A Sunny New Years

Just before New Year’s, Marie’s nephew Bradley paid us a surprise visit.  He and his wife were in Englewood and hour north of here for Christmas, so he came down.  We chatted and went to Bucketts for pizza night.  A few days later his mom and dad arrived too for a short visit – Kevin and Phyllis from St Jean, NB.

The happy family

Marie with brother Kevin at Bowditch Beach Park

With Phyllis

Things progressed quickly and we went up to Englewood for a return visit.  The beach there is superb with even more shells than Sanibel.  Very low key, less commercialized and no traffic adds to the ambience of this lesser known beach destination.

Brad and Heather are teachers living in Shanghai

Brad has led an interesting life.  He is a phys ed teacher at international private schools having lived in Bucharest, Abu Dabi, Mexico, Madagascar, (elsewhere) and now China.  He and Heather live in downtown Shanghai and scooter to work every day.  Heather’s mom and dad are from Michigan and live in Florida where Brad and Heather hope to retire in 10 years.  Pretty cool.

After beach time, we made it to a nearby church for a beautiful New Year’s Eve service that was packed.

Stopping to get some refreshments on the way back to Brad and Heather’s condo, we were stunned to arrive just in time, without planning, to take this photo.

That’s Brad and Heather in the shadows

We had a feast of lobster claws, crab claws, sauerkraut, homemade squares and Christmas cake that Phyllis had brought.  All washed down with copious quantities of IPA, red and white wine, rum etc.  What a great family New Years celebration.  We then headed (3 min walk) to Flounders for live entertainment, mostly outside, typical Florida casual.

Happy New Year!

We said our good byes in the morning after breakfast at Denny’s.  Marie and I stopped at Boca Grande – like Sanibel but without the crowds.  One of the nicest beaches you will find anywhere around here surrounded by water on 3 sides.

In the moment, we give thanks to the Lord for a great 2016 and we enter 2017 with much hope, excitement and anticipation of Kyle and Ashley’s wedding in May.  Bye for now.