Airboating down the Withlacoochee River!

Here is the very nice welcome we received upon arrival at Ryan's mom's house in the Villages.

Ryan's mom lives in a fun little community where pretty much everyone drives around in golf carts.  It's a retirement community more or less, although some people still work, like Ryan's mom (she works part time).  The first night there we went to one of their town square areas and looked around.  There were so many people out, having a good time, and enjoying themselves.  Looks like a fun way to retire!

The next we headed to Wild Bill's Airboat Tours.  First off, it really just sounded like fun.  But we especially wanted to go because it was on the Withlacoochee River and one of our favorite shows, Ax Men, is filmed on the Withlacoochie (for some of the loggers).  While it isn't filmed right around here, it was still cool to spend some time on the same river.

The main "attraction" here is the gators.  This one was huge, and thankfully in an enclosed area.

Before we headed out I made sure to grab a snack.  Ryan's mom is a fan of Kind bars, just like us, so we had plenty to choose from.  I thought this sounded really good and it was a flavor I had never tried before.

Then we made our way down to the boat.  

I was so glad we had nice weather. 

Here are some pictures I took as we took our ride down the river.

Can you spot the gator?

How about now?

Or now?  Yeah, we spotted quite a few.

More from the along the river.  Very pretty scenery.

In this area our guide showed us a hot spring that comes up in the river here.

Here I am with Ryan.  Having fun!

Here I am "driving" the boat.

All done, just posing with the boat.

Oh no, not in the mouth!

For dinner that night, Ryan's mom grilled us some veggies and salmon.  Yum!

And for dessert, she served us this homemade frozen pie with all kinds of fruit inside.  Yum!

QUESTIONS:  When was the last time you stayed with your mother-in-law?  Have you ever been on an airboat?

More time in Boca

Our south Florida vacation continued with...more food!  Ok, not all food.  There was food and relaxation and shopping.

The next we headed to Blue Moon Fish Co. Apparently they offer a great lunch special.  I have to agree with my grandparents, this is a great deal.  As long as you buy a drink, the lunch entrees are buy one, get one.  

My grandfather and I ended up splitting two things.  This was the lobster roll, which my grandmother also ordered.

Then we also split the langostino and spinach salad with goat cheese.  Both were awesome!

Ryan had the blackened mahi sandwich.

The restaurant sits on the intercoastal so we got to watch the boats go by.  The restaurant is near a bridge so we got to watch it open and watch the bigger boats come through.

Here we all are at lunch.

And let's not forget dessert.  I believe there was a special deal on this too- could be BOGO.  I couldn't leave Florida without having a slice of key lime pie.  Yum!

Later that day I had a super special treat.  While Ryan did some school work, my friend Aleina came to pick me up.  Aleina and I worked together for a few years in Las Vegas when I waited tables at the Olive Garden.  She was the first friend I made in Las Vegas.  I had no idea she lived in this area.  I knew she was in Florida, I just didn't know how close.  She was nice enough to come pick me up, take me for a coffee and then swing by her house so I could see her kids.

Here I am with all four kids.  I knew her oldest daughter from Vegas.  Boy has she grown!  I was there the day she brought her middle daughter home from the hospital, but I never really got to see her grown up.  As for her son, he is just precious, but I think I only "saw" him when she was pregnant.  It was so awesome that she was able to come get me and we could catch up.  It was really a special treat.

Well, dinner that night was uneventful because as I was leaving Aleina's house, it started to pour.  By pour I mean, inches of water on the ground in just minutes.  This really restricted our plans for dinner since we were looking to eat outside.  Instead, we opted to go to the mall and eat at CPK.

We shared some spinach dip to get us started.

Dinner was the pear and gorgonzola pizza.  We split this and my grandparents even tried some out.

The next day it was back to the mall.  Since I rarely shop for clothing in Japan, most gets ordered online or I just don't buy clothes.  I was obviously overexcited to have the chance to try on all kinds of clothes at Nordstroms.  Yeah, I did some damage!

My grandfather and Ryan golfed in the morning while my grandma and I shopped.  Of course!  We ended up eating at the restaurant in Nordstroms, and my grandpa and Ryan showed up just as our food came.  The timing was amazing perfect as my grandmother had just said to the waiter as he dropped of her food, "I hope my husband comes because I can't eat this all by myself".  Perfect timing grandpa!  I didn't get a picture of their huge sandwich, but I did get a picture of my crab mac and cheese with a a little side salad.  It was so good!

Later that day, Ryan and I opened up the fudge we bought at a candy store the day before.  We got some vanilla caramel.

But the real reason I took pictures of this was to share this red velvet fudge.  Handmade and extremely delicious.  We spoke with the candy maker herself (Jan...and there is no website otherwise I would link to it) and she was super nice.  She even let us sample some to make sure we got exactly what we wanted and didn't buy something we didn't like.

For our last night in Boca we headed to the club in my grandparents community.  All dinner specials came with the salad bar so I loaded up on veggies.

Dinner was glazed salmon with string beans and a sweet potato.  Yum!  Way to much food, but definitely yummy.

For our last morning in Boca, before getting on the road to go see Ryan's mom further north, we took one more trip down to the beach.  What a gorgeous day!

We ate breakfast at the same place.  This time I had a veggie packed omelet.

Here I am sitting with my grandpa at the beach.

Here we all are, just before heading out for a nice walk along the beach.

One more ocean view.

Well, that was it for our time in Boca.  I had a great time with my grandparents.  This peanut butter filled chocolate frog was too cute to resist taking a picture of.  Thought I would leave you with some cuteness as well as sweet thoughts!

QUESTIONS:  What is your favorite kind of fudge?  Have you recently got to catch up with a friend you haven't seen in years?

Getting to Florida, Heading to the Beach

After our time in Baltimore, we headed to Florida.  First up was some time in Boca Raton visiting my grandparents.  It was nice to have a few days with them.  We ate, we shopped, we relaxed and we had a good time.  It was really nice to have some quiet time to get caught up on homework too since both Ryan and I were still taking classes.

The first night we headed to Brio for dinner.  This is a favorite of ours from when we lived in Las Vegas, so it was nice to be able to go there in Florida.

Kinda looks like a bunny, right?

Here we are with my grandparents.  We had a nice time catching up and enjoying some wine with our conversation.

Dinner for me started off with a chopped salad.

I had a vegetarian pasta for dinner.

As always, if I wait a few days and if it wasn't something I ate, I absolutely can't tell you what this dish is (or the 3 below it!!!).  But I took a picture, so I'm posting it here!

But dessert, that's an easy one.  This is chocolate cake...of course!  We all shared dessert, so everyone got to have a little taste.

The next morning my grandpa took us down to the beach.  This is a tradition we have and we always eat at the same place.  You really can't beat the view!

And you can't beat the food either.  This is the blueberry pancakes that my grandfather enjoyed.

Ryan went with an omelet.

I had the tasty breakfast wrap with eggs and veggies.

After breakfast we took a nice walk along the beach and out to the end of the pier.

Here I am with Ryan,

here I am with my grandpa,

and here I am with Ryan and my grandpa.

Then we decided to take a walk on the pier. 

So glad we had nice weather.

The afternoon was pretty low key as we did some homework and just hung out.  We also went to the flea market for a little bit and shopped around there.  Then for dinner we headed to this restaurant which was really well covered up so I couldn't get a good picture, but the place is called Taverna Greek Islands.  My grandparents eat here a lot.

We started off with some bread and hummus.

Then we all shared a nice Greek salad.

Ryan and I introduced my grandparents to one of our favorites- saganaki.  We love saganaki!  Well, as fans of cheese, what isn't to like, right?  Glad my grandparents enjoyed this too.  If you have never had it before, it is flaming cheese, set on fire over dousing with some alcohol.

After this I was stuffed, but I some how managed to eat most of my fish.  Both my grandpa and I ordered the grouper.  It was really good.  I would definitely recommend this to anyone eating there.

Here is Ryan's dish.  He had the moussaka.

My grandmother ordered one of her favorites here...the lamb chops.

Well, that was it for our first day and a half visiting with my grandparents.  Nothing too exciting, but certainly a good time.

QUESTIONS:  Do you like Greek food?  Have you ever had saganaki?  When was the last time you visited the beach?