Day Trip to Bradenton - Goodbye 2014!

(Avon Park, FL) Hi  70   Lo 59 -- We drove to Bradenton on Tuesday for Jim's eye exam at the VA clinic. The clinic in Sebring is much closer, but they don't do eye exams there. It rained off and on most of the day. Since we were going to the coast we wanted to find a good seafood restaurant for lunch. We checked Yelp.com and found the highly rated Star Fish Company. It's an old fashioned "fish house" right on the water. We got there about 15 minutes before it opened and there was already a long line waiting at the order window, on a rainy day at a place where you eat outside. Despite the light rain the atmosphere was wonderful. And the food was delicious! There was a fish market right behind the restaurant so I took the opportunity to buy some fresh North Atlantic Red Fish, Grouper and Salmon. It was great being on the coast. Jim was raised around water and he misses it. But we're only about an hour and a half from both the east and west coast, and we're very happy living in the country where we don't have to put up with all the traffic on the coast. Click on the photos below to enlarge them.

The Star Fish Restaurant

Pelican and Egret waiting for handouts. I guess they don't know that feeding the birds isn't allowed.

After taking care of Jim's eye appointment we were on our way back home.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2014 is now history. It was a busy year for us as we traveled close to 9,000 miles during the summer. We already summarized our travels in a previous post, but here's a photo of the clockwise route we took.

We posted this before, but we'll again show you the infographic our son created for us when we got to North Dakota, the final state of the "lower 48". 

We plan to take it a little easier this summer, staying in the eastern portion of the U.S. and spending more time with the family. I hope you continue following us in 2015 in our home on wheels.