Florida '16

It was sunny and 75 going through Nashville this year, compared to last year when we went through in an ice storm.  We made it all the way to Macon Georgia before stopping for the night.  That even included a stop at Cabela's North of Atlanta.  We made it through the heart of Atlanta easier than Nashville or Chattanooga.
There are a lot of friendly people in the rural South.  At one Tennessee McDonald's, everyone we crossed paths with visited with us.  One old gent came up to me and said, "I can tell you are a believer by your wife's appearance."  "I have been a preacher since 1962 and have seen a lot of changes; the good are going bad and the bad are getting worse."

We stayed in a quaint old resort, Suntan Terrace, on Casey Key just North of the jetty that separates Venice from Nokomis. We enjoyed a relaxing week on the beach, visiting bookstores, fellowshipping at church, walking, shelling, sleeping, and eating out.  We spent a day at Casperson Beach, but actually found more shark teeth on Casey Key.
We had decent weather all week.  It rained one morning, otherwise it was mostly sunny.  Several days were very windy, which made for some of the biggest waves we have seen in a long time.  One of the windy days, we watched a surfing club or class wetting their boards.
We saw lots of shore/water birds this year, including egrets, herons, gulls, skimmers, terns, osprey, and of course a lot of pelicans.  We also saw dolphins at the jetty and on the inland waterway.
We also enjoyed lots of seafood again.  My meals included grilled salmon, stuffed hogfish, alligator, Okeechobee frog legs, crab cakes, seafood pasta, and seafood stew.  The pasta and stew both contained mussels, clams, scallops, and shrimp.

Our quaint old resort on Casey Key.

Our front yard.

Our back yard.

The Casey Key beach from the jetty.

 The birds.

Osprey nest on a traffic signal.

 One of our favorite places for seafood.

Fresh seafood on the dock at the Star Fish Co.

Looking for shark teeth on Casperson Beach.

We had an uneventful trip home and had time to stop in Forsythe, IL at the Old Book Barn.  It is one of my favorite used book stores.

We are back in the saddle here at home.  Thankfully, the weather has been mild, and spring is on its way.

Fear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?

Jeremiah 5:22