Good Friend, Pat, Visits Us

My good friend, Pat, from Boone, Iowa came to visit us along with her friend Kathy Yeager. They flew to Charleston, S. Carolina to visit relatives, then they rented a car for a road trip to visit the Charlestons in Ormond Beach. After visiting us they visited other friends and family before going back to Charleston and then back to Boone.

We had a very nice visit while they were here. One place we visited was Blue Spring State Park which is known for the manatees that are there during the winter. They come from the St. John's River which is cold in the winter, and the spring water at the park is always 72 0r 73 degrees which the manatees prefer. They count the number of manatees in the park every day and before we had our cold spell just before Pat came, they only had about 4 manatees. But when we went they had counted over 200. It was a great day to see them, and the weather had warmed up for us so it was a nice temp for us too.

Here are Kathy and Pat in front of the park sign.

The log looking things in the water in the background are manatees.
This is the spring.

The walk to the spring.
More manatees.

Here you can see this one's nostrils as he came up for some air. They can hold their breath as long as 20 minutes. As you can see they look like a dolphin or something. They are actually related to elephants and they are called sea cows or sea elephants too.
I was lucky to get this cute picture as they both came up for air at the same time and it looks like they're even kissing.
After our day at the park we went to the North Turn Restaurant which is a restaurant where the Daytona Races used to be held. The track was the road which circled onto the beach which turned at the restaurant location, thus the name. It has race memorabilia, etc. so it's interesting, but we enjoyed the view out onto the ocean.


The view of the beach from the restaurant.
On the deck of the restaurant. It was getting close to sunset and was getting a little chilly.



This will give you an idea of the room they had while here. Pat found it on the internet and got a really good price. It was called the Driftwood, and it was adequate, but the view and location were exemplary. Cheers.

Our friend, Chris, might appreciate the bathroom decor since it was much like hers, salmon colored.

This is the back side that faced the beach.

Kathy enjoyed reading on the patio/deck.
The pool was being renovated, but we didn't have time to swim anyway. Who even needs a pool when the ocean was just a few steps away?
This was the view from their window.
We went walking on the beach a couple of times. It was beautiful.

Oh yea, no swimming in some places.

Bird.




Having lunch on the beach.
Later we went for a drive to see some views and then we ended up at the pier in Flagler Beach which is very near where Bob's sister lives.
Here are the views from both sides of the pier.

Pelican on the pier waiting for fishermen to throw out their scraps after cleaning fish they caught.
Does Kathy look happy, or what?
View of the pier. Pat looks happy too. Bob too.

A friend we made at the end of the pier. He's showing off the fish that did NOT get away.
Then we went to a restaurant and had Maine lobster. Well Pat and I did. Bob and Kathy had local shrimp. We often see shrimp boats out in the ocean, but they weren't out where we could see them while Pat and Kathy were here.
The last day before they left we strolled along the ocean beach again. It was delightfully, scrumptiously, fabulously beautiful.
This is actually at starfish, purple no less.

At the end of the walk, Pat decided it was time for a dip in the ocean. The water temp might have been about 65. Too cold for me, but she had to do it, and she did. She didn't think it was too bad.






While we were having our last meal together, Kathy had to show off her red nose, but it wasn't quite as red as her red nail polish.
We had a great time, even though we had to sit inside at this restaurant because of the tiny bugs that were a nuisance outside on the deck. That happened at the North Turn restaurant too. They were like No See Ums, but they were sand fleas. Happy travels, Pat and Kathy. It was lots of fun.