Fri - Feb 23/18

There was Heavy Dew that will burn off after 9 a.m. with the sunshine. Will get close to 90 F today. and will be uncomfortable with the humidity.

The day started with the "Birth" of "Florence the Flamingo". Sooo Cute!

Our first stop today is Publix for the lottery tickets as well as Charlotte's weekly "Woman's World" magazine.

Next on our agenda was the Lake County Quilters Guild show in Mt. Dora. As in previous years it is being held at the same venue: Lake Receptions. This is Charlotte's treat. I sent her in with $$ and orders to "take your time" while I listen to music in the car.

I kept an eye open for closer parking spots. Around 11:30, as I predicted, folks started to leave for lunch. Sometimes I got closer with several moves. This year I was lucky and got ACAP (As Close As Possible) on the first try. Surprisingly, she found me immediately (grin) and was eager to show what she had bought.

Lunch once again was at Gator's of Umatilla for their excellent AYCE (All You Can Eat) Fish Fry (Haddock) and the best fries that I have had anywhere since we have arrived south. Although it was a little after 1 p.m. they were crowded. As usual, Charlotte ordered the pan seared and I ordered the (deep) fried. Both were absolutely excellent. We each had an extra piece and left stuffed.

Then it was back to OMS by 2 p.m. to enjoy the A/C and TV in the RV during the heat of the day. OK! I know that's an old line. I used it yesterday. (grin)

We had planned on going to Brownwood (Square in The Villages) for the Strawberry Festival; however we decided going there and to JoAnn would be cutting things a little close due to the Blood, Sweat and Tears concert was starting at 5 p.m. We decided it was more important to just stop at JoAnn instead on the way to the show. Charlotte wanted to pick up another "No Sew" quilt kit to make for a friend that is going in for Cancer Breast Surgery in early March.

We continued from there on to the Savannah Center for the Jazz/Fusion band Blood, Sweat and Tears concert. The entrance hall was packed as usual. As in The Villages "Squares" before the nightly concerts, the "Villagers" like to buy and drink and stand around and talk before the show.

BS and T have been a favourite group of ours since the late 60's when the Canadian lead singer, David Clayton-Thomas (from Toronto), belted out hits like "And When I Die", "Spinning Wheel", "Lucretia McEvil" and "You Make Me So Very Happy".

Their self-titled album "Blood, Sweat and Tears" took 3 Grammy Awards and actually beat out the Beatles "Abbey Road" for the Top Album Grammy.

Although David is no longer singing with the band, BS and T (originally founded by Bobby Colomby) continues on with "World Class" musicians belting out their greatest hits at venues from CA to NY to FL (this year alone). In fact, they play all over the world. They recently returned from Norway and will be heading to Germany for their next show. 50 years later it is still great to hear these hits. It was a fantastic high energy concert combining a great mix of the BS and T songs and well-chosen covers of classics! Bo Bice, the lead singer, (Runner up to Carrie Underwood in American Idol) brings the same "High Volume" voice style and energy as David Clayton-Thomas to the BS and T stage. The show was amazing!

After the show we went for planning on going for supper at Chili's. As usual, it was packed so Charlotte decided on "Steak and Shake" in Leesburg. It was also packed; but at least we could get in and served. As usual, the service here was slow.

Then it was our usual evening "Well Lit" route back to OMS on US-27/US-441/CR-19. "Well Lit" refers to the road - not us! (grin)

Wow! This was a very busy day.

Note: I couldn't connect to Stu's Wi-Fi last night and it would have been too late by the time I packed up the computer and went to the MPR, so I did the blog first thing Saturday morning.