The Picking Sisters Pick Vieques!

WHAT? A trip without picking? Yes, I believe they spell that v-a-c-a-t-i-o-n. W e headed off to the island of Vieques for 4 days of tropical adventure to celebrate our respective 60th birthdays. How was the road at sixty? Nothing short of divine. Never had I been without TV or computer for so long or missed it less.

Vieques is a short flight on a teeny plane from Puerto Rico. See how close I am to the pilot .

Being a horse lover, I was tickled to see them everywhere. They have the run on the island along with roosters and dogs. 

This is a crab "farm". They trap the land crabs and fatten them up before eating.

Primitive? Or efficient!

 Gorgeous flowers and brightly painted homes. Fabulous food. Beautiful and sparsely populated beaches. We snorkeled, swam, kayaked and walked to take in the scenery and the blue-green water of the Caribbean.

The biggest draw for us was the Bio Bay. We joined 16 other double kayaks out into the pitch black water with our guide to see one the world's last bioluminescent bays. The water lights up in a moonstone green everywhere the water is touched by the kayak, the paddle or your hand. When you pull your hand out of the water, it looks as if there are diamonds dripping from it. No photos can capture it, but the memories of a starlit night and watching fish light up the water are worth the dreaded taking off of the shoes for the TSA.

We rode horses on the beach and weaved in and out of hills with stunning views of the mountains and the water. 

Sweet Murphy was a pleasure to ride.

Seeing all of this from horseback was dream-like. I hope to return to the island soon...

Old Timey Florida A1A Sale

We call this part of Florida the part that time forgot and we LOVE it just for that reason. A1A is a pre-interstate coastal highway that runs parallel and next to the Atlantic ocean. It is reassuring to see icecream sherbert colored motels in sleepy beach towns that so fondly remind us of the long car trips we took to Florida as children. Add in a 72 mile highway yard sale and we could not resist!

 How cute was thisTown Hall right on the beach?

 This is the house next to our motel. No Disney attraction, just some fun folks with pirate statues everywhere. 

It doesn't get more casual than parrots painted on a lawyers office.

We can't resist whatever these corny wooden photo ops are called. Here's Laura in a "turtle" beside the road in a trailer park.

This was the Southernmost end of the sale so we stayed here overnight. Just in case the children think we're spending their inheritance on lush digs on our picking trips, check out the "smoking section" below. Each room in our motel had a plastic chair and ashtray outside for the convenience of the guests.

You know you're in Florida

when Donald Duck sits on a restaurant's mailbox.

Who knew there was a town actually called Marineland, Florida.

 How cool is this dolphin cement fencing?

Dawn! We are up before the sun to get to the good stuff. This next photo isn't dark - it wasn't daylight yet. Sleepy, but ready for the treasure hunt.

Off to an early start we followed A1A up to Ponta Vedra. Along the way we enjoyed seeing grapefruit trees growing in lots of yards.

Want to see the vintage booty?

A lovely set of Abe Lincoln bookends

An amazing stash of old patterns

The fish painting is an addition to Jeri's $1.00 or less original art gallery,

The Chinese Checker board may end up in Jeri's office and our friend and Doris Day fan Pammie will get the albums.

We found these in the box of Christmas ornaments. It's Florida, what else would you expect?

No, we didn't buy it...

These fabulous Shiny Brites came out of the box of Christmas ornaments we bought!

Look what we found for Jeri!

This is the toy refrigerator Jeri bought last summer on the Peachtree Sale. Check out the fruit we found in Florida and the teeny tiny Coke can!