Sunshine State - III

Apr 27, 2005

Back in Brooklyn. Florida was a lovely change with warm weather and lush surroundings. Today, back home, it was cool and rainy, as if to let us know for sure - the vacation's over, bud.

Our trip gave us the opportunity to visit different friends who are down south. In fact, a good part of our five days was spent visiting various friends. Of course, there were Bea and Walter, my aunt and uncle, of whom I've already written.

Stacey's parents' best friends were Pauline and Sydney Price. Syd is gone and Pauline, the former Brooklyn gal, then New Jerseyite, now resides in Boynton Beach. We usually drop in on her when we're down in those parts and this year was no exception. On Monday, we called her up and she said to come on over right away as she had a doctor's appointment later in the day. She joked, but only half-kiddingly, that doctor's appointments were the main activity of many seniors down here.

Last year when we visited, Pauline was sharing a rather luxurious condo with her daughter Susan. Susan got her own place since then and Pauline has moved into more modest digs in Boynton Beach. This puts her in the same development as her good friend, Monroe. Paul is on the 2nd floor and Monroe on the 4th. Very convenient.


We visit Pauline.

Pauline is one of those great people that you just love to spend time with. A sharp wit and a caring woman, she always made me feel welcome. Her friend, Monroe, is a very interesting chap. He's a very talented sculptor and that's evident in the work that is in both Pauline's and his own apartment. Besides that, he showed us a video tape in which he appears on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1953 as part of a 3-man acrobatic group: Los Gatos. Wow. We were impressed.


Monroe and one of his alabaster creations.


Another of Monroe's sculptures.

Our friends, Barbara and Mark, the so-called snowbirds, are down in Florida also. We always spend some time with them - either haunting the various crafts fairs or joining them for dinner. This time around we met them twice for dinner. The second time around we celebrated Mark's 58th birthday at J.B.'s On The Beach in Deerfield Beach. Nice.


Barbara and Mark - he wants to forget his birthday?

We ended our stay in Florida with a last lunch with my uncle and aunt. After lunch we hung out with them back at their house, took a last trip to the antique mall a few blocks away and then drove to Fort Lauderdale airport for our 8:35 pm flight on Delta back to LaGuardia and New York.


Stacey, Walter and Bea - after lunch at Mon Ami.

Thomas, our Georgian (the Georgia over there, near Russia) picked us up and dropped us at Underhill Avenue close to midnight. I tapped on the window and rang the bell to see if Pumpkin was still "talking" to us. She came running to the window, very happy, we think, to see us - she had been alone since last Thursday (our lovely neighbors, once again, visited and fed her on a daily basis). We were happy to be home - she was too - happy to have us home.


Pumpkin - happy to have some company again.