Saint Petersburg-Sylvania Connection

Photo collages: At Gust Farms, a family affair; with Chase; discovering Sylvania; at the Toledo Museum of Art.

My friend Sandie from St. Petersburg, Florida, recently visited me in Sylvania for a week. Sandie grew up outside of Washington, DC, in Maryand; lived in New York City for many years (still calls it home); and is now living in paradise.

Well, it’s not always“paradise” she corrects me. She misses the changes in seasons, the light and colors of Autumn, the cool crisp air. She misses pumpkins and chrysanthemums, which she says are hard to find in St. Petersburg.

So we had fun strolling along Main Street USA, visiting family and friends, having tea at the Dragonfly, lunch at Chandler’s Café, dinner at Jenna's, and shopping at the boutiques, art and antique shops along the way. We also toured my old neighborhood, the Old West End in Toledo, a feast of beautiful Victorian and

early 20th century architecture, where my daughters Elissa and Michelle grew up. We walked to the nearby Toledo Museum of Art. We took a nice ride into the Michigan countryside,

to Gust farms, an annual ritual for Michelle and

her kids, who go there to get their pumpkins, apples and cider, take a hayride, see the foliage and farm animals. We enjoyed all my grandkids, great grandson Philip, and our newest bundle of joy, Chase.

It was good to catch up with a special friend who was also a close friend of my brother Loren. We picked up from where we left off the last time we saw each other, which was in May in St. Petersburg. Next it will be my turn to go down to Florida, and what better time than during winter in Ohio, when St. Pete really is paradise!
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