonbill
Northern Mockingbird
Palm Warbler
Palm Warbler
Mottled Duck
Mottled Duck
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Blue Jay
Sandhill Cranes
Sandhill Cranes
Wood Stork
Wood Stork
Wood Stork
sunset
We have been out every day getting one thing or another
and we are finally winding down on having everything we need. We both have
shoes coming tomorrow and that should be it. We had hoped to have time to drive
up to the Lakeland area where there are several large RV Sales places, but we
have run out time for that. We had also hoped to get together with Carol &
Dave, but have run out of time for that too. So, we will have to make that
happen after we return the end of April.
There is a neighborhood close by called Tradition and
there is a large lake there and we have gone there and walked around it a few
times. At first we had no extra time for our daily walks, but now we are trying
to fit them in. It’s a pretty area.
Mottled Ducks
Anhinga
Greater Scaup
Pied-billed Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Greater Scaups
Anhinga
Anhinga
Anhinga
Lake at Tradition
I had a great birthday. It was a day of wonderful food.
We went to Longhorn Steakhouse and the bone-in ribeyes were to die for. Then
for dinner we went to Bonefish Grill and had various appetizers. We love the
Bang Bang Shrimp, the Coconut fried shrimp and their Wagyu Beef Pot Stickers.
Once a year they have a dark chocolate Crème Brule with Grand Mariner that is
killer. We had already stopped at a place and picked up their “Killer Chocolate
Cake” and then we saw the Crème Brule on the specials menu so decided to save
the Killer Cake for the next night. We ended up eating it for 2 nites they were
so big and rich....like eating fudge not cake. While this year wasn’t a
“milestone” birthday, I did have the Beatles song “When I’m Sixty-Four” playing
in my head.
We also went for a walk on the short boardwalk in another
area here. (we needed to go to the Mall there anyway) It was a nice day, but
part of the boardwalk was blocked off.
pelican
this Cardinal thought he was hiding, but his pretty song gave him away
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Little Blue Heron
Short-tailed Hawk
Tricolored Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cormorant
Osprey
For Christmas Eve we had dinner at Carrabbas Italian
Grill. We had planned the fried zucchini and a pizza, but they had a specialty
dessert we just couldn’t pass up. Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Crostata- A light and crispy open-faced banana tart freshly baked
in our wood-fired oven and topped with chocolate hazelnut spread, salted
caramel sauce, vanilla ice cream and fresh mint.
For Christmas Day we drove to the Universal Studios area
for a holiday meal at Royal Pacific Resort Islands Restaurant. It was a long
drive, but we stopped at Viera Wetlands on the way. Saw a few birds. It was
interesting to drive through parts of Orlando that has not really changed any
at all since we have been gone. The food was good as usual and we went for a
long walk along the water and into Universal Studios City Walk. Much was the
same, but there were a few new restaurants.
Viera Wetlands
Roseate Spoonbill
Sandhill Cranes
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
White Ibis
Forster's Tern
This Great Blue Heron had stabbed a fish on his bill
Pied-billed Grebe
Aligator
Anhinga
turtles
aligator
Great Blue Heron
Huge Aligator
Forster's Tern
Little Blue Heron
they have a hula dancer and the guy playing a ukulele
our server from St Martin
Dessert of course!
the start of our walk to work off at least a couple calories
see story below for this restaurant....
walkway from hotel to Universal City Walk
Universal City Walk
The story on Emeril’s: the last time we ate there we are pretty sure
that a guy died at the table next to us. It was a large table with what looked
like several generations of family. The older guy was eating and suddenly he
went face down into his plate. One might think that would cause some alarm at
their table. His wife continued to eat like nothing happened. No one at the
table got up to check on him. The restaurant had called 911 and they moved
tables to get him on the floor and doing CPR for a really long time. Finally,
they put him on a gurney and wheeled him out with a sheet over him. Management
told the other diners in the restaurant that he was fine. (and offered a free
drink to anyone that was inconvenienced by the slow service….seriously?)
We went back to the Wetlands so we could spend more time
there the next day. We were excited to see a Great Horned Owl just before we went into the
park. We stopped at an RV place that we had seen the day before on the way to
Universal, but it started to rain and we only went through one. They don’t
carry the brand we were looking for, but they did have a brand that was on the
“go see” list.
Great Horned Owl
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Belted Kingfisher
Belted Kingfisher with a fish
Hooded Merganser
Hooded Mergansers
Hooded Mergansers
Hooded Mergansers
Glossy Ibis
Hooded Merganser
Hooded Merganser
Hooded Mergansers
Hooded Merganser
Sandhill Cranes
Glossy Ibis
American Coot
Osprey
Osprey
Osprey
female Red-winged Blackbird
female Red-winged Blackbird
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Wood Storks
Aligator
Seagull
Glossy Ibis
Forster's Tern
I had a great 3-way chat with Dad and Scott & Sonya, the day after Christmas.
Greg got a new camera (his old one was acting up), and so he has been practicing a lot to get used to it before the cruise. So, lots of shots with different modes etc. We also seem to have "forgotten" the names of quite a few birds here. We got to know the Neotropical birds so well in Panama.
Had to laugh as we walked into one store it had a sign up
that said “only 365 shopping days ‘til Christmas”
We went to a dealership close to here that had the RV model we were looking for. After seeing it again and looking at a few others it confirms that it seems to tick the boxes for what we are looking for in an RV. So, when we return the end of April we will start the process of finding a "gently used" RV.
Still lots of things to get organized before we leave on
Jan 3, but we do see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I will have one last post before we set sail on Jan 3.
Until next time......
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