Dateline Dayton – After attending the auction in Atlanta for an hour and spending the rest of the day in Georgia, we resumed our journey to Florida, aiming to reach my aunt in Sun City by late Friday afternoon.
Although we were on schedule, my aunt’s social didn’t allow for such a visit on Friday. We just continued driving south to Venice, where our friends Ray and Darlene live. We would not see them until after having supper at the Shamrock Café.
The next morning, Ray and I went over to the Dome, a flea market in Venice. Once we returned, it was to the beach for a hot dog before attending the regular Saturday afternoon concert at Nan’s and Gale’s community center. The concert was a little disappointing. They only played a couple of Irish tunes. However, two younger guys with the group were outstanding, and they compensated for the lack of Irish music.
Afterward, we headed over to the island for window shopping. Since the cathedral is there, we decided to attend Saturday evening Mass. After church, we enjoyed supper at Made in Italy, also on the island. Ray, Darlene and Pauline had pizza. I had lasagna, which was good, but Tony’s, in the Dayton suburb of Englewood is the best.
We slept in Sunday morning, and returned to the Shamrock Café for a late breakfast/early lunch. They were serving green scrambled eggs since it was St. Patrick’s Day. I ordered scrambled eggs, but, disappointingly, they were plain old yellow. You had to order the special to get green, the way Darlene did.
In the evening, we joined Nan and Gale, along with Jan and Bill, and we all drove over to a small shopping center restaurant to celebrate St. Patrick’s. We had a great time and enjoyed some very good food. Everyone had to make a trip to check out the restrooms, which were super clean and well lit.
Monday morning always has meant a shopping trip to a store that gives seniors a discount. I bought a shirt and a display case, and Pauline found a few items. We went to Peaches for lunch. In the afternoon, Ray and I visited a car museum, which had its grand opening that day. The girls continued their shopping at another location.
The museum was a disappointing because the cars were not in good condition, and they were for sale. It was a glorified car lot. Even though the cars were for sale, they could not be purchased at that site. Otherwise, they might have lost their tax status if cars were sold at the museum.
On Tuesday, Ray and I headed south to try another car museum. Arriving at noon, we took advantage of the diner inside the museum. We had no more than finished eating and the light went out. Since we knew we wouldn’t have another chance to visit, we asked if we could enter.
There was w emergency lighting, and the sunlight helped, too. We were given the go-ahead, but told to be careful. While walking around, we ran into a man dressed in a service uniform, the kind mechanics use to wear. We asked if he took care of the cars in the museum. He turned out to be a gofer, doing whatever was necessary. The next man who approached owned all of the cars in the museum. He gave us the history of his extensive collection and a second museum he operates.
On Wednesday we went to a baseball exhibition in Sarasota, between the Orioles and the Blue Jays, in the old stadium that the Cincinnati Reds used before they shifted their spring training headquarters to Arizona. Rain threatened the entire way, and by the end of the second inning, an hour and half later, it was pouring. Time to leave.
That evening we had supper with Nan and Gale, and we went back to their place for a game of cards. We ended up playing two games, which took until after midnight, and the men won both.
Next week: The rest of the trip and our drive home.
Mr. Hennessey may be contacted at pmhenn@sbcglobal.net
