Got Lemons Make Lemonade

We awoke to temps in the 30s and rain but we didn’t let a little cold and rain detract from our vacation. We braved the cold and the rain and headed down to the beach; never mind that I was wearing long johns under my skort, a sweatshirt, and gloves! We spent about 30 minutes on the beach walking and collecting seashells…maybe it wasn’t quite that long but it sure felt like it. We had a nice breakfast at the hotel restaurant where we had the good fortune of talking with one of the original stakeholders in the Island Inn Resort (the resort where we're staying is member owned). He shared a lot about himself and his early life, reminding me of the value of listening to the wisdom of my elders (he is well into his 80s possibly 90s). He told us of a time when he was a young boy growing up in Michigan; he went by a house one day and thought to himself that he would never live in such a crummy dilapidated house only to find himself and his family living in that very house a few months later after theirs was lost to foreclosure during the depression. After breakfast we returned to Tracy’s favorite watering hole where we had a nice lazy afternoon enjoying tea and hot chocolate at Starbucks and then a trip to a fancy grocery store where we bought sandwiches for dinner. Next it was off to the Shell Museum after a pit stop at the store where the accompanying photo was taken. The Shell Museum was very interesting, Tracy really enjoyed the cowry exhibit, and I found the tree snail exhibit most interesting. We made a pit stop back at the hotel before going into the town to see some movies. I got the last ticket for Up In The Air and Tracy got one of the last two tickets for Sherlock Holmes. We returned to our hotel where we relaxed and enjoyed our delicious dinner. Tracy went back to work and worked until 10:00 PM☹ Whew who knew you could have such a full day in SW Florida despite 30 degree temps and rain. We just heard on the news that this was the coldest day on record in SW Florida making us part of history!