Exploring Munich's Altstadt

Breakfast at Eden Hotel Wolff

Mary and I awoke around 7 am after sleeping very well. That is not surprising after getting very little sleep on the flight to Heathrow on a Sunday night. We eventually got Peter moving by 9 am and made our way to the first floor of the Eden Hotel Wolff for the buffet breakfast. Since the flights had been so long, we didn't want to push Peter but when he awoke, he was ready to get breakfast and begin exploring Munich. Like the breakfast at most German hotels, the food quality and variety were outstanding. There were dozens of whole grain breads and pastries, three kinds of breakfast wurst, bacon and other breakfast meats, several cheeses, eggs, a dozen cold cereals, fresh fruit, yogurt and fresh squeezed fruit juice of every kind. My favorite has the be the various fruit preserves. The Himmelbeere (raspberry jam) was very good, but the sour cherry jam (Kirschkonfitüre) was outstanding. Peter raved on the breakfast and enjoyed a little of everything. We were very very impressed that he was willing to try things before he passed judgment. We all ate enough to carry us through to dinner.

Inside St. Peter's Church

We returned to the room, gathered cameras, maps, passes and water bottles and put our valuables in the room safe before leaving the hotel. The travel agent had left a Mehrtageskarte for us that got the three of us into nearly all of the historic attractions in the Munich area. We took the U-Bahn the short distance to Marienplatz in Munich’s Altstadt. We started our visit at St. Peter’s Church that was built in the 12th Century. The church is beautiful and contains so many ancient artifacts. I am always impressed how the US and Allied military was able to bomb German cities in two world wars and was so caring to do so little damage to historic churches. We walked up the 300 plus stairs to the top of the tower attached to St. Peter’s. The tower dates to the 1100s and is still structurally sound. We took a lot of photos from the top of the tower before descending and continued our walk through the old part of Munich. Before we left the church, Peter bought a refrigerator magnet with St. Peter's Church.

Peter outside the Munich Rathaus

We went through the market and saw many produce stands selling the white asparagus that is popular in Germany now that it is Spargelzeit. We walked the short distance to the Bavarian Royal Residenz where the emperor lived from 1508 until after WWII in 1918. The core of the Residenz was built as a fortress called Neuveste in 1385. The Bavarian rulers from the House of Wittelsbach lived in this complex during the 400 year period. The Royal Residenz has been open to the public as a museum since 1920. Much rebuilding has taken place following severe damage during WWII.

Peter in the Bavarian Royal Residence

We have visited here several times and enjoy it more each time. The structure was nearly completely destroyed in the war but has been beautifully rebuilt, restored and redecorated. We all took a lot of photos throughout the expansive building. Peter was especially amused taking photos of his face with his new camera.

We walked back to the Marienplatz train station in time to see the animated clock strike noon then and caught a light rail to Olympiazentrum where we would have a short walk to the BMW museum. We used the timed passes to the BMW museum that we had purchased online and were directed to a locker room where we stowed backpacks and other personal items. The museum was really interesting with restored BMW cars and motorcycles going back to the 1920s. There were rooms with cutaway engines from cars, motorcycles, boats, aircraft and military equipment. We all enjoyed the restored BMW convertible that was used in several Elvis Presley movies. 

1939 BMW Kamm Coupe

We liked a convertible roadster from the 1930s and a three-wheeled miniature car that the driver entered by opening the front of the vehicle. There were lots of interactive displays where visitors could photograph themselves in BMW ads or driving a vintage car. There was a room dedicated to the forced laborers in BMW factories in the 1930s and 40s during the Third Reich. During a labor shortage people were compelled to work in factories for little compensation in difficult and dangerous working conditions. After we visited all of the 22 exhibit rooms we walked across to the BMW World building. 

Peter & Oma with a 1953 BMW Isetta Knutschkugel

This large building had many BMW models on display including lots of prototypes and concept cars. Since BMW partners with Rolls Royce and Mini, there were models from those manufacturers on display as well. Since BMW World is free and doesn’t require a timed entry ticket, there were many more people there than at the BMW Museum. We walked through the displays and took a few snapshots before walking to the light rain station and returning to the Hauptbahnhof where we picked up burgers and fries from a stand in the train station. There wasn’t a huge selection at Pommes Freunde, but we brought the food back to the Eden Hotel Wolff.  We ate in the room then played three games of Farkel with each of us winning one game. We turned in and slept well.

Flying to Germany by way of London

Lunch at Heathrow Airport

By the time we awoke, we were near Ireland with two hours to London. The flight attendants distributed breakfast burritos and beverages. Peter didn’t want breakfast, so we watched in-flight movies until we landed at Heathrow. We had to go through security again at Heathrow but had no issues. Since the breakfast burrito didn’t appeal to Peter, we needed to find something that he would eat for breakfast, easier said than done. We walked by every restaurant at Heathrow airport and found nothing to his liking. Mary took him to a small market in the airport where she bought a yogurt and granola cup that Peter said was nasty, so he threw it out. He said that a ham sandwich might be good, so we tried that. Mary took the cheese off his sandwich as he requested but a small amount of mayonnaise remained and he didn’t want to eat it. On the other half of the sandwich, we removed the cheese and managed to avoid the offensive mayo, so he was able to eat that.

We had to laugh that Buffalo Trace has a large presence in London. There was a Buffalo Trace booth in the Heathrow airport. I walked by the booth and an employee asked if I would like a sample taste of Buffalo Trace, but I assured him that I had tasted it before.

The flight from London to Munich boarded quickly, and we took off for the two-hour flight. We were seated together on this flight and read our devices for the short flight. On landing at Munich International Airport, our bags were among the first to arrive in the baggage carousel. Peter spotted our bags quickly and grabbed them from the belt. We took a light rail from the Munich airport to the Munich Hauptbahnhof (main train station) using the travel vouchers that we received from the travel agent.

Our hotel, the Eden Hotel Wolff, was a short two block walk from the train station. When we arrived at 4 pm the helpful desk clerk got us checked in and gave us additional vouchers for attractions in Munich like the Royal Residence, Nymphenburg Palace and others as well as vouchers for light rail, subway and bus transport in the city for the days we would be in Munich. As with other trips that we have taken with to-europe.com, this hotel is perfectly located for access to many of the places we plan to visit as well as the train station.

Dinner at Augustiner-Keller Biergarten

Our third floor room at the Eden Hotel Wolff was very nice with a king-sized bed and a sofa bed. We unpacked and considered our choices for dinner. The desk clerk said that many locals eat at Augustiner Keller Biergarten only a few blocks from the hotel, so we agreed to give it a try.

Most of the tables were out in a beautiful tree lined courtyard, and we were seated immediately despite the restaurant appearing to be crowded. Our waiter had some knowledge of English, but since we had spoken with him in German, gave us German menus. We were doing fine with the German menus, but Mary wanted to confirm our choices with an English menu that the waiter offered. Peter had the Weiner Schnitzel, I had the cordon bleu and Mary had Kaesespaetzle topped with onion straws. Substituting is not generally permitted in German restaurants, so I traded my French fries for Peter’s fried potatoes. We were really proud of Peter for his willingness to try German foods to see if he would like them.  Mary had sparkling water, Peter had lemonade, and I had a local bock beer. Everyone enjoyed the meal, although the portions were very large. Peter was able to eat only one of the large schnitzels with his meal. The meal was not fast but in much of Europe meals at a restaurant are not intended to be rushed. While eating, diners socialize and enjoy the company of friends and family.

Dinner at Augustiner-Keller Biergarten

As light faded, we walked back to the Eden Hotel Wolff, showered and prepared for bed. We were all tired from two days of stressful travel. We had a busy few days lined up with a visit to Munich’s Altstadt in the morning and the afternoon at the BMW Museum and BMW World near the Olympic Center, site of the 1972 massacre by the militant Palestinian organization, Black September during the summer Olympics.

Leaving for Germany

At the beginning of this year, we made a resolution to take each of our four grandsons on an international trip of their choosing after completing fifth grade. Peter, now eleven years old, wanted to go to Germany with us. Since we have been here several times before, this was a good choice for us as well. Mary contacted the travel agent at to.europe.com and arranged a week, mostly in Bavaria but a few days in Berlin. This travel agency Mary uses, to-europe.com, always reserves excellent hotels near attractions and provides tickets to all sites in the area and passes for trains, subways and buses. Their prices are very reasonable and cheaper than we could arrange on our own. All the hotels they have booked for us on any of our trips are historic and offer large, elegant buffet breakfast included in our lodging.

After exercising at Planet Fitness, we loaded our bags in the car and left home at 9 am to the Hilton near the Cincinnati airport in Covington, Kentucky. We each had a personal item for the flight. Mary had a small carry on, and we shared a small duffel bag as a checked bag. We have used OneStopParking.com on several prior occasions and found it to be about half the price of parking at the airport’s long-term parking. It took only about 5 minutes for the driver to take us to the drop off point at the airport. The Koehler family arrived to drop Peter off at 11 am and stayed until we checked in and had cleared the travel of a minor with a non-custodial parent. There was no problem, so we said our goodbyes to Greg, Sarah and Nicholas before going through security and all three of us had TSA PreCheck.

When leaving home, we learned that our flight to Detroit would be departing later than scheduled, making us unable to get on the connecting flight from Detroit to Munich. It wasn’t a problem for Delta to schedule us to go to Atlanta then to Munich arriving only a little later than our flight from Detroit. Until our flight, scheduled for 1 pm boarded, we walked around the Cincinnati airport and sometimes sat in the terminal to chat. The aircraft boarded only slightly later than scheduled, but we would have time to make our connection from Atlanta to Munich. The gate agent offered to gate-check our carry-on bags through to Munich which was fine with us so we wouldn’t have to carry the bags through the Atlanta airport.

After everyone was boarded, the airplane taxied out and started down the runway, gaining speed almost to liftoff, when the pilot quickly decelerated and stopped on the runway. The captain came on the address system to inform us that an error light showed up regarding a door that wasn’t properly latching. He said that a maintenance crew was on the way to assess the problem. After sitting on the tarmac for over 90 minutes, the captain informed the passengers that we would return to the gate for the main maintenance team to assess. After another 30 minutes, we were informed that another aircraft would have to be brought in and that we would arrive in Atlanta much too late for our flight to Munich. The earliest we could arrive in Munich would be late on Monday.

Peter found Bob Ross's Little Trees mints

Shortly after we deplaned, we received a message from Delta that we could be transferred to a British Airways flight taking us to Heathrow in London then to Munich by midafternoon on Monday. We only had to accept this change. That was the problem. Since we didn’t have an account with British Airways, we couldn’t confirm the changes online. Mary had no success contacting customer support by telephone. 

Since British Airways has one flight each day out of CVG, their team only arrived three hours before the scheduled flight. Our flight was scheduled for 9 pm so we planned to meet the gate agent at 6 pm. Unfortunately the agents were at the arrivals desk, which was outside of security. Mary left her things with Peter and me then left the secure area. She was able to not only confirm the flight but get seat assignments for us to Heathrow and on to Munich. The seats would not be together for the seven-hour flight to London, but we had seats booked. Peter and I had to take our passports to the agent at the gate before boarding. The agent at the gate told us that our checked bag and gate checked bags would be brought over to our flight through Heathrow.

We were relieved to have the flights worked out and went to dinner at Blaze Pizza in the airport. Each of us had a twelve-dollar meal voucher from Delta, but the clerk at Blaze Pizza couldn’t figure out how to use more than one voucher. So we paid part of the bill on our Visa card. Peter had a pizza with only sauce with no meat, vegetables, meat or even cheese. I had a four-meat pizza. Mary had some of each of our pizzas. Since we had two $12 vouchers left, we got ice cream from Graeter’s for Mary and me and a doughnut from Dunkin’ for Peter. We used leftover voucher money to buy bagged snacks for Peter from a newsstand.

Our flight to London boarded on time. Mary was seated in aisle 32 while Peter and I were in aisle 34 but a few seats apart. A student from Miami Ohio traded seats with me so Peter and I could sit together. A meal was served on the flight, but none of us were hungry. By 10:30 the crew had gathered the trash from the meal and the captain dimmed the lights. We got under the blankets and tried to sleep. Peter flopped a lot trying to get comfortable and eventually fell asleep.  It was a very long day of travel, but Peter travels very well and never complained about the unplanned changes in flights and long periods in aircraft and in airports.

We didn't get a chance to celebrate Mary's birthday, but she considered this trip with Peter a great birthday present.

Driving home from Florida

Since we knew that we had long drive back to Georgetown, we woke early and came down to have our morning beverages. Cindy made turkey sandwiches for our breakfast and lunch. We also packed fresh fruit and snacks for the nearly 13-hour drive. Kenny and Paul, his friend from Minnesota, came to the house around 5:30 to get started for the fishing tournament. We said our goodbyes and were on the road by 6:10.

Travel was very light through Florida to I-75. There was light rain from time to time in Southern Georgia. Traffic was slow around Macon, Georgia, as several oversize loads of cargo were taking up two lanes of the interstate. As expected, traffic got very heavy around McDonough, Georgia, and remained congested through Atlanta to north of Marietta. Traffic was busy in Chattanooga and Knoxville but not nearly as bad as the Atlanta area. We stopped at several rest areas to get our breakfast and lunch but ate them as we drove. 

When we drove south three weeks ago, Mary noted the exits with the best gas prices. Since the war with Iran started a week ago, gas prices spiked everywhere. The best gas prices that we saw on our trip north were in southern Georgia. As we approached Central Kentucky, Mary was able to use the new Wi-Fi enabled thermostat to start warming the house from the 50 degree setting we use while we are away in the winter.

We arrived home at 7 pm and hauled things into the house. We put the frozen fish away first, but left clothes and gear for tomorrow when we would be more rested. Since we had emptied the refrigerator before we left last month, there weren’t many choices for dinner so we opened a can of black beans and had them in a tortilla wrap.

We turned in early because we were tired from the drive and we weren’t looking forward to the spring change to Daylight Saving Time tonight.

Our last day in Homosassa

We had a breakfast of cold cereal as we wanted to finish the Wheat Chex and Great Grains that we brought from home. After eating, we took the dogs on a short walk on Standish Drive and Battle Creek Road then up to the stop sign before they were ready to get back to the house. We can really tell that both dogs are showing their age. In the past they enjoyed a long walk out around the neighborhood, but now they prefer a short loop.

New connection box

Mark and I considered going out to fish in the kayaks but wanted to do a few things first. Mark and Kenny entered a fishing tournament tomorrow, and we wanted to make sure that everything was in order for that. The first thing that we did was to replace the defective connection box on the outside of the house that supplies electricity to the HVAC unit. Saltwater corroded the existing connection box. The new connection box is much smaller than the previous box, and the connections are pretty straightforward. We disconnected electricity at the breaker then removed the rusty old box. The knockouts on the new box were difficult to remove, so Mark had to use an angle grinder to score the spot welds. Although we would have preferred to mount the surge protector on the side of the box, a siding strip prevented attaching the small unit, so we had to mount it on the bottom of the box. A little touch-up paint is needed, but the disconnect box worked well.

At the boat, we attempted to learn why the starboard shallow water anchor wasn’t operating. The Power Pole would not respond to either the keychain remote or the dash mounted remote. Our first suspicion was that the remote batteries were failing or that they were no longer paired with the anchor motors by Bluetooth. We replaced the batteries and then tried operating the Power Poles with the hard-wired controls in the bilge. The port unit worked fine but there was no response from the starboard motor.

Mark called tech support at the manufacturer of the Power Poles for assistance with diagnosing the problem. After lengthy discussion and attempts at getting the shallow water anchors to go up or down, the technician concluded that the main circuit board was defective and was, unfortunately, out of warranty. Mark could order a replacement circuit board from the manufacturer and have it within a week since the manufacturer is in Tampa. However, since the tournament was first thing tomorrow morning, Mark called the local marine sales and service centers and found that Homosassa Marine had the circuit boards in stock.

The circuit board was easy to remove, so we swapped the port and starboard circuit boards to confirmed that the board was defective. We drove up to Homosassa Marine where Mark got the board for over $250. Back at the house, the board was installed quickly and allowed the Power Poles to operate using the manual switch on the motor, but neither remote responded to the detailed procedure in the owner’s manual. After multiple attempts by both of us, we concluded that the new board must have a defect in the ability to link with the remotes. Mark called the dealer who agreed to replace the new but presumably defective board.

Mary, Cindy & Mark at Marguerita Grill

While we were outside working on the electrical box and the boat anchors, Mary and Cindy were working on Ancestry. By working together and using some of the old family records that their parents and grandparents had accumulated, they were able to add a few ancestors and relatives to their tree.

It was near lunchtime, so we decided to go to Marguerita Grill which is a fun place to eat and drink. On the way, we stopped at Homosassa Marine where Mark exchanged the new Power Pole circuit board hoping that another board will work for us.

Cindy & Mark at Marguerita Grill

The seafood at Marguerita Grill is excellent and well prepared. The owners, Cuban immigrants, have a very pro-American atmosphere in the restaurant and celebrate veterans at every opportunity. We were fortunate to get a table on the back deck with a good view of the water. Mary had a whitefish basket which she reported to be very good. She especially likes the lightly seasoned French fries. I got Gavin’s Seafood Platter with her agreement to help me eat some of the shrimp, fish, scallops, crab cake and hush puppies. We bought a “medium” margarita which comes in a pitcher and serves four. Everything was very good as always, so we left the restaurant very full.

Mary at Marguerita Grill

We made a quick stop at Sportsman’s Wholesale. Kenny’s birthday is Sunday, and Mark wanted to get him a spool of woven fishing line. He also got a few crank baits that might work for redfish.

Once back at the house we quickly installed the newly exchanged Power Pole circuit board and once again attempted to pair the remotes to the hydraulic motor. After failing several times using the multi-step protocol in the owner's manual, Mark called tech support again. They gave him a very different and simpler procedure that paired the two remote controls easily.

By the time we finished, we were too tired to go kayak fishing. We came in to prepare for our departure tomorrow morning. While we were watching an episode of Clarkson’s Farm, Kenny and Jodie stopped by on their way back from their evening meal at Marguerita Grill.

Sign at Marguerita Grill

Earlier we decided to leave Homosassa in late morning on Saturday. We would get a room in the Atlanta area and drive the final half of the route on Sunday. This would allow us to leave at a time that wouldn’t disrupt Mark and Cindy’s Saturday schedule. However, since Mark would be leaving early for the fishing tournament, we decided to leave early and drive back on one day.

In anticipation of our early departure, we turned in early after we did a little late minute packing.

Fishing in Homosassa with no luck

We slept well and woke before 5 am. We did our morning language lessons and had morning beverages. Once Mark and Cindy were up, had cold cereal for breakfast then took the dogs on a walk on Standish Drive.

Fishing near Homosassa

Mark has been hoping to learn some of the advanced capabilities of his Garmin chart plotter. We used the Garmin Active Captain app to connect Marks iPhone to his Garmin boat plotter and experimented with syncing waypoints, tracks and routes to his phone and computer. Mark was especially interested in bringing tracks to his computer for viewing on Google Earth.

Kenny with a small lizardfish

Kenny came over at 9 am to fish. We loaded the boat with our gear, including the reels that we cleaned last night. They seemed to work very smoothly after cleaning and lubricating. We fished the shallow water around Homosassa and up Battle Creek for 7 hours. In that time, we caught and released a lot of undersized redfish and a few ladyfish. Kenny even caught a small lizard fish that was hardly bigger than his lure. We caught no snook and no fish of edible size. We had to get out of the boat on several occasions to push the boat through shallow water. We also had to get out a few times to retrieve snagged lures but not in deep mud like yesterday. While fishing we saw three adult porpoises and two young.

We were out until nearly 5 pm without catching much to speak of. After we returned to the dock, we cleaned saltwater off gear and cleaned boat deck and seats. We ate a leftover dinner of shrimp from The Freezer, snook from Tuesday’s fish fry and salads. It was all good.

After dinner Mark and I went to Home Depot to get a disconnect box for the HVAC. We hoped to replace the exterior electrical box on Friday. Back at the house we tried searching online to figure out why the lower icemaker wasn’t working on the refrigerator.

We watched episodes 1 and 2 of season two of Clarkson’s Farm on Prime TV.

Fishing with Mark & Kenny

Steve with a small ladyfish

As usual, we were up early, so we did our language lessons and had morning beverages before going downstairs after Mark, Cindy and the dogs were up and moving around. We had a cold cereal breakfast working toward finishing the Chex and Great Grains boxes that we brought from Kentucky.

Kenny came over before 8 am, and we loaded Mark’s boat with fishing gear to try to catch some snook. We fished hard for over six hours catching and releasing 10 undersized snook, several redfish under the keeping limit, and many ladyfish. We had no keepers.

While retrieving a lure from the mangrove snags in two feet deep mud, I took a spill landing on my rear. Watching me trying to stand up provided great amusement for Mark and Kenny.

Steve in the mud retrieving a snagged lure

By the time we returned to around 2 pm, the temperature was in the upper 80s. We were all pretty hot and had been in the sun enough for the day. We washed salt from fishing gear and scrubbed the boat to remove the mud that I brought on board after my fall.

We planned to meet Jodie and Grant at Marguerita Grill. When we drove up Hall’s River Road, we saw that they were closed on Wednesday. After talking with Grant and Jody, we went to Crumps Landing a little over a mile west of Marguerita Grill. We had never been to Crump’s Landing before, but there was plenty of parking, despite being very busy. We were seated at an outside table by the dock across the water from MacRae’s.

Jodie & Grant at Crump's Landing

Mary had a Cuban sandwich; I had the clam basket with chips.  Several of us had margaritas, and Cindy had a mojito. The meal and service were good. We really like the atmosphere at Marguerita Grill, but Crumps’s Landing is a good alternative.

Before we drove back, we made a side trip to Monkey Island near MacRae’s. Monkey Island is built on a rock outcropping near Homosassa that was a frequent hazard to boaters. In the 1960s a developer had a crew add material to the rocky structure, forming a small island. The developer had a lighthouse and other structures built on the small island and planted trees and other plants. He also obtained a few spider monkeys and squirrel monkeys, placing them on the island. Today the island is inhabited by five spider monkeys living in very nice accommodations providing great amusement to Homosassa’s visitors.

Monkey Island

Back at the house, Grant and Jodie played Phase 10 with Mary, Mark and Cindy. I fell asleep upstairs for a short nap.

I awoke when Grant and Jodie were preparing to leave. Mark and I went out to his garage workshop to disassemble a fishing reel that wasn’t working. After cleaning, greasing and reassembly the reel seemed to work well.

We strained the peanut oil from the fish fry on Tuesday evening. We returned the used oil to the original plastic jugs. Mark keeps the oil in the chest freezer above the garage for the next fish fry.

While we were working on the fishing gear and straining the oil, Cindy came out and told us that the air conditioning in the house wasn’t working. After testing connections and attempting to locate the problem, we heard a snapping sound coming from the connection box on the side of the house. Mark worked with HVAC a good deal in their 40+ years of owning and operating McDonald’s Restaurants, so he knew that the connection box was the source of the problem. We found that the disconnect box was arcing and that made the air conditioning unit stop operating. The box had been immersed in saltwater several time during hurricanes and other tropical storms, so it was not surprising that the box needed replacing. We temporarily wired around the disconnect, and the unit worked well until we could replace the box.

By the time we finished it was getting dark, so we came in and watched the final episode of season 1 of Clarkson’s Farm on Prime TV. We all turned in by 10 pm.

Hanging Out with Jo-Anne and T

We woke early to see the beginning of the lunar eclipse starting at 5 am and continued to full eclipse at 6 am. The eclipse was very visible to us over Mike and Pam’s house across Standish Drive. We sat on the front porch drinking tea as the moon darkened from top to bottom. As the eclipse continued the moon took on a pale red color. We were glad that we had awakened for the event. Sadly, the sky was too overcast in Georgetown and Cincinnati for our grandsons to get a view of the eclipse.

After a breakfast of oatmeal with craisins and pecans, we took the dogs on a longer walk around the neighborhood. Mary and I returned the house and left at 9 am to pick up Jo-Anne and T at the Comfort Suites in Dunnellen.

We met them in the hotel lobby a little before 10 am and loaded a few of their things into our car to take a trip around the “Nature Coast” area of Florida. We wanted to give them an overview of things in the area that might interest them in future visits. They live less than 2 hours from Homosassa, so a day trip for them would be likely. Mary planned a general itinerary and sequence of stops for us to visit today.

Tour boat at Rainbow Springs

Our first stop was to the springs at the head of Rainbow River at Rainbow Springs State Park. We paid the $5 park admission fee and parked in a shady spot. We walked down to the springs that form the Rainbow River and saw people swimming in the designated area. The water there and throughout Rainbow River is as clear as glass. We walked along some trails with azaleas of all colors. The waterfalls along the trails were developed in the 1940s and 50s. We chatted with two volunteers who were very helpful in directing us to the right trail to walk for our day.

When we left the springs, we drove past the access to the KP Hole at about midway on the Rainbow River. We stopped at the downstream takeout point of the Rainbow River, but no parking was available. We parked across the road at Swampy’s Bar and Grill since it was nearly noon. We decided to have lunch there. We had eaten there many times before and found the food to our liking. I ordered the gator dip appetizer, and T got chips and salsa. For the meal, Mary got the grilled fish Caesar salad; I had a bowl of seafood gumbo. Jo-Anne and T split a Reuben sandwich with sweet potato fries. Everyone seemed to enjoy the meal.

After leaving Swampy’s we drove over the Cross Florida Barge Canal and gave them the history of the ill-fated project. We pointed out the access to the “Follow That Dream” Parkway leading the island where the Elvis Presley movie was made and some of the beach scenes were filmed.

We stopped at the Crystal River Archeological State Park to explore the nearly 2000-year-old mounds and earthworks. Although the visitor center is closed on Monday and Tuesday, we enjoyed walking around and reading the signage. Jo-Anne and T are very into some of the Ancient Astronaut theories. They believe that the mounds support theories about early cultures being aided by extraterrestrial civilizations. We sat on top of the large temple mound for some time before resuming our walk along the back of the Crystal River. We saw how a landowner in the 1950s and 60s had bulldozed much of the temple mound to fill in a swampy area. Fortunately, the land was purchased by Florida’s park system preserving the mound.

When we left the archeological park, we drove Jo-Anne and T back to the Comfort Suites in Dunnellen and before heading back to Mark and Cindy’s house in Homosassa.  We really enjoyed visiting with Jo-Anne and T and hope to see them on our next trip to Florida.

We unloaded the car and started helping Mark and Cindy prepare for dinner. Kenny and Jodie were coming over for a snook fish fry. Mark heated peanut oil in an outdoor deep frier to 360 degrees. Kenny rolled snook chunks in a mixture of egg and oil then covered them with panko crumbs and seasoning. The fish was deep fried at 360 degrees for 3 minutes. Kenny used the same treatment for some small portobello mushroom caps. Cindy had made coleslaw, and Jodie brought potato salad. Everything was delicious, and we all ate our fill and more. After dinner we had Cindy’s brownies and Jodie’s peanut bars. Jodie also made margaritas while we visited after dinner.

The evening ended with Mark, Cindy, Kenny, Jodie and Mary playing cards.

The Freezer with Jo-Anne and T

A return of my sciatica pain kept me from sleeping well. I had gone through a bout of sciatica in 2021 during Covid and for some reason it seems to have returned. I got up at 4 am and did language lessons before getting our morning beverages at 5 am. I went outside to check the location of the moon since  a full lunar eclipse was to occur at 6 am on Tuesday.

Strickland's Convenient Store

We had a breakfast of Great Grains cereal then took the dogs on a morning walk. Mark and I got the bait bucket and drove to “Strickland’s Convenient Store” for two dozen live shrimp. Back at the house, we loaded fishing gear and life jackets into the kayaks. When I pushed my kayak into the canal a little water splashed onto my life jacket causing the CO2 cartridge to inflate the PFD in the rear of the kayak. We paddled out of the canal a little after 8 am.

We paddled out among the islands in Mason and Battle Creeks casting Johnson Silver Minnow spoons hoping to catch sea trout, redfish or even snook. We were disappointed to catch a few small snappers, one undersized snook, one small redfish and dozens of ladyfish. All of these were immediately released. The ladyfish were fun to catch. The spirited, slender fish put up a good fight and even take to the air giving them the name “poor man’s tarpon” for their fighting. On more than one occasion, a hooked ladyfish would come out of the water and shake the hook loose. The lure would then be quickly taken by another ladyfish.

Mark fishing from his kayak

While we were out, Mark had a text from Cindy at 1:30 that our company, Jo-Anne Potter and her partner, T, had arrived. It took about 40 minutes to paddle back to the house. Upon arriving at the dock, we washed saltwater from the fishing gear and the kayaks and put everything away. It was really great to see them. I worked at Cabell Midland High School with Jo-Anne from 1994 until I left the school in 2007.  She and I were close friends at the school and did a lot of outdoor adventures together on weekends.

We sat on the back porch and visited with Jo-Anne and T for about an hour. Since we had all missed lunch, we decided to have an early dinner at The Freezer. Jo-Anne and T rode with us for the short drive, and we met Mark and Cindy in the parking lot.

The restaurant wasn’t crowded but was still busy. The only outside tables available were in the sun, but we watched until a group left then quickly got a table with an umbrella. Each couple ordered a full order of steamed peel-and-eat shrimp which is a large Styrofoam clamshell filled with shrimp along with cups of melted butter and cocktail sauce. There was a comfortable breeze as we ate shrimp and enjoyed each other’s company.

After dinner we walked out to the observation tower on the Salt Marsh Trails area of the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge. The walk was short, but it was good to move around after our large shrimp dinner.

After the short walk to the Salt Marsh Trail, we returned to the back porch of Mark and Cindy’s house to chat. We enjoyed hearing about Jo-Anne and T’s move to Florida last October and learning about the Del Webb community, Sun City Center, where they live. They said that their house is about 50 years old but has been well kept. Their $600 per month HOA fee covers mowing, landscaping, water, sewer, internet, exterior painting, roof and gutter replacement as well as roads and community centers. They seem very happy there.  We are really glad that they have a nice place there and can maintain their active lifestyles.

Mary, Steve, Jo-Anne & T

After visiting until nearly 5 pm, Jo-Anne and T left for their room at the Comfort Suites in Dunnellen. We walked the dogs then watched an episode of Dark Winds on AMC and one of Clarkson’s Farm on Prime TV. We turned in at 10 pm.

Kayak and boat fishing

We woke at 5 am, did language lessons on Babbel and had our morning beverages until we heard Mark and Cindy moving downstairs. Mark made biscuits while Cindy made sausage gravy; both of which were delicious. Mark and I took Jade and Sage out for a walk in the neighborhood while Mary and Cindy loaded the dishwasher and cleaned up after breakfast. Then they took their own walk. While the wives got ready for church, Mark and I went out in the kayaks to fish.

Kenny with his 30 inch snook

We paddled up Battle Creek to fish around some of the oyster bars in the stream. Mark suggested a hole near an oyster bar that might hold fish. He recommended that I beach the canoe and fish from the oyster bar. By the time I made it to the spot, two teenagers were struggling to get their small aluminum boat through the shallow water. Soon thereafter, an airboat circled through the area and attempted to fish. I waited until everyone left, then casted a gold colored Johnson spoon into the pool catching several ladyfish of all sizes. These ladyfish are not considered palatable, so I turned them loose as soon as I caught them. While they aren’t good to eat, the ladyfish are sometimes called the “poor man’s tarpon “ because of their ability to leap from the water as they attempt to throw the hook. They put up a good fight and are fun to catch. Mark caught a 15-inch sea trout.

Mark and Kenny on the boat

Back at the house we cleaned the kayaks and fishing gear and replaced line on one reel. We cleaned the sea trout that Mark caught and bagged it for a meal later this week.

As we were finishing, Kenny came over with a 30-inch snook that he caught this morning. It is the first day of snook season and only fish between 28 and 32 are legal to keep. We made plans with Kenny to go out in the boat at 3:30, so we had a quick lunch of salad, deli ham and corn chips before we loaded the boat for our evening fishing.

We headed out to try to catch a few redfish from around the mangrove islands in the area. We moved around a lot looking for fish trying the Johnson weedless spoons and plastic paddle-tail jigs. We had a few strikes, and Mark and I caught sea trout that were below the legal limit.  We released them immediately. Kenny caught the only keeper, which was a 21 inch redfish.

Mark retrieving a snagged lure

We fished until the sun was setting around 6:30, then we took the boat back to the dock behind the house. We once again hosed the saltwater from the gear and boat including purging the engine’s water pump. Kenny cleaned his redfish, and we put the equipment away.

We invited Kenny and Jodie to come for fish tacos for dinner in 30 minutes. We cleaned up quickly and came to dinner.

We enjoyed the redfish tacos and the roasted vegetable mix that Jodie brought. We had margaritas that Jodie made and had great conversation over dinner.

After dinner Mark, Cindy, Mary, Kenny and Jodie played cards, while I sent pictures to Kenny and caught up on this journal. We are looking forward to seeing Joann and T tomorrow for a visit then dinner at The Freezer.

Fishing

As usual, we were awake by 5 am. We did a few language lessons on Babbel then went downstairs for breakfast. Mark made egg bites and bagels for breakfast, then he fed and kneaded the sourdough that he started yesterday evening. After breakfast we took the dogs on a short walk on Standish.

We planned to meet Kenny at 8:30, so we came back to the house to prepare for fishing. We loaded life jackets, fishing rods and baits along with sunscreen and water for our morning on the water. Since the morning was damp, we dressed in layers with long pants and long-sleeved T-shirts. The three of us piled into Mark’s boat and went out of the canal into Mason Creek and the surrounding islands.

Redfish

We were casting Johnson  Silver Minnows, weedless spoons, into the oyster beds and near mangrove roots for redfish. The water was very shallow, making maneuvering even the tunnel hull shallow water boat difficult. After fishing for nearly an hour Kenny had caught a ladyfish, an undesirable species which he released, and I had hooked a small sea trout that got off the hook as it was at the boat. After another hour I caught a large 26-inch redfish that put up quite a fight, especially as it neared the boat. It didn’t tire easily and made an exciting time until Mark was able to net the fish. After removing the hook and measuring, we put the fish in the live well, but we were unable to get water to flow into the live well or bait well. We could hear the pump working, but water wasn’t entering the tank. We poured buckets of seawater into the live well until we could figure out the problem.

Sea trout

Mark caught a beautiful sea trout that was just under the 16-inch limit so he released the fish. Kenny caught another ladyfish, then I hooked another large redfish. This fish fought even more than the previous fish, but we were able to net it more quickly. This fish measured 24 inches so was within the legal limit of 18-27 inches. We fished a little longer and caught no more fish. I had a strike that felt like a large redfish, but the fish didn’t stay on the hook. Because Kenny had promised to take his wife, Jodie, to the Homosassa mullet festival this afternoon, we came back to the dock behind Mark’s house by 1:30.

Redfish

Mark and I sprayed the gear with freshwater to clear the saltwater and cleaned the boat. Mark filleted one of the redfish as I assisted, then I filleted the other fish with Mary assisting. Mark looked at the live wells. For some reason that we don’t know, the pumps to the live wells began working as they should. Mary bagged the fish fillets for freezing, and we took our fishing clothes in to be washed.

Lunch was a garden salad with deli turkey and potato chips. The rest of the afternoon we relaxed or napped since we were both very tired. I called Steve Minor to see if he had a good birthday on Wednesday. Mark did the final kneading of his first batch of sourdough bread and put the loaves into large bowls for baking.

Mark and I took the dogs on a quick evening walk then came in for a meal of smoked turkey that we brought from home, a garden salad and plenty of Mark’s sourdough bread. Everything was delicious.

After dinner, Kenny and Jodie stopped by for a short visit. Jodie will go to church with Mary and Cindy tomorrow. We plan to fish with Kenny tomorrow afternoon, although Mark and I may go out fishing tomorrow morning.  I renewed my Florida saltwater fishing license for another year since we were hoping to come to Florida earlier next year.

After Kenny and Jodie left, we watched an episode of Clarkson’s Farm on Prime TV then an episode of Astrid on PBS. This season Astrid seems to have left the original format and become a bit far-fetched. We hope that the show hasn’t “jumped the shark”.