Cooking and Horses and Flowers, Oh My!

When you find yourself, 11 hours before you need to be on a plane, staring at the remnants of Chinese Takeout Lunch that you just unceremoniously deposited in your bathroom garbage can, you're not too sure how the vacation is going to go. Thankfully, it went really well! I was still a little oogy on the travels there, but managed to keep things, ah, under control. After that first day, I was right as rain...well, rain with a nagging cough anyhow.

LT and I went to Bradenton, Florida (a bit south of Tampa) to visit her grandma over this past weekend, leaving Thursday and coming back Monday. It was a nice few days of sun and warm temperatures (not grossly hot, just a nice warm reprieve while everyone up here was getting snowed on), relaxation, and cooking.

Oh, the cooking. Day one was chicken breasts, day two was strip steaks, day three was a whole roasted chicken, and day four was pork loin. I don't even remember all the sides, but very yummy was the fried corn scraped fresh from the cob. Mmmm. And of course a constant flow of goodies that only grandmothers can push on you...fresh fruits of all kinds, brownies, cookies, ice cream, etc. etc. etc. Yum!

We did more than eat, though. We also went to see the a training show at the Herrmann's Lippizaner Stallion ranch, which was much more fascinating than going to one of their regular tour performances. We were able to walk through the barn and see the guys up close, which took me way back to my horsey days of yore, always a kind of emotional thing for me. And we also went to the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, which was beautiful. They were having a farmer's market, tempting LT with lots of plants and flowers for sale, including tons of orchids. They also had some very intense egrets, and an odd but friendly volunteer who regaled us with a couple magic tricks and a somewhat endless story that included in-laws, an Italian restaurant in Louisville, and semi-pro football.

And of course through all this we visited with Grandmama, and also LT's aunt Tracy on Sunday and Monday morning. They both were wonderfully welcoming and kind, which was very good to see and feel. I was very happy that LT had a place in her family where she was able to celebrate our relationship rather than feel like she had to defend it. And of course it's fun to hear all the stories about people in LT's family. I haven't even met most of them and I already have all the dirt on them!

One amusing thing; we arrived at LT's grandmother's at night, so I didn't see much of the surrounding area, but the next morning I saw that we were in a gated community on a golf course. All you could see from within the neighborhood was the neighborhood itself. My surprise came later that day when we left, and as soon as we got outside the gates I saw that this expensive, carefully tended community was plunked down in the middle of scrubby, somewhat dilapidated farmland. The whole area seemed to consist entirely of farms, abandoned farms, and gated golf course communities, with the occasional Publix. There were easily four different golf course communities within a few miles of where her grandma lived.

And don't get me started on the gated community WITHIN the gated community. Yikes! Even here, though, people weren't above some of the current economic troubles. While walking around, LT and I saw lots of For Sale signs, including the nicest block in the development where over half the houses were on the market.

So, fun trip, interesting new environment I'd never been in before, and general relaxation and happiness. I'll get some pics when I have a chance.