Christmas in Perish, FL with friends from grade school was on the docket for this year and we had a great time! We arrived at their beautiful new home around eleven on the 24th to pick them up and head to Ybor City. While in Ybor we had a drink and appetizer at the Columbian and then Carmines before heading to the Tampa Bay Brewing Company for a drink and then a delicious dinner. Duffey is hooked on their meatloaf that Guy Fieri ate on his show. Gerald tried to meatloaf and said it was not the type he was used to, this is made with steak and we usually use hamburger! The sidewalks in Ybor are getting in bad shape with areas that have unleveled cement areas and Gerald caught his toe in one of these and took a very graceful fall. He did a drop and roll that looked like a gymnast and except for a few scratches that broke the skin he did not break any bones. We have seen the results of two ladies on Sanibel that fell and they were not as lucky as Gerald.

On December 25, we opened gifts and that was a fun time of giving and receiving. It was great to watch Anne open presents from her son Justin that he had wrapped in boxes that led her to believe she was receiving racks for the top of her car or used towels when it was really something she wanted, the look on her face was priceless. We had breakfast and then took our time getting ready to head to the beach on Anna Marie Island.

This beach has sand very different from the sand on Sanibel, there were very few shells but we did see people swimming out to a sand bar and picking up Sand Dollars. We sat under of the shade of our umbrella for a couple of hours watching the people, the beach was packed with vacationers. Around 3 we decided to eat at an outdoor restaurant serving a full dinner of turkey and ham and all the fixings. Our plates were running over and we ate at tables on the beach, it was a great way to spend Christmas day and have a delicious Christmas dinner.

December 26 arrived and it was time for us to return to Sanibel. We wanted to leave before the real traffic began on the 27th. Traffic was heavy near Tampa and Sarasota but once past this area the traffic thinned. It is an hour drive on the highway and then another 40 minutes drive through Ft. Meyers to get to Sanibel, not really that bad to get to see friends!

Once at home on Sanibel we rested for about an hour and then took an  11 mile bicycle ride around the island in hopes of wearing off some of the delicious cookies Anne had made and we ate with delight. After the ride we showered and spent the remainder of the night watching TV.