Mary Ann: Here we are in Florida, almost ready to end our month-long stay here and we've sure had lots of wonderful experiences. The most exciting event was the wedding of Don's daughter Terri and her fiance Darin last weekend. It all happened on the Fort DeSoto Island beach during a most beautiful sunset. The miles long beach was voted by Dr. Beach as 1# in North America and it earns it's ranking with it's huge stretch of powdery white sand. We had a hard time tearing ourselves away afterwards, and as a matter of fact, Don and I will be heading back that way tomorrow for our last taste of the warm ocean for a very long time.

Since leaving New York in late September, we have traveled over 2000 miles and enjoyed the wonders of Charleston, S.C., St. Augustine Florida and of course this whole Tampa Bay area. We camped a few days on the beach and, I have to admit, the ocean still stirs my soul more than any other landscape I know. The rhythm of the waves pounding the shore, the warmth of the sand under my bare feet, and the salty smell of the ocean breeze settle inside and restore me like nothing else.

We've also been eating a good share of seafood and have feasted on shrimp, scallops, crab and lots of fresh fish. One of our favorite places was Saltwater Cowboy near St. Augustine which was an old fishing camp in the middle of a salt marsh, turned into a restaurant back in the 1970's. It was just down-homey and funky enough to be fun, while serving great meals.

In between trips, our days here in Lakeland are pretty quiet. We often start our mornings at Kona's Coffeeshop where the server from an island off Madagascar greets us like we're old friends, and always remembers our favorite drinks or asks us about our latest news. We sit and sip while writing in our journals or reading some novel, and then make a leisurely exit out past the group of retirees (5 men and 1 woman) who sit outside the door at tables while shooting the breeze and smoking hand-rolled cigars. Later that morning, we work at our computers, sometimes writing, sometimes exploring the Web for places to go or things to do. After lunch, we might do some chores that need doing around here, or go shopping, or we've even been known to take a nap. We`eat dinner between 5 and 6, and then almost every evening we go for a walk, usually in this neighborhood, but sometimes we tackle the beautiful 3-mile loop around Lake Hollingsworth.

Our time is quickly coming to an end here and we'll be heading off to other places, including Kentucky, California, and finally back to Ohio in mid-November.