Elite Resorts at Citrus Valley - February

 

In upper right, my location is on the corner of Pine and Sunshine

Greetings and welcome to Elite Resort at Citrus Valley in Clermont, FL. This is my fourth stay at Elite, fifth in the area. This is corner lot 120. I was fortunate enough to make arrangements for the February/March 2024 season. If you care to share some of my past memories here, the links below will call up my blogs from the past.

2015 3 blogs

2016 3 blogs including Ft. Wilderness

2018 

2020 

The fastest month I've ever experienced has just passed and with so many memories, I'm choosing to just list all that stood out as wonderful experiences. This is a recap of friends getting together, dining out, weather and relaxation...total relaxation. This is what this month was all about. Thank you, Roberta for some of the photos.

The passing of comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) on 2/1st was a nice excuse for me to invite friends over to perhaps catch a glimpse of the rare event when it reached perigee. There were ten of us. After all, it took 50,000 years to arrive in our part of the solar system. Only one of our members may have been around to see the last passing. I set up my telescope and was prepared with drinks and coffee for whomever showed up. The moon was approaching its fullness (Sunday, February 5^th) so viewing a green glowing speck in the sky didn’t work but most got view the surface of the moon as it rose overhead, so not all was lost. It was more fun chatting around the fire later in the evening.

Dining Experiences:

While the ladies lunched at The Back Porch Restaurant, we five gents (Ray, Tony, Jack, Ray) visited the Friar Tuck restaurant for a Friday lunch. British in theme with classic English fare. Be sure to check out each website. “We don't serve fast food, we just serve great fresh food."  This was evident as we sat, chatted and sipped our beers. We were there three hours as our freshly made portions of Cottage Pies, Steak and mushroom pie and Chicken pot pie were prepared. The owner, Colin, mentioned their ovens weren’t reaching the proper temperature which caused a delay in the cooking time but, in the end, well worth the wait.  

Cottage Pie:
A classic meal made with slow cooked ground beef and vegetables, baked with a mashed potato topping. Had the meat been lamb, it would've been called a Shepard's Pie.

Bread Pudding:
For dessert, I had a warm bread pudding with a toffee sauce and Devon custard.

Every other Saturday morning, breakfast was at the clubhouse. There, for $6.00, they alternated serving scrambled eggs, French toast, biscuits/gravy, bacon and/or sausage with coffee and orange juice. All proceeds go their Toy Drive.

One Sunday, Ray and Kathy were gracious enough to host a get together at their home just outside the Resort area.

Not really "social distancing" just looks that way.

Bob

Janet

Doreen & Tony

Sharon

  

Noreen, Kathy & Sue

Roberta

The group of nine went into Disney's Boardwalk and dined at Trattoria Al Forno. Prior to dinner, we hopped onto a boat and the Skyline, took in the sights before heading for dinner. 

L.toR. Charlie, Janet, Roberta, George, Vicki, Sue, Ray, Doreen, Tony

Our waiter, Karl

Tony, Doreen, Sue, Ray, Charlie, Roberta, Janet, George, Vicki

Truffle Gnocchi in a Parmesan, Fontina, Pecorino Cream

One Friday, we traveled to Eustis, FL for a Veteran Fund Raiser variety show. First, we dined at the OakWood Smokehouse and Grill.

Pulled pork with baked sweet potato and Sam's slaw and garlic toast. Cinnamon butter is made on premises with butter, cinnamon, brown sugar and honey.

An afternoon lunch at Flippers with Tony, Doreen and Sue

Another evening we visited the Longhorn Steakhouse in West Kissimmee. The group: Noreen/Jack, Roberta/Tony, Sue, Roberta and me. 

Afterwards we watched "A Man Called Otto" starring Tom Hanks.
Promoted as a "Comedy Drama"...it wasn't! Drama, yes; Comedy, no.

Then there was a breakfast Saturday morning at Tony/Doreen's site. Ray and Tony cooking up eggs, Ray cooking up Kathy's Belgium waffles, Vicki's oatmeal, and Roberta's and Fran's fresh fruit bowls. Along with bacon and sausages prepared by Doreen, Sharon baked chocolate chip and blueberry muffins.

An afternoon lunch with...

...Walter, Ray and Tony

Fish 'n Chips...Outstanding with a mug of Harp

Another "Boys Night Out" at Robata Japanese Steakhouse

Tony, Walter, Ray and Moi. Lots of jumbo shrimp.

If you've ever enjoyed these presentations, you know how he put that fire out.

Some attended the "Sock Hop" as well as "Line Dancing."

You can provide your own captions

We returned to the Oakwood Grill. to celebrate Sue and Ray's last meal here in Florida. They departed for their trip back to Troy, NY, the next day after their one month stay. Our large crowd of fourteen included: Ray/Kathy, Mike/Chrissy, Fran/Walter, Sue/Ray, Tony/Doreen, Jack/Noreen, Roberta and me. This crowd was superbly handled by young Adelyn, our waitress. 

This time around, I enjoyed their half pound Swiss Steakburger with a side of onion rings. A mug of draft Amber Bock was perfect.

Activities:

As for keeping busy during the day, my time was spent:

• Keeping up with my banking, on line ordering and bill paying. Thank you Ray and Kathy for being my "away" address for the many items I've ordered.
• Finally got a haircut at Great Clips in the nearby Publix Plaza.
• Shopped at Walmart's, BJ's and Publix
• Gave Winnie its yearly wash and wax with an on-site visit by Jose, owner of Five Star Detailing.
• Helped Ray and Tony (?) at Ray's home one afternoon as he remodeled the inside of his coach; a huge accomplishment for a man his age. This included laying new carpeting, replacing sofa/recliner, new TV and an electric fireplace console. Big job...considering recent hip surgery. He'll tell you how invaluable my help was.
• 
  As a result of chatting with Walter, I ordered and installed a battery watering system for my 12-volt coach batteries. This will enable me to maintain those batteries and keep the proper level of distilled water without removing the caps and dealing with corrosive, acidic spills.
  
• I had two parts replaced in the rooftop AC/heat pump that will improve the efficiency of the cooling/heating unit.

• Ten discarded pallets were sawed into useable sizes by Tony for use with Walter's Solo Stove. This gave us almost nightly smokeless fires to enjoy...even when it was 80º. The highlight of the days are the "campfires" at night.

• Because of the wear and tear on part of my sofa bed/couch, I had it recovered with Naugahyde by Quality Upholstery in Clermont. I removed the portion to be covered and Fred picked it up on a Monday morning. He returned it Tuesday afternoon.

Yup, I'm okay with it not matching. Otherwise, it would have been weeks to custom order.
(Must be "memory foam.")

And to conclude this month of memories, I must mention the scarcity of "wildlife." I'm sparing you the photos of the ??? dogs that get walked every day. Most folks have two and, like clockwork, they pass by each day. Friend, Nettie, has two beautiful goldens I'll show next month. As for birds, the one Mocking bird is mot delightful.

I'm guessing these are the same pair of Sand Cranes I wrote about last year.

A regular visitor at night.

Flitting from ground to palm tree, a few lizards.

Hmm. This short compilation of memories certainly turned out to be lengthy. If you've reached this far, thanks; hope you've enjoyed it. As the saying goes, "Time flies when you're having fun" and this month proved that. Can't wait to see what March brings. At home, the month is coming in like a lion.

One night it got dicey with high winds and a downpour but,

...that was it for "bad weather." Each day getting warmer and more beautiful.

The moments fly -- a minute's gone;

The minutes fly -- an hour is run;

The day is fled -- the night is here;

Thus flies a week, a month, a year!

(Author unknown)

Stay safe, happy and warm. Next blog at the end of March.