Florida Fun

We have just returned from a wonderful week on the Gulf coast of Florida.  First stop was Sarasota, where my husband Charlie had his one-year check-up at the Dattoli Cancer Center.  Scans and ultrasounds and exams showed no recurrence or new cancer!  Great news!

Then it was on to Lido Key Beach for a couple of days.  We stayed once again at the Sand Castle Resort.  It was only steps to the water from our room, and warm enough to enjoy sitting on the beach.

On Thursday, we drove down to Ft. Myers for the weekend with my brother Jeff, his wife Anna, and their son Michael who has recently graduated from Florida State.  He leaves on Thursday for a new job in Washington, DC, so we were glad for a chance to visit with him, too.

Jeff took us on a boat ride up the Caloosahatchie River in Ft. Myers, right up to the bridge we crossed every day on our trips to Sarasota for Charlie's treatment.

We saw a lot of great sunsets on this trip.  This one is from the deck behind my brother's house.

And on our last night, we sat on the causeway to Sanibel Island and watched our last Florida sunset for awhile.  

Next check-up is in September, and we hope that visit will be just as magical.

Back to Florida

This week it was time for Phase 2 of my husband's cancer treatment in Sarasota, Florida.  Most of our time has been spent on doctor and hospital visits and pre-post op exams.  We are now out of the hospital after a rough night.  I am glad to say that all went well.  I thank God every day for Dr. Michael Dattoli, a prostate cancer expert who has figured out a way to save men's lives from this disease.

He met us at the Sarasota airport!  (That's him in blue on the left on this electronic sign at the airport.)

We did have a couple of nice times this week.  The best was on Tuesday when we drove to Nokomis to meet my brother Jeff and his wife Anna for dinner.  First we went to the North Jetty beach and enjoyed a brief walk just before sunset.

Then we ate at Pop's Sunset Grill.  It was great to see Jeff and Anna again.

The restaurant is on The Inter-coastal Waterway, and it was lovely to watch the boats and birds as the sun set.

This shore bird landed on a roof above us and enjoyed watching us (and our seafood dinners!)

We go back to Raleigh tomorrow, grateful for the chance for healing in this beautiful place.

Paintings Inspired by Gulf Beaches

Today I played with my watercolors, and created two little paintings based on Lido Key, Sarasota, FL.

Lido Key, by Jeanne Turner McBrayer, 2015

Shore Bird, by Jeanne Turner McBrayer, 2015

I love going to the beach, and I love painting with watercolors.  It's good to have the opportunity to do both frequently!

A Beautiful Day

I guess you cannot expect the US Government to launch an Atlas Rocket every morning to entertain us on our morning commute, but the sunrise was once again beautiful to behold.  It usually starts to get colorful just as we cross the Peace River...fitting!  And Venus was shining above.

We got some good news at Dattoli Cancer Center today...starting next week our start time is 8:00 AM rather than 7:40.  We'll take an extra twenty minutes of sleep!

Charlie was finished before 8:30 this morning because we got there early, and we headed right to Lido Key Beach in Sarasota.  What a difference since Tuesday.  The red danger flags were flying then, as there were bad currents and rip tides.  Today the Gulf was like glass.

The lifeguards were doing practice drills today.  Right in front of us.  If they had asked for volunteers to be saved, I would have raised my hand!

I have been watching for dolphins ever since we arrived in mid-August.  Today we were rewarded with many dolphins feeding off-shore.  I could have watched them all day.

On weekdays when we go to the beach in Sarasota, we pack sandwiches in the cooler and eat on the beach.  Some of the gulls are very aggressive trying to eat people food.  I have had my sandwich stolen out of my hand twice.  Today this guy landed right in my lap.  Of course you are not supposed to feed them.

Tonight is the beginning of college football season.  Are you ready for some football?

Beautiful beach weekend

If you have read my blog at all, you may know that I love the North Carolina mountains...but if you drive three hours south instead of west, you come to my other favorite location...Sunset Beach, North Carolina, the last beach in the state before reaching South Carolina. We took a little walk Friday morning...in winter coats. It is always breath-taking to walk down the long boardwalk across the dunes and see the Atlantic appear before us.

Although we had lingered on the deck over several cups of morning coffee, I was surprised to still see traces of sunrise in the sky, and silvery reflections on the water.

Charlie and I were the only ones there Thursday night and most of the day Friday. We walked all the way to the jetty.

The birthday boy was king of the hill as he climbed up on the rocks.

The kids enjoyed playing in the sand on the beach the next day.

Wish it could have warmed up a bit, but it was gorgeous and sunny. Good kite-flying weather!

The beach was mostly deserted except for the occasional dog walker and lots of shore birds.Not much trouble finding a spot on the beach. This view is facing Ocean Isle Beach to the north, with its giant eyesore condo building sticking up like a sore thumb.

I have lots more pics and will share a few each day.