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The Second Week Wherever did the first week go? It seemed quiet without Tony and Jane so we went to visit Gretchen's Mother and Father who lived quite near, her mother was really quite poorly but was looked after very well by her husband and the family so they liked to have visitors as she was unable to get about very much. When we arrived we found Gretchen's brother Randy and her son Matt already there so it was a nice family gathering for me to be at, as sadly, she died the week after I left. In the evening we had arranged to go to a Concert on the beach given by the City of Treasure Island presenting the Tampa Bay Symphony in "A Retrospective of 20th Century American Song and Stage" which was to be held on Treasure Island Beach. Here we were to join friends all arriving with a chair to sit on, food and drinks for the evening. Kent took a car load and we all met up at a car park, from here we toted all our gear to the beach and on to where the concert was to be held. There was a big crowd already assembling but we soon found a place for all of us to sit in comfort. Where ever you go in America, always there seems plenty of room for everybody. Here each way you looked there were groups, children playing their own games, running about everywhere, and all busy getting prepared for a lovely evening, with a bright blue sky and the sun still shining down on the beautiful Bay of Mexico. In the distance we could see the big Marquee from which the band and singers would perform. This was relayed across the beach so all could hear and enjoy the evening. The concert was splendid and as the music was from the years between the two world wars I felt it was especially for me! In the first half there were selections from The Student Prince, West Side Story and songs such as Make Believe and The Italian Street Song and many others, it was wonderful. The second half was just as good with Duke Ellington's Medley, Songs from Carousel, Twentiana, songs from the 20's. After a short interval there was a Sing Along for everyone of Songs from the Twenties. The voices of hundreds of people echoed across the beach and so ended the best "open air Concert" I have ever attended. Now it was quite dark, the sun had set over the Gulf and there was a general movement of packing up and leaving the beach. Carrying all we had taken with us, I didn't notice any rubbish left behind, we all made our way following the person in front across this enormous beach. Gretchen remarked that she couldn't see any of our crowd about and perhaps we had missed the path that took us to our car park but there was nothing we could do about it but follow the crowd which we did. After a time the crowd thinned out a bit and we knew we were lost! But some lights now appeared in the distance so along we went, finding ourselves at the back of a large hotel, and very few people about. We went through this hotel and came out on a main road. We must have looked a sorry sight, hoping to sit down after our long walk from the beach but there was nowhere to sit and "Review the Situation". Gretchen went into a shop to see if she could find out where we were, but they were not very interested in us. While we tried to think of the best thing we could do and that was difficult not knowing where we were, or whether it was because of a silent prayer we both must have made, we heard a wee noise in the bottom of one of Gretchen's many bags. It was Kent on a telephone ringing her mobile which of course we had forgotten. He was worried sick as he had been looking for us for half an hour! But he soon came along and we were off home. I don't think he was best pleased having two stupid women on his hands. However it was all over and here was my bed to welcome me and did I need it!!! It was an evening to remember in more ways than one. Another day we visited Kent's mother who lived in a delightful suite of rooms in another type of home for the elderly. She was a very spry lady who could get about on her own, and her flat was above the ground floor where she had a lot of lovely views of Clearwater Bay. It was all very beautiful. We then took her with us to another Mall where there was an open air restaurant right in the middle with many sunshaded tables and once again there was an empty table at your service without any waiting. Again I found it so pleasant not having to wait. You ordered your own food at a desk and we found that they were cooking "Crepes" very similar to the way they served them in France, so once again we were eating but doggy bags were not needed this time. We had such a pleasant afternoon in the Mall, looking around the shops of which there were plenty. Kent's mother met quite a few friends there, before her husband died he had been a minister of a church and I think they remembered her from those days.
After this pleasant day we met up with friends again and went to an Italian restaurant for dinner, excellent food but once again very much too much for me. I had a huge dish of spaghetti bolognaise, even larger than at the previous encounter with an American restaurant. I think it had been engineered by someone to create a big laugh but now I knew of the "Doggy Bag" treatment, nothing was wasted. The end of this wonderful holiday looms not very far ahead as the days fly by. Ruby Bullock |
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page last updated 1 NOVEMBER 2000 |
