2016.12.30

It was fine but rather cool in St. Augustine.

We ate breakfast at the world famous deck restaursnt Oasis in St. Augustine. I ate 1/2 French toast with corned beef  hash and tea.  They serve breakfast from 6 am to 3 pm. Isn't it nice?

Then we went to the light house to take pictures.

Then we went to Osteen. There was nothing there but bush last year but there is a small hut still under construction, water, and  field to grow vegetable. I planted two trees, Papaya and Tangelo. I am very looking forward to eating them someday. 
Professional photographer friends visited and we enjoyed camp fire and eating hot dogs.
Making something out of nothing is fun.

The thin moon was very beautiful.

We came back to warm Delray Beach around 10 pm.

2016.12.29

We ate Swedish pancake for breakfast.

It was sunny and warm in Delray Beach but it rained in St. Augustine while we were eating dinner.

We came to St. Augustine where is the oldest city in the USA from 1565.

On our way we dropped at the post office in Christmas, Florida where I have wanted to visit for a long time. I sent some late season's greetings to friends in the USA and Europe.
Postage within the USA is $0.47 and international is $1.15.
I sent a card to me to see the postmark of Christmas. It will arrive when I get home next year.

It took about three hours to get to Christmas and another two hours to get to St. Augustine.

We ate dinner at the ocean front restaurant which was nice.

At night we saw  "Lights in the Night" at downtown. There were so many tourists there.

2016.12.28

It was fine and warm.

Yesterday's turkey dinner turned to be delicious rice soup for breakfast.

We went to play golf in the morning. There are 6 rates according to three time periods: 7 am to 11am , 11am to 2 pm, after 2 pm and walk or cart. We arrived a little bit later than 11 am and used the cart, it cost $14 each, the cheapest is after 2 pm for $10.  Isn't it amazing?
We enjoyed 18 holes for two hours or so. It's been a year since I played golf last but it was not so bad.

After having lunch we went to get the guest ID card and played billiards for three games for nothing.

At night we went out for Italian restaurant then went shopping.

Nice Florida vacation, isn't it ?

2016.12.27

It was fine but partially rained.

I had an appointment to have lunch with sister city related friends at the Cornel Cafe of the Morikami museum. I asked exｰmy boss to pick me up on her way. When we arrived,  there were so many cars, and it was difficult to find the parking lot.
Seven of us got together to have lunch. We walked around the gardens. There were some changes in a year.
I was surprised to see a tree grown which was planted in memory of Gordon, caretaker  who passed away while I was there in 2007 or so.
We saw exhibitions too.
I am glad to see some of the exｰcolleagues there.

In the evening my first roommate of the office came to have dinner. We enjoyed delicious turkey dinner.

2016.12.26

It was fine in the daytime but rained in the evening.

There were guests in the morning. It's been a year since I met them last. Boy became 3 and girl became 1. I enjoyed to  see them opening Christmas presents.

Besides this I stayed at home and relaxed watching videos,  doing jigsaw puzzle, taking a nap, and cooking.

Nice holiday.

2016.12.25

Merry Christmas!

It was fine.

We ate home made cinnamon roll for breakfast. I am impressed they were baked at home.

We were invited to the Christmas dinner and headed for the west side of Florida. It took about two hours and a half by car.
The hosts live in the gated society and their new house is very nice. I met them at their 50th wedding anniversary tomorrow last year.
I enjoyed dinner and talk and walking around.

I feel happy to have people say "Welcome back!"

2016.12.24

Merry Christmas!

It was fine.

I stayed up all day long to finish writing the new year's cards and Christmas cards because I leave for Florida tonight.

They say the price of postcard will be raised 10 yen and become yen 62 from next June after 23 years.
However the new years cards posted between December 15 and January 7 will stay the same.

Now I am onboard. I fly to Houston first. It will take more than 11 hours.

2016.12.23

It was fine and warm but very windy.

Today is a national holiday called Tenno tanjyobi (天皇誕生日), Emperor's birthday. He became 83 years old.

In the morning I went to Omori to be a model of Personal Color study. There are four season groups and they say I belong to summer group.

Then I went shopping to Kamata and Kawasaki.

And I went back to Shinagawa to see a friend from JICE.

Then I went to Yokohama to buy a present.

And I went to Kimono Style Miya to have hair done and dressed the new kimono which I fell in love by the first sight.
I was invited to the dinner show of Hiromi Go (郷ひろみ). This was the first time for me to go to dinner show. Dinner started at 8 pm and it was great with drinks.
The show started at 9:15 pm.  It was nice to see the dressed up people.

It was a fruitful day.