Lake Manatee State Park, Bradenton, FL:  Another really nice day today.  After lunch we went back to the Gamble Plantation to take the tour.  Construction of this Greek revival style mansion was started in 1843.  At one time Gamble owned 3500 acres.  His was the largest sugar mill in the area.  He owned 180 slaves.  Everything was done by the slaves—including the building of the mansion.  After the tour we came back and relaxed reading for a while.  Another cold front is supposed to come through tomorrow and bring the temperatures down quite a bit.  Hopefully Ft. Myers won’t be too bad.  And we’ll be in the Keys in just a few days.  Low 80s today.  More left-over turkey tonight for dinner.

Gamble Mansion & Plantation
Oldest antebellum plantation in south Florida

Lake Manatee State Park, Bradenton, FL:  We went out for breakfast this morning and then did the laundry and picked up a few groceries.  An apt activity for Black Friday.  Some pretty nasty shenanigans taking place in some of the stores.  One woman used pepper spray in order to get the item she wanted.  Unbelievable!   What a great way to get in the holiday spirit!  Low 80s today. 

Let's hear it for "Shop Small Saturday"--promoting small businesses.

Lake Manatee State Park, Bradenton, FL:  This morning dawned bright and sunny with a little chill in the air.  Watched the Thanksgiving Day parade and put the turkey breast in the oven around 1:00.  While the turkey was baking away we enjoyed a couple of cocktails.  Watched the football game between the undefeated Packers and the 7-3 Detroit Lions.  I was rooting for the Packers and Mike was for the Lions.  Good game.  Packers won.  Our dinner was delicious and we stuffed ourselves.  Upper 70s today.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lake Manatee State Park, Bradenton, FL:  Really cloudy this morning—harbinger of things to come.  But it was still really warm.  It was so humid the mirrors all fogged up.  We’re not complaining though.  It was sure better than the chilly marine layer out along the California coast.  We decided to drive down to Sarasota taking Rt. 41 instead of I-75.  First mistake.  Lots of traffic lights and slow going.  Wanted to have lunch in old town Sarasota and walk around some.  Followed the first sign we saw for old town and then never saw another sign.  So we ended up at a Longhorn Steakhouse just before I-75.  Turned out to be a better decision since the sky was looking pretty stormy to the north.  Mike had pork chops and I had a really nice grilled chicken salad with strawberries, grapes, mandarin oranges, candied almonds, feta cheese, and all topped off with a raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Really good.  After lunch we dodged rain drops back to the truck and got on I-75 heading back to our pretty park.  The traffic on 75 was very heavy.  We were glad to get back to our park which is 9 miles east of I-75 and really out in the country.  Got ensconced inside with the book I’m reading—“As time Goes By”—which starts where the movie, “Casablanca”, ended.  A very interesting read.  My brother-in-law, Dan, let me borrow it.  80s before the rain.  70s after.

The beautiful Ringling Estate--Sarasota, FL

Lake Manatee State Park, Bradenton, FL:  Another warm, sultry day today.  Lots of clouds though.  We headed out for some breakfast and then drove north on I-75 one exit to the Gamble Plantation and mansion.  It was the largest sugarcane plantation in the area in its day.  Unfortunately, it is closed for tours on Mondays and Tuesdays.  But we walked around the grounds anyway.  We’ll go back on the weekend.  Stopped at Publix on our way home and bought all the stuff we need for our Thanksgiving dinner.  Sat outside reading for a while and we had another tortoise come through our site.  Went for a walk down by the lake after lunch. Didn’t take long to get all sweated up.  84 today. 

Gamble Plantation

Gamble Plantation

Another tortoise visited our site
(picture by Mike)
I've been told that wherever there are tortoises, there are rattlesnakes who like to hang out in the tortoise dens

Lake Manatee State Park, Bradenton, FL:  Another beautiful, warm day.  I got up and waited for Mike to get up.  He didn’t get up until 10:30!  After lunch we drove over to Anna Maria Island which is a cute little island residential area.  No high rises.  Stopped at a beach and walked around.  Saw a big bridge across the bay.  Turns out it was the Skyway Bridge outside Tampa.  On the way back we stopped at another beach to check out the sand sculptures.  Temps ranged from 81 to 88.  Got some sprinkles in the evening. Oh, and Happy Birthday Mom!

We love this park.  Our site is really private--tucked into the lush vegetation.  Mostly live oaks, a few pines, palmettos, and everything covered in Spanish moss.  Gives it a primeval feel. 

One of the sand sculptures

Pasco Winter Quarters, Land O’Lakes, FL, to Lake Manatee State Park, Bradenton, FL:  This morning was beautiful—warm and sunny under a deep blue cloudless sky.  Started getting things together and then we looked at our reservation and the check-in time was 3:00.  So we sat outside reading and relaxing until 11:00 and then finished putting things away.  Left around 11:40.  I usually drive first, but Mike did this time.  A short drive—only about 70 miles.  Headed east on Rt. 54 and then south in I-75.  I-75 was a little rough but then smoothed out after a few miles.  Pulled into Lake Manatee SP and were set up by 1:30.  We were sitting outside relaxing and a pretty big tortoise walked through our site.  He hung out in the palmettos around our site for a while.  But he was gone after dinner.  After dinner we walked the trail down to the lake.  Saw a beautiful rainbow.  Not sure where it was raining, but at least it wasn’t here.  Walked back and a little boy was by the bath house sobbing.  Mike and I and another guy went over.  Turns out he was lost.  Guess he walked over to the bath house and then didn’t know how to get back.  We took him over to the host and were going to take him around to find his family, but I heard someone calling his name.  Anyway, it all ended well.  He was only about 6 or 7.  These trails can be confusing.  86 today.

Truck pulling a trailer with a little calf in it.  Isn't he cute?  Look at those ears!

A tortoise came for a visit.  They have no natural enemies, although raccoons will sometimes eat them.  Their young are vulnerable to predation until their shells harden-- which takes 7-8 years.

On the trail to the lake

Saw this big spider on the trail

Beautiful rainbow

Lake Manatee