Sarasota, Naples, Dog Track

Today is Saturday already, where did the week go? Larry and Kathy arrived last Saturday and are scheduled to leave tomorrow. This week has gone by way to fast.

We have done something almost everyday except Thursday when we just sat, the weather was great and we decided we weren’t going anywhere or do anything.

What we did do was we went to O'Leary's Tiki Bar and Grill for lunch one day. They have good food but I like it because it is on the bay and you can sit outside and eat. Then we walked around the bay. As I have stated before there are some very nice boats docked in the bay. This area has walking paths where you can walk, observe the boat in the bay and those which are docked. The path is one half mile and is marked in quarter mile increments so you know how far you have walked. There is a children’s playground and benches everywhere to sit and read, think or just watch the people and believe me watching the people there can be very entertaining.

There is a fountain

showing dolphins coming up out of the water. It was donated by a company who has a restaurant on the bay.

The other interesting item in this area is the statue of the sailor kissing the nurse at the end of WWII. This sculpture was done by J. Seward Johnson and purchased for the city by Jack Curran and with the help of the veterans organizations in town was able to donate the sculpture to the city and place it where it is today. It is fun to watch all the people having their picture taken by the sculpture and even more fun to see how many look up the skirt.

Wednesday we went to visit our cousin Kurt Hoenig, he lives in Naples and is a realtor. So if you are planning on buying property in FL give him a call he can sell anywhere in the state. None of us had ever been to Naples but with the help of Samantha, Larry’s GPS system we were able to easily find Handsome Harry’s restaurant where Kurt was saving a table for us. We had a great lunch and conversation but after two hours it was time to walk off lunch. So we walked out to the beach. It was fabulous, the blue of the water, the whiteness of the sand and the sound of the surf coming ashore. There is a pier located here, the original was built in the late 1800’s but was destroyed by a hurricane. It was rebuilt by a local resident for the public use of the town. There is a snack shop about half way out on the pier, the pier is probably two hundred yards long. Fishing is allowed off the pier without a license, fish cleaning stations are located at the mid point and the end of the pier.

Yours truly.

A view of the beach from the pier.

Looking back to the shore from the end of the pier. The group, L to R, me, Sarah, Larry, Kurt and Kathy.Another shot of the gulf and the shoreline.

We capped off the day by going to Killian’s Chocolates and Ice Cream, we each had some ice cream and it was delicious. We had a great time visiting with Kurt and seeing where he lives.

Yesterday Kathy and Larry went to the Ringling Museum, we didn’t go because we had already gone and I didn’t want to spend the money. Sarah and I hung around the camper and did nothing, I love this life.

About five we were in the mood to find a place to have supper and decided to go to the Sarasota Kennel dog track to see what they had to offer. I thought it was a casino with slots etc. but all they had there was the dog track and poker. The dog races were to begin at 7:30 so we decided to eat in the Hungry Hounds Café, Kathy had a chili dog and her review of it was “not good”, the rest of us liked our meals. So we are wondering what happens to the dogs who come in last. Any ideas?

We stayed for all 12 races and had a great time. We went to the same window for betting and winnings, the lady helped us with the lingo etc. On the first race, we not knowing any better, placed our bets and the #3 dog came in first, Kathy had bet on it, but when she went to claim her $2.60 winnings, we bet big all night, the ticket came up with no winnings. On further examination of the ticket Kathy had bet on the #3 dog at the Naples track. So we had our first lesson in betting at the track, always look at the ticket you get. At this track you can place bets at 14 other tracks therefore it is important you say the track name when you place your bet. We learned in placing a bet there to say, name of track, dollar amount to bet, what type of bet, win-place or show, and dog number. We all won occasionally, Larry was putting his winnings in one pocket and paying out of another pocket, he was up $40 or so by the 12th race. I won $7+ a couple of times and $11+ a couple of times so I figured I was up a couple of dollars. So on the 12th race we wanted to end with a bang, the cashier was telling us all night we should play the Quenelle because you can win big money. Also, she had told us that any dog having the name beginning with Boc usually placed. So the 12th had two dogs with Boc in the name. We bet $24 on 4-7-5 dogs and 4-7-8 came in the money. It paid $43 according to the board. You would have thought we won the lottery, this win put us in the black for the evening. We went to the window to cash in and discovered we were wrong. We didn’t win the $43 like we thought but $172 because we had bet 4 $6 tickets, we needed to multiply the $43 by 4. Well, now you would thought we won the Irish Sweepstakes, this definitely put us in a winning position for the night. Tony, aka Kathy, had the program and was figuring the which dogs we should bet on, she was correct the majority of the night. We had a good time and may do it again.

Today we are relaxing, it is cold outside 52 degrees right now at noon. We are just going to hang out for the day.

Dreams Do Come True