Today our lovely stay with Fran and Dave in their Tampa Bay Golf Club home came to an end and this afternoon we drove 1 hour south to Bradenton to stay with my almost-nephew, Danny. But first a last morning with Fran and Dave who’ve been the kindest and most generous of hosts. Bob had a last round of golf with Dave – the sun was back again – and Fran and I sat and chatted over coffee and snacks. We’ve had a lovely time there and think they have found the most amazing place to spend their retirement.

Danny also lives in a lovely South Florida village development. Lots of well groomed single storey houses on beautiful tree lined streets with frequent lakes and walking trails. There are a lot of what I think are southern oak trees dripping with moss plus the ubiquitous palm trees and tropical plants and shrubs.

He too has made us so welcome and after a catch up we went out for a walk through the woods surrounding his nearby lake. It was a nice trail as the afternoon cooled down a bit and the trees were lovely. We saw many birds – herons, cormorants, ducks, egrets – and one enormous alligator sunning himself on a sandy bank.

Then he took us for dinner to a nearby pizza restaurant which serves hand made baked pizzas with very unusual toppings. Just delicious. We also had some rocket salads with pink peppercorns and lemon oil dressings. Spent the rest of the evening talking over old times and new. Danny is a great traveller too and we like to swap stories and to reminisce about family members and previous stays together. We had a very good evening. Tomorrow we begin to explore around here.