Visiting Florida

From June 3rd to June 12th,  Harry and I took my parents by car to visit with my sisters in Florida. Both my sisters have moved to new homes and my parents had not seen them. The first day we drove to Orangeburg, S. C. and stopped overnight. The next day we drove to St. Augustine and made a stop at a friend of my mother’s. They have remained friends since they met in 2nd grade but in recent years they have not been able to see much of each other due to aging and health problems.  

My mother is on the right and her friend, Kathryn, is on the left. We had a nice visit for several hours but had to get on the road to my sister in Melbourne where we were expected for dinner. As we made the drive the Florida skies opened and we had torrential rain almost the entire way for two hours. Here are my parents at my sister’s house in Melbourne. It is in a very nice adult community with wonderful facilities and activities.

Starting at left: Harry, Dorothy (my sister), Margaret (my mother), Sugar (the dog),  Marty (I call him my brother-in-law), and Ed (my father) sitting in the living room. We stayed with my sister and Marty for 3 days and had a great time. Unfortunately the weather was so hot we didn’t get to spend much time on their new patio/birdcage area.             One evening for dinner I got to go to one of my favorite  restaurants—Carraba’s. We do not have any locally in Pa. so I always request to go there when I am close to one.                                                                                              On Monday we drove from Melbourne to The Villages where my other sister and her husband have bought a house and retired to. Along the way we detoured and showed my parents the Thousand Trails park near Orlando where we spend time in the winter. We arrived at The Villages in time for happy-hour!

My sister’s daughter April and her husband Tim were also visiting at the same time. They have a beautiful daughter, Emma, and a cute little dog, Molly. This was the first time my parents got to meet their great-granddaughter.

Just “the girls” went to the Tea Plantation to enjoy a nice lunch and some fun conversation.

My father will be 89 in July and can no longer play golf, but he still enjoys a ride in the cart with my brother-in-law, Tom.

My mother is 87 and this was her very first ride ever in a golf cart! Her driver is my sister, Janet. Tom and Janet took advantage of a beautiful warm evening to take them on a tour of  The Villages.

One morning we got up early to get in a few games of Pickle-ball. Janet and Tom have just started playing since living here and we were anxious to play together.

Tim, April, and Emma came along also. Tim and April got to see what the game was about and play for the first time.

And Harry and I got to entertain Emma while they played! Doesn't she look so cute in Harry’s hat. Can you tell how much Harry enjoys having little ones around?

It was so good to play Pickle-ball and now we got to see how nice the courts are here at The Villages. Remarkably there was no one else playing.

One afternoon we went to several open houses that are for sale. One was VERY  impressive and it sure would be fun to stay here. The activity list is endless—and then there is Pickle-ball! After 3 days it was time to return to Pa..

We all had a great visit and I was happy that we were able to get my parents down to see the houses and my sisters.