Way Down Upon the Swanee River

A hundred fifty channels and nothing worth watching. Oh...and nothing to wear, either.

The Suwannee River

There really is such a place: the Suwannee River, running through this short stretch of northern Florida, enshrined forever on the altar of American folklore thanks to composer Stephen Foster. He has his own historic site north of here close to the Georgia border. (Along with "Swanee", Foster wrote "Beautiful Dreamer", "My Old Kentucky Home", and "I Dream of Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" in honor of his wife.)

We parked the rig in a cute RV park called "Old Town Campground 'n Retreat", tucked away in a small town called "Old Town" tucked away on Highway 19/98. Tucked right alongside, believe it or not, was a trailer four feet shorter than ours. 13 1/2 feet long, barely housing a Canadian couple with a large yellow golden retriever. They've been sitting in this little sunspot, escaping the Canadian winter for some three months. We talked to them briefly and they said, "Yeah, it's small. But at least we're still married. It's manageable. Eh." I guess it just goes to show you that some folks are willing to do damn near anything to escape the cold, especially at our age.



Today we're moving on. We had the choice of two parks down close to St. Petersburg. One is Vacation Village in the town of Largo just north of St. Pete. The other is in Land 'O Lakes northeast of St. Pete. It's called the "Riverboat Nudist Resort." It advertises "totally nude camping" and adds that the volleyball pool is very popular. Duh. We think we're going with Vacation Village. Especially at our age. We somehow can't imagine exposing Daisy to a bunch of old farts totally exposed.

Yesterday we wrapped up an overnight stay with our friends Dan and Martha at their home in the aptly-named town of Niceville on the far northwest coast of Florida. A beautiful spot and a much welcome respite--a chance to stretch the legs and enjoy Martha's wonderful cooking in their screened in Florida room with a large pool, spa and two porpoises spitting water. The only caveat was Daisy wasn't able to run and play with their five-month-old retriever "Sally". She had just been spayed and still had her stitches. It was all we could do to keep them apart and settled down.

Dan and Martha are great hosts and if they're reading this a big "Thank you, thank you, thank you." And remember: we're returning pretty much the same way so make sure our rooms are ready. Or make sure your doors are locked, your lights are off and don't answer the phone.