Tag: nature

FL Sunrise & Sunset 2025 – part 2

by ginnyinshanghai

Let’s close this out………………….

West coast destination was Anna Maria Island. It had been hard hit in 2024 with Hurricanes Milton and Helene. Even though Helene made landfall elsewhere, A.M.I. faced strong winds and storm surges. Many homes experienced 3-4 feet of water and extensive damage to roads and infrastructure occurred. Good news – none of that was evident! Oh yes, some homes hadn’t been rebuilt but many more repairs were complete. Let’s get on with this.

Silver Surf Gulf Beach Resort was the locale of choice. Loved it!

With three separate buildings, we had easy access to parking and would definitely stay here again. Walking in, very nice set up.

One interesting aspect………………a murphy bed. The above photo shows the couch where the murphy bed ultimately lands. After watching a short video, Eric got it ready.

A small kitchenette was part of the set up.

This spot was not directly on the beach but had their own private access to the beach.

While different than the east coast, still pretty. Man – I’m hoping the clouds go away before sundown, otherwise, the sunset is going to be a bust. This was taken around 2pm.

We had some time to kill before sunset so we drove to the end of the island checking out what shops and restaurants still existed. About 20 minutes before sunset, we headed back to our ‘private’ beach. Yep, it is a bit windy.

Here we are patiently (somewhat) waiting to see if this was going to be a bust. The temps were getting a bit cooler.

I was able to catch this boat zipping across the coastline. It was not looking good for seeing the sun.

And then the sun started to peek through along the horizon.

And………………we’re done.

One more thing on tonight’s agenda – dinner at The Sandbar.

Since our last visit, damage from hurricanes changed (destroyed) their building. Seating outside was nice.

Dinner was a variety of items, sharing dip as a starter.

While Adrienne went running the next morning, I got a West coast sunrise.

As we headed home, one last stop was lunch at Tide Tables (same place as the prior day). Loved the fact we could eat outside in the Florida sunshine.

Smoked fish dish and assorted meals was the order for the day. I got the fish tacos – Loved them! Definitely had enough for lunch the next day. 🙂

Thanks to Eric’s planning, one more thing scratched off of my bucket list.

Ginny

FL Sunrise & Sunset 2025 – part 1

by ginnyinshanghai

I had something on my bucket list that still needed to be ‘checked off’. Seeing a Florida sunrise and then heading west to see the Florida sunset.

It was time.

Chosen jump-off points: Melbourne Beach then to Anna Maria Island.

After work, we picked up Adrienne and headed to the East coast. We got there in time to see a sunset on the East coast.

First order of business in Melbourne was dinner – Bunky’s.

Yep, it is a sports bar & grill – but had some good food. TVs surrounded us with a multitude of sporting events to suit everyone’s pleasure.

First up – oysters from the James River, VA. I don’t know if these were exceptionally tasty but they definitely hit the spot. It had been months since we had eaten oysters. They disappeared quickly!

They forgot our fish dip but after a gentle reminder it came out, right before our meal. Regardless, by the end of the night it was gone. We ordered the extra ‘fixings’ of jalapenos, onions and tomatoes.

Selections were:

crab cakes & tator tots (Eric)
fish tacos (Adrienne)
Ahi tuna BLT for myself

I had forgotten how much I liked ahi tuna. The above photo doesn’t do it justice – I ate it all and left fries!

Back to the Melbourne Hilton for a nightcap.

dirty martini, old-fashioned and rose’ wine

My alarm went off…………………..1+ hour before needed. 😦 Sorry about that guys. However, I got a good photo from our room.

My Icelandic sheep made an appearance, patiently waiting for the east coast sunrise.

Eric got a good sequence of the sun rising.

One of my shots is below (Have I mentioned that Eric has a newer and thus better phone for photos?), catching sandpipers busily eating before being overtaken by a breaking wave. One little guy was being left behind.

We checked out, searching for a breakfast spot before heading out. This breakfast stop didn’t look like much from the outside (in a strip mall) but the food was fantastic.

It was well chosen!

Onward to the west coast! We chose the ‘scenic’ route, taking our time. We drove south from Melbourne before heading west.

Driving across the state, we came across a number of agricultural industries. First up were these citrus trees. Too many of the fields looked the photo on the right.

Then we started seeing small trees with this netting. That wasn’t surprising since

‘citrus greening’ is spread by tiny sucking insects and this offers some protection from that.

Until………….we came across this farm that had mile after mile of fenced netting for citrus. Yikes!

The cattle industry is also big in Florida. We came across a few herds during our travels.

Traffic was fairly sparse. We started out on this 4 lane highway going due west…….

……before throttling down to a 2-lane road,

Once we got onto the Florida ridge, it was mostly pine trees and palmettos.

Lunch was right before we crossed over onto the Anna Maria Island.

We chose outside seating at the bar – why not, we’re in Florida. Amazing what the right angle and sun exposure will do for a photo – ha!

All of us ordered grouper. Grilled for myself & Adrienne while Eric ordered the grouper cheeks.

Seems like a good spot for a break in this post. More of the coast-to-coast adventure is coming.

Ginny

Madrid 2025 – post 2

by ginnyinshanghai

Parque del Buen Retiro was our intended destination. Yes, it was a park. Our path took us past these pink blooming trees in the old city of Madrid. They lined several streets.

Most were younger trees, but occasionally we would pass one of these beauties. The gnarled truck and bark had its own attraction.

The park originally belonged to the Spanish monarchy until 1868 at which time it became a public park. It is considered one of the main attractions of the city, having architectural and landscape figures from the 7th to the 21st century.

Walking to the park, we came upon a traffic circle, surrounding the Puerta de Alcala. This gate was one of the five old royal gates that gave access to the city of Madrid.

The Retiro Park has seventeen entrances and we came through the ‘Door of Independence’. The park is 125 hectares and contains more than 15,000 trees. Loved seeing these ivy ‘balls’ on our walk towards the Galapagos Fountain. Most were fully grown, but I found this framework along the path that was waiting to be replanted.

Constructed in 1831, the locally named Galapagos fountain was not only commemorative and ornamental but also used for the water supply at that time.

At the top is a snail-shaped pump, with water cascading down to four children mounted on their own dolphins.

There are four more fountains below the dolphins representing two frogs and two Galapagos turtles, which have given it its popular name. Okay, got it now.

One last photo before moving on. 🙂 Yes, it was that bright and we needed sunglasses.

Next up was ‘The Pond’ with the Monument to King Alfonso XII in the background.

Rowboats could be rented for a small fee. But that’s not an activity for us. Sorry dear, I could see someone leaning to the side and ‘plop’, we’re in the water.

Along with recreational use, the pond also holds rowing and canoeing competitions. We found these cats sitting on the roof where the rowboats were stored. Guess they found a warm place for a nap.

The monument in the background of the pond was from a 1902 competition with the equestrian statue of the king at the top.

A pair of carved lions flank both stairways to the monument.

There was one more intriguing fountain that had to be seen before leaving……..the Fountain of the Fallen Angel. It has the reputation of being the only prominent sculpture dedicated to the devil in the world.

It stands at 666 meter above sea level. Really? Really. The first statement was questionable, but the 666 seems to be solid data.

Personally, I liked the creatures at the base of the Fallen Angel.

What would a garden post be without any photos of flowers. We found more of the pink blooming trees inside the park.

These white flowering trees drew me away from the main thoroughfare.

And behind them was a quiet spot for reflection and solitude.

Those two let me wander off and take my photos of flowers, unconcerned by my whereabouts.

My Icelandic wool friend has enjoyed being in Spain. He will pop in occasionally.

We’re ready for some food. Let’s see what Eric can find.

Ginny

Florida Spring Flowers

by ginnyinshanghai

I think we all need a bit of color – definitely in spite of all the weather that is going on in the US. Rain (flooding & mudslides) along the West Coast, snow and ice in the middle of the country and lots of rain & snow along the East coast. Oh and then……… two solid days of rain in Florida -very unusual for us.

Some days you just need pretty flowers to brighten your day.

Here you go……………….

Snapdragons – a multitude of colors. These are great to grow in Florida during our ‘winter’ season. Like, now.

Always loved purple and this is a favorite plant combination: purple pansies and dusty miller with a few white pansies hiding amongst the foliage.

Pansy faces are so darn cute.

Pinks, pinks and other shades of pink.

We don’t see a lot of dahlias in Florida. Typically grown in areas that have some chilling temps overwinter – which means we use them as an annual here.

I can absolutely guarantee that I have never planted these two colors together. Hmmmmm, maybe I need to rethink that.

Sun Impatiens………. more easily grown in Florida than other similar varieties.

My husband has always promoted mixing up the types of flowers in a plant bed. Truth be told – never done it.

Such a gorgeous shade of pink for this snapdragon.

I’m always drifting to the flower beds with pinks. Mixed in with the (multiple varieties) of impatiens were the taller dianthus. The white impatiens help the other colors really pop. 🙂

I found this small spot of whimsey.

I haven’t mentioned our flowering trees. They are just starting to bloom.

Hong Kong Orchid Tree – kind of gangly and not really the best photo or the easiest to take.

And yes, some of my photos were taken during one of our two days of rain.

Tabebuia – yellow trumpet trees. The sun was shining as I walked up………then I never saw it again. These trees are trully ‘show-stoppers’. All the leaves drop, flower buds come out and then they pop open. As you can see below, the entire tree is yellow and can been seen from great distances.

If the sun had been shining, you would see that these flowers are the brightest of bright yellow.

Not everything worked out as I would have liked. Here are the Tabebuia PInk Trumpet Trees. They looked pretty good from a distance, along a bank of plants.

Get up close and they don’t look quite as attractive. I just couldn’t find a flower cluster within reach that looked great.

My last few shots are planter boxes where there is one dominant color but numerous, different flowers in each box. The red one was most intriguing to me. Never would have planted red-ish pansies with geraniums and petunias.

Reds:

Blues/Purples:

Yellows:

This was in the yellow planter box but couldn’t get it in the original photo above since it was taller than most of the other plants.

Pretty flowers for a dreary day.

Ginny