Just like a jigsaw puzzle, our plans hinge on putting all of the pieces together, and creating a finished product – which in this case is a big trip to Florida this month! 
The only piece we have booked is 4 days at Disney/Epcot with good friends who are Disney aficionados:  hitting the best rides, savoring delicious food at great restaurants, and enjoying a few adult beverages. Should be a blast!  That’s the Where & When, now to plan the How.

The next piece involves heading west to Tampa/St. Pete  where our RV is getting a “face-lift” at Lazy Days, the largest  RV dealership in the US.  While there, we are going to Ybor City to buy good cigars and eat at The Colombia Restaurant, famous for it’s Paella & sangria. I’d also like to visit Weeki Wachee to see the mermaid show. I was there in the late 50’s with my mother and great-aunt, and have adored mermaids ever since. (This beauty is hanging in our dining room). I’m pretty sure my Mom would have loved to have been a Weeki Wachee mermaid.

Other plans include visiting the Salvador Dali museum, and the summer mansions of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. We also get to spend time with dear friends from Boca Raton who are coming to meet us for a few days.

Then we head down toward The Keys, with no particular schedule or time frame, which will be a completely new thing for both of us!

I’m sure the rest of the pieces will all fall into place: visiting NASA, a stop at Key Largo to see THE boat used in one of my fave movies, “The African Queen.”  I’d also like to have cocktails at the picturesque hotel on Islamorada where “Bloodlines” was filmed.

In Key West, I plan to dodge all of the tourists who are dropped off daily, by the boatload. I’ve not been there for years, and I’m hoping that by riding bicycles, and staying off the main streets, we can still experience pieces of what has made Key West so alluring.
I’d like to see the trained cats at Mallory Pier that fascinated my friend T. Farr. And I’d like to visit Hemingway’s home again, now that I’ve read his work.
Top that off with a perfect slice of Key Lime Pie and a tropical sunset… and I’ll be one happy camper!

XO Donna

(If you have suggestions for must-dos, I’d love to hear from you in the comments!)