Places Visited:

Florida: Sarasota, Boca Grande, Florida.

Thursday, March 6, 2003
Sun-N-Fun RV-Resort Sarasota. $38.05 per-night. Full hookup 30-amps
with every amenity imaginable.

Joyce had us scheduled to tour an orange juice processing plant this
morning then head to Siesta Key to eat and do some sightseeing.
Albritton Fruit Company of Sarasota offers free processing plant tours
on Mondays and Thursdays. You never know what to expect from a
processing plant tour but this was a good one. The Albritton Family
specializes in producing "fresh orange juice" and markets that product
within a 100-miles or so of Sarasota. However, they also ship fresh
fruit all over the world. Fresh juice has to be sold within 17-days
thus has a relatively short shelf life. Transportation costs prohibit
marketing it in a larger area.

Before explaining the juicing process some interesting information
about citrus is called for. Citrus is not a native plant and was not
here until the arrival of Christopher Columbus. In 1942 Florida
surpassed California as the leading orange producing state in the USA.
Today, Florida still crushes California with orange exports. Temple
oranges and Murcott tangerines have so much sugar in them that they
will sink if dropped in water. All other oranges will float. Unlike
apples, pears and bananas, oranges will not ripen any further after
being picked from the tree. Oranges are called seedless when they
have five seeds or less. Grapefruit was discovered in the West Indies
in the early 1700s and first introduced to Florida in the 1820s by a
French explorer. In 1914 the world's first pink grapefruit was
discovered in the town of Palmetto, north of Bradenton, Florida.

Different varieties of citrus arrived in Florida over the years. Sweet
oranges were brought from Spain to Florida in the 1500s they were the
first ones. Grapefruit arrived around 1820. Mandarin oranges came
from the Far East in the 1840s. Navel oranges came from Brazil about
1835 and finally Valencia oranges came from Spain and England in the
mid to late 1800s.

Now we can get down to making orange juice. Workers handpick the
fruit. Once the sugar content is where the grove owner wants it
workers enter the grove and pick every fruit on each tree. Large
18-wheel semi-trucks carry the fresh picked oranges to a processing
plant where the oranges are mechanically washed then visually
inspected. Inspectors remove undesirable fruit. Only top grade fruit
is allowed to make it to the juicer. The juicer is a machine that
puts a top and bottom "cup" around the orange, cuts a core through the
orange then squeezes the juice out of it. Pulp peels and other
residue of the juicing process are valuable as cattle feed.

Up until this point most juicing plants will be identical. Since this
plant just produces "Fresh Squeezed Juice" we see the extracted juice
flowing through two clear pipes to a large cooling tank where the
temperature of the fresh juice is dropped to 35-degrees. From that
tank it is pumped into 1-gallon plastic containers and labeled. End
of process!

The fresh juice could have been "Pasteurized" or "fresh frozen" or it
could have gone through a "concentrate" process where most of the
water is removed from the juice by vacuum and heat, then chilled, to
yield frozen concentrate.

If you ever visit an area where a juice processing plant is providing
a tour it is very informative. We certainly enjoyed our tour. If you
are interested Albritton Fruit Company ships fresh citrus all over the
world and can be contacted at 1-800-237-3682.

Siesta Key was our next destination. Joyce wanted to lunch at one of
the quaint eateries on Ocean Boulevard. After dining we slowly
cruised the myriad roads on Siesta Key each leading from palatial
estate to palatial estate. Like on the other Islands giant
condominiums line the Gulf side while individual villas are packed
into the interior and bay side. Perfectly landscaped yards with lush
tropical plants adorn each estate. At the southern end of Siesta Key
is "Gulf Beach Campground" right on the Gulf with rates exceeding $55
per-night during the winter season. If beachfront is what you want
this is the place. RVs are packed in like sardines. During the
summer tents may get in the park for around $20.

On Siesta Key we noticed nesting Eurasian collared doves. This is an
introduced species that has taken hold in many communities. I have
several bird books that do not even show this bird yet we see them
regularly. The book that does include the Eurasian collared dove
indicates they nest up to 6-times per-year and like to be around
population centers. The active nests we saw on Siesta Key were in
trees between the sidewalk and street right in front of busy
restaurants. We saw other active nests in the small trees in a
grocery store parking lot near our RV-Park. None of the nest are over
10-feet off the ground. The Eurasian collared dove looks much like a
common morning dove but it is larger and has a broad white stripe on
the tail that is easily visible in flight. It also has a black ring
around the neck.

Friday, March 7, 2003
Sun-N-Fun RV-Resort Sarasota. $38.05 per-night. Full hookup 30-amps
with every amenity imaginable.

Sightseeing, gawking and ogling was the order of the day. Driving our
Saturn we headed south from Sarasota to Gasparilla Island and the
community of Boca Grande. The $3.50 toll bridge was a harbinger that
we were entering hoity-toity territory. That toll pretty well culls
the riffraff. Boca Grande is an "island paradise" complete with
tropical breezes, fragrant blossoms, exotic wildlife, luxurious
foliage picturesque avenues and beautiful vistas. It would be hard to
beat this place short of heaven.

Like the other islands in the area this one has its share of palatial
estates. Boca Grande is known for world-class tarpon fishing. It
also sports miles and miles of bicycle paths and golf cart paths that
connect most of the island. Bicycle trails are the result of Florida's
"rails to trails" program where old railroad right of ways are turned
into trails. It appears there are separate paved paths for bicycles
and golf carts. Gasparilla Island bike paths follow the railroad
right-of-way that was built to transport phosphate mined a short
distance inland to the deep-water harbor located on the extreme south
end of the Island.

This is nesting season for osprey and nesting platforms on the island
are occupied. On Boca Grande everyone gets into the act and provides
a nesting place for osprey. All ospreys require for nesting is a tall
telephone pole with a 3-foot square platform on top. Posh estates
sport their own prominently displayed osprey nest. Florida Power and
Light and other utility companies attach platforms to their poles so
that the road leading into Boca Grande is dotted with osprey nests.

Boca Grande is a quaint little laid back community with nifty shops
and eateries. You will not find chain restaurants on the island.

Of particular interest is Banyan Street located within a block of
downtown Boca Grande. The street features banyan trees planted along
both sides of the street back in 1914. Those huge banyan trees now
form a canopy over the street that is breathtaking to see. As you
approach Banyan Street it looks as though you are entering a tunnel.

We spotted several iguanas on Gasparilla Island. It made us feel as
though we were on Easter Island. Iguanas are not native to Boca
Grande so obviously someone lost a pet and now they are part of the
island wildlife. Island literature says they are Mexican spiny tail
iguana and that they won't hurt you.

Each April thousands of tarpon migrate into Boca Grande Pass. This
event is why Boca Grande is known as the "Tarpon Capital of the
World." It is estimated that tarpon fishing pumps more than $4
million into Boca Grande's economy annually. Tarpon are not edible
and the fishery is only catch-and-release. For those wanting a mount
of their monster tarpon the guide will measure the fish in the water
and a fiberglass mount can be made from the measurements.

The island is a get away for the rich and famous including the Bush
Family who vacations here in the Gasparilla Inn. While on Boca
Grande we purchased the local newspaper "Boca Beacon" with this
headline "Exclusive Coral Creek Club Closes" the article goes on to
say "The exclusive Coral Creek Club, located just beyond the causeway
in Placida, which includes former President George Bush and a large
number of Boca Grande residents among its members closed its doors
Feb. 28." "Membership fees were $135,000 annually with a cap of 275
members that must be invited to join the private club." That little
tidbit of information should give you an idea of the lifestyle of Boca
Grande residents.

Our friends Dale and Cheryl wanted us to eat at Miller's Marina but it
was closed. It seems someone purchased the marina and promptly closed
the marina and restaurant. Never to worry we found "Dolphin Cove" in
the village and it was just fine.

This was karaoke night again at Sun-N-Fun but this time it was outside
by the pool and bar. These folks like their karaoke. There were
several hundred folks around the pool listening and dancing. Like
Monday night the "professionals" were out in force. It would be hard
to beat this talent anywhere and it was free.

Joyce and I are going to miss the amenities and activity we have
become accustomed to while at Sun-N-Fun. They have won me over. I
actually feel as though I am getting my moneys worth.

Saturday, March 8, 2003
Sun-N-Fun RV-Resort Sarasota. $38.05 per-night. Full hookup 30-amps
with every amenity imaginable.

This was our day to get ready to head home. Even when having fun the
motorhome and Saturn must be cleaned inside and out. Laundry is
something else that has to be dealt with. Between the onerous
cleaning jobs we walked around the park watching residents engaged in
a variety of activities. At the large lake in the park a group of men
were having remote control sailboat races. They were having a great
time as was the crowd watching. The course was a set of buoys
strategically placed in the lake. A different course was selected for
each race. An official tape recording conducted the start that
sounded just like the start of "real" sailboat races.

The lawn bowling courts were full as were the horseshoe and
shuffleboard courts. We peaked in the exercise room and it was well
utilized as well. With the wonderful weather everyone was out
enjoying outdoor activities. Of course the pool and hot tubs were the
number one activity.

Sunday, March 9, 2003
We drove 395-miles from Sarasota to Panama City Beach PineGlen RV-Park Panama
City Beach $25 per-night.

There is not much to say about driving 395-miles. However, we did
drive the Sunshine Skyway over Tampa Bay between St. Petersburg and
Bradenton. That is one fantastic bridge! RV'ers need to know that
there are public parks and fishing piers on both ends of the bridge
large enough for RV's.

Monday, March 10, 2003
PineGlen RV-Park Panama City Beach $25 per-night.

We spent the day with Family in Panama City.

Tuesday, March 11, 2003
We drove 87-miles from Panama City Beach to our home in Pensacola. Home in
Pensacola.

We are home for a few weeks or longer.

Mike & Joyce Hendrix