Eve of 2008

Day out in Naples
We've had a couple of busy days and some lazy moments too. The weather has continued to be fantastic here, warm and sunny. That is about to change just in time for our departure. A cold front is expected to come through on Wednesday and it is predicted to be near freezing on Thursday morning when we pack up to leave. It should be back up to at least 70F by Friday though. Anyway, the drastic temperature drop caused a flurry of hunting for different clothes for that particular travel day since shorts no longer seemed in order! Debbie has done a last day of laundry and all that remains is final packing and cleaning Margie's house for her housesitters before we go.
We have done quite a bit of last minute sale shopping for things both needed and completely unnecessary. We went to the Annual Naples Art Fair Weekend and strolled the closed off Fifth Avenue, before going out for lunch. Margie bought Debbie a Christmas present for next year. Clay bought arepas for us all to try. (Arepas are a local food in Central and South America. Griddle fried cornmeal cakes filled with cheese, in this case. These were yummy. For lunch, we went to the Dixie Moon Cafe in Bonita Springs. It is in an historic building that used to be a gas station. It is famous for fried smelt (little fishes) and fried green tomatoes and fried chicken (you might be detecting a theme here...). We have finally finished off the Christmas Dinner leftovers! Even Debbie finally got enough turkey sandwiches! Still working on pies and cookies though, and lots of peanut brittle still around. We took Pat (sister of Margie's deceased husband, Rick, and Debbie's aunt) to see Rick's memorial brick at the Hospice House. Debbie, Clay and Pat had never seen it. It was a very nice paved courtyard garden within one of the Hospice House buildings. Finally, last night Clay, Margie, and evidently Bob, were jonesing for some BBQ ribs. So, we went to Rib City where Margie ordered a rack of St. Louis-style and Clay ordered a rack of Baby Back ribs. They agreed upfront to split, so each could half and half. Since Debbie doesn't eat anything with bones, she just had a sandwich. Debbie ordered corn on the cob as her side, Clay ordered baked beans. Clay did not like the baked beans and so swapped for Debbie's corn. Everyone ended up happy. It was decided that the St. Louis-style ribs were the best and no one liked the Carolina-mustard BBQ sauce!
Tonight we are going to the early fireworks at the Naples Pier. Tomorrow we are going to visit Lee's grave (Margie's Mom and Debbie's Grandma). We have a crowd invited for a traditional Southern Good Luck and Good Fortune New Year's dinner later. We'll have country ham, baked sweet potatoes, collard greens, cabbage and black eyed peas. A day of rest and final preparations and then Big O Southern Adventure here we come!