March Trips

By Paula Bragg

 March 2^nd – Strawberry Festival

This was our third and last trip to the Strawberry Festival in Plant City. It was the usual ‘eat fest’ with strawberry shortcake galore! (And, as the picture shows, chocolate covered bacon was once again available, along with popcorn, fries, hot dogs, corn dogs, deep-fried veggies & pickles, bloomin’ onions, elephant ears, sandwiches of all kinds, ice cream …. the list goes on and on.) Our bus record was four strawberry shortcakes, yes you read that right, by one very innocent-looking lady. She figured that the fun of being a senior is doing what you want. We all agree with that. The Festival was great fun. We ran three trips this year so we’re sure we saw and did everything. I personally saw lumberjacks, pig racing and concerts. And, as if we weren’t on strawberry overload, many of us took more strawberries home!

March 9^th - Ringling Bros.

Ringling Brothers are always associated with the magic of our youth (train would come into town and 4 ½ hours later tents were up and they were prepared for the first show). There were exotic animals, clowns and spectacular high wire and trapeze acts. But at their winter home in Sarasota, besides the two circus museums (full of every kind of circus memorabilia one can remember), there’s the John and Mabel Ringling home (Ca d’Zan) overlooking the water, a rose garden, a secret garden, and a fantastic art museum with grounds to die for (trees, fountains, statues). A spectacular day!

March 15^th – Mystery Trip

Sunday afternoon and our bus started off on a mystery trip, destination known only to the driver (since the escort didn’t trust herself to keep the secret and hadn’t known where the bus was going). It was a beautiful day for a boat ride and that’s just what we did: Went up the Homosassa River, saw ‘monkey island’ with monkeys swinging and grooming each other, passed a bird sanctuary, gazed up at an osprey nest high in a tree ….. all in all, a beautiful, leisurely ride. We were too late for manatee sightings because of the early warming spell. Upon our return, we were ushered into a private room overlooking the water for dinner (we ALWAYS seem to be on time to eat). It was another successful mystery trip planned by our leader, Norm.

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