Birthday Celebration

Doug's BFF since their days at OSU,  Jeff Dvorin, was surprised by his wife Susan with a weekend trip to Florida to celebrate his 69th birthday with us. After picking them up at the Tampa airport, our first stop was at Willy Yums for coneys.

We spent Friday and Saturday showing them our favorite spots like Mixon's, Anna Maria Island, the nature preserve at Leffis Key, but most of all we laughed! A lot! 

Along the way, we found the Village of the Arts--a neighborhood filled with artist studios, galleries, restaurants and specialty shops. We only visited one gallery, but it was enough for Jeff to land a rather large metal fish complete with rod and reel that we will be shipping to Honesdale, PA. (Or delivering, who knows?) We will be going back to the Village for more exploring soon. Here are just a few pics from Zoe Von Averkamp's Divine Excess Folk Art Gallery. She has an extensive collection of Missionary Mary Proctor's art along with lots and lots of other interesting pieces.

Sadly, the weather was cool and rainy. There were no walks on the beach, but there's no substitute for time with good friends regardless of the weather.  We miss them already!