Florida 2010--Series 1

It's been a while since I've done any picture posts. This year's Florida pictures weren't very exciting, which is why I've let them linger until the middle of May. However it has become kind of a tradition here on the site, and not having any up seemed to leave a hole in the pattern so I guess I'll do a couple.Gas Station in Georgia, About 5 Miles From the Florida State Line. At this point we are already about 24 hours into our trip, which we did without stopping to try to squeeze an extra day in, and people are holding up astonishly well.

Field Adjacent to Same Shell Station With Sorry-Looking Palm Tree. Breathing in that southern air.

Acorn Found in Parking Lot, Still Same Gas Station.

The Baby Psyched Up For Dinner at the Cracker Barrel in Melbourne, Florida. Unfortunately he was not able to drive. Miami at this point is still three or four hours away, and I had already been spent for the better part of the day.

Miami is Reached. This is supposed to be evidence of that. Move the narrative along.

Enjoying Some February Outdoor Grilling, which of course we don't do much of in New England. I am looking like the whale being stalked for the main course, though people assured me that I was not really that fat, I was still overtired from the drive down, I had not eaten well during those couple of days, the sudden change in climate had overrelaxed my flesh, rest and fresh air would revive me and similar dubious excuses. Authentically good-looking people when they come to Miami actually look better than they do normally. Their desirable qualities are enhanced. Likewise, if you are hideous, this truth will be mercilessly exposed.

Lunch in Naples. Or perhaps Venice. It was an Italian city in any case. After a couple of days in Miami we are now on the way to Sarasota. We are still anticipating that the temperature is going to be warm because we are in Southern Florida, though actually it is only in the low 60s. I learned on this trip that a team of researchers had concluded that 83% of the time one orders grouper in a restaurant in Florida, he is in fact served something else, usually tilapila, a foreign fish which has apparently taken over lakes and rivers all across that state. I am pretty confident this occasion was not one of the happy exceptions to this deception.

I know I am going to a lot of mediocre and bad, and even sinister, restaurants, in these pictures. I feel bad about it, but with the time constraints and a baby and a toddler among four young children this year I lapsed into a weak and mindless satisfaction with convenience. I will have to try a little harder in the future.

Trying to Liven Up Naples a Little. No one was much out, I suppose because it was too cold.

We Make It to the Beach! The famous white sands of Siesta Key. This was our one day that we spent on the beach. It got chilly again the next day, dropping down to the 50s, where it remained for the rest of the trip.

Another Scene However From Our One Warm and Glorious Day on the Beach.

To be continued...