The rest of the trip

After Renninger's I headed to Sarasota for a quick visit with my Mom and family (sometimes I even surprise myself at how much I can fit into one weekend). I needed to get on some backroads after driving I-75 all the way down, so I took a state road through Lakeland and Arcadia.

Since I go right by Myakka State Park, I HAVE to cruise through and see the beautiful vistas and, of course, the alligators this park is known for. (I wish I had the time to kayak or bike this trip!!)

It looked like this huge gator (about 8') was just waiting for these kayakers, but he never budged when they cruised by just a few feet from his open jaws!

(When I was at FSU, I dated a guy who managed a large game ranch in central Florida, and when we would go fishing back in the swamps, he would put me in the front of a little john boat and delight in running the boat up on a bank full of gators to scare the wits out of me--I could have reached out and touched the darn things--not funny at the time----great fishing though!)

I was glad to see most of the stores in Arcadia were still open, especially my favorite shop "The Vintage Garden"......with it's cottage/French/shabby offerings.



The water in Sarasota was just a bit too cold for swimming, darn it!
The sun was nice and warm, though, and the water was so calm.....the seagulls were having a convention......

.....and there were the best tide pools that day.
(When I was little, I thought a tide pool was just about the coolest place in the world to play!)


On the return trip I did a quick run through Webster, and saw lots of the Renninger dealers set up there. I did find some good stuff, but was disappointed that there was almost no architectural, and not much furniture (and I was there EARLY), although the prices were better than I remember.

I like to stop in Lake City and go downtown to a great place to eat lunch, but it's now closed, along with some of the other shops. Actually, there were lots of places all along the way up and down that are now closed.

I never noticed this cute house before on a side street near downtown Lake City.

Thankfully, THE BRAGGIN BULL antique shop is still open at GA exit 109 near Vienna. In fact, they have expanded and now have some of my favorite dealers (that were in a nearby antique mall that closed) I was glad to discover.

They have great architectural stuff, and I want everything in this shop, especially the cool stuff in these booths!

I forgot to take this birdcage up to the desk while I was taking pics! I really wanted it for a project, and didn't think about it 'til I downloaded the pics!

The cotton in these fields hasn't been picked yet, like up our way.

I'm so grateful I got to see my family, even if it wasn't for Thanksgiving.....and glad the weather was so incredible! (although I've come to the conclusion that I really am going to have to travel NORTH to get the type of stuff I'm looking for.....but not until Winter is long gone, of course)