How to fill time in retirement

This particular Sunday was going to be my day. I was going to visit some of my favorite places in Brevard County. Cocoa Beach   My first stop was going to be the Sand Bar in Cocoa Beach. I got there a little early so I went to the beach to take some pictures. The life guard had a red flag... People in the water and on the beach  There were people out even at 11 AM in the morning. Pelicans were flying by  Man with a wheeled sail  A guy was sailing by on a wheeled sail.... People were walking with surfboards on their heads Pelicans in the jet stream. I decided to go over to the Sand Bar on Cocoa Beach. It opened at 11 AM. Tikis The bartender was Britney. She was very busy. I caught some pictures of her cutting fruit and..... Britney cutting fruit.... Britney... What can I say? I ordered shrimp tacos, my favorite.... Shrimp Tacos After leaving Cocoa Beach I went to Port Canaveral... Sleeping cat at Baja Chowders ...

My friends Chuck and Shari Barrett have a summer home in the mountains. They have own this place for many years now and have always invited me to visit.  I said I would but then I would not. This year, before they left Melbourne for the summer, I had lunch with them at a local Bistro.  We discussed retirement and future travel plans. I told them I was going to drive to Vermont again and I would try to stop by. Their place, near Boone NC, would not be way off the track.  I figured it would give me an oasis to stop for a break on the longer journey from Melbourne to Middlebury and back. Where is this place? Melbourne to Boone NC  The plan was to leave Sunday morning and after about ten hours of driving, I would be at the Barrett's house. Easy enough, get on I-95 heading North for a long time, turn onto I-26 heading toward Columbia SC, merge onto I-77 heading North past Charlotte NC.  Call Shari to finalize directions and share progress. I have used these dir...

The nice thing about traveling is it makes it easier to find new restaurants.  If it is a completely new place that you have never visited, every restaurant will be new. Of course, I still want to eat at the good, great and excellent ones. That is where friends and relatives come in. They may know the local fare and where to go and where NOT to go. On my recent two week automobile trip, I drove from Florida to Boone North Carolina as a first leg.. I have friends that summer in Boone that gave me a tour of the area. I then continued from NC to Hamburg Pennsylvania. I was too tired to drive anymore so I stopped and had dinner. On to Middlebury where I tried a new restaurant for me, that has been around in Middlebury for 34 years, but it was after I left in 1979. I then met a friend in Rochester Vermont for lunch. Another new place. Four new restaurants in two weeks. It is better than the one a week average, but I was nine weeks behind. I got me some catching up to do. Town Tav...