This has been the longest we have ever been in one place – 2
months!
Alison very much enjoyed the line dancing and Saturday night
dances and even found a partner, Rafael, for couples dancing.
We both entered the Euchre Card Tournament, and Alison won a
booby prize for 2nd lowest score (Oops!).
We took part in the Pot Luck dinner and a Saturday Breakfast
and learnt how to play the popular outdoor game of Shuffle Board.
30 Jan – John’s Pass Village
We drove out to John Pass Village down by the beach; a
pleasant shopping and dining area with a boardwalk along one side of the
bay. The sun was shining, until we
stepped onto the sand and then it went behind the clouds for the rest of the
day. We had lunch on the deck of Bubba
Gump Shrimp Co and watched dolphins below us.
When we walked along the boardwalk some fishermen were filleting their
catch and we watched the pelicans fight over the scraps.
1 Feb – Heritage Village & Botanical Gardens
The Heritage Village Museum and Botanical Gardens were a
short drive from our RV resort. We spent several hours wandering around and still did not see it all. The ‘Village’ had been created by relocating
historical buildings from various nearby locations and represented the early
days and growth of this peninsula.Throughout the years 1763 to 1783, Florida was an English colony. During the American Revolution Loyalists flocked to British Florida to escape the fighting.
5 Feb – Victory Ship
Not the best of weather on this day, so we drove into Tampa
to visit The America Victory Ship. The
ship served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam as a cargo vessel and had
circumnavigated the world twice. For every
40 tons of cargo the ship lowered 1 inch further in the water. 
We were free to explore the 455 foot long
ship on a self-guided tour. It was an interesting ship but in need of a great
deal of restoration.
7 Feb – The Villages, Ocala
We visited a couple of Alison’s friends, Sue & Ian, who
had emigrated from UK many years ago. There were numerous golf courses and the golf
buggy was a common form of transport.
Some were designed to look like cars and people whizzed around in
designated golf buggy lanes (each year there are 6 or 7 fatalities). 
Each of the three Downtown centres had different themed architecture,
such as Mexican or Western and it created a fun atmosphere.
8 Feb – Fort De Soto
Fort De Soto Park is a designated historic and picturesque
recreational area and an ideal place to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon eating ice cream. There was not much left of
the original Fort originally established during the Spanish-American War of
1898. 
Hurricanes and beach erosion over
the years had resulted in the demise of the wooden buildings. Tampa Bay was chosen as an embarkation point
for troops heading to Cuba, during the conflict, as it was a natural deep-water
bay with rail access.
10 Feb – Last Day in Clearwater
We played our last game of 10 pin bowling in the morning and
then went out with our friends,
There are many areas along the Florida
coastline were Manatees seek out warmer waters.
The Big Bend Electric Company is situated on the eastern edge of Tampa
Bay and water from the bay is used to cool one of the Units and then returned
to the bay – clean and warmer. Since
1986 Manatees have been congregating here in the winter. From the viewing deck were could easily see more
than 200 manatees just floating like logs near the surface of the water. You could have walked on their backs across
the waterway like stepping stones.
These are the West Indian Manatee. They can be up to 10 feet long and can stay
under water from 3 to 20 minutes. As
non-territorial vegetarians they have few predators and it is estimated up to
30% fatalities each year are caused from collisions with boats. Many showed scars from contact with propeller
blades. Other causes of death can be due
to the cold as they require a water temperature of 68F. A recent count in 2010 revealed only
5000.
Tomorrow we head south to Fort Myers.
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