South Florida Visit

Margaret Anne's idea of "Art"

MY idea of Art!!

On Thursday, we packed up the RV and packed up grandbabies CJ and Margaret Anne, and off we went to Davie to visit Uncle Jay and Aunt Ashley and little "B'Zanna" (well, that's what 2 -1/2 year old Savannah is calling herself these days!) We came down the "back way" -- down old Highway 27 through citrus country, cattle country, and into sugar cane country. What a pleasant, "old Florida" trip!

CJ and Margaret Anne outside of the lovely Clewiston Inn in -- where else?? Clewiston FL. It was a beautiful sunny south Florida day!

Although Jason had warned us about getting to the mega-populated area known as Southeast Florida after about 3:00 p.m., we decided to stop for lunch in Clewiston anyway. There they have the Clewiston Inn, an old antebellum style restaurant and inn. It is always worth the time to stop for a lovely buffet of Southern cooking and hospitality. It was built by U.S. Sugar Corp. in a time when everyone in the area worked for the sugar companies or worked to supply them.

Now, foreign companies produce sugar more cheaply, and US sugar cannot compete. The company is going out of business, and the US government is buying up much of their huge land holdings to return the Kissimmee River and the Everglades back to their original condition -- thousands of acres back in government hands, and American sugar consumers at the whim of other nations. It was a little sad, wondering what will happen to this wonderful place after "sugar" is gone. But the visit was, as expected, pleasant.

On we went through miles and miles of cane fields, sharing about the production of sugar with CJ and Margaret Anne. The population per square mile is much like our home community in Central FL, but that was all to change!! Once we hit "Alligator Alley", which crosses the state of FL on the southern tip, there they were! Rows and rows of condos, houses, apartment complexes . . . where did these spring up from?? And the roads were commensurate with the houses. Zoom!! Zip!! I always forget what driving down here is like!

Well, we got connected and set up in a lovely urban park in Hollywood and then met up with the "other Frodges" for dinner together at the Buca di Beppo Italian Family Restaurant. I had not heard of this chain before Jason and Ashley took us there once before, and then I requested dinner there last night! It is wonderful food! Danny is the Olive Garden enthusiast in our family, but I am sold on Buca!

Hmmm, I am beginning to think this post needs to be put on pause for Part 2!