Today has been a lovely sunny day with temperatures in the 80s Fahrenheit. There has been a breeze which has made the day very pleasant.

View from the Clubhouse
We played our first round of golf today and my first round since the beginning of December. We played at Riverside Golf Club on a course which was on a complex of 55+ old fogies with lots of villas alongside the fairways. We were made very welcome and well looked after (perhaps we fitted well into the 'old fogy' description!!) Ben went into the Pro Shop after we had finished to buy a couple of ball markers as mementos of our visit.  We were asked if we had enjoyed our visit and after answering 'yes' we were given the ball markers!  It was a pretty course with quite wide fairways with areas of water running alongside some of them. There were lots of turtles sunning themselves and an osprey hovering over a pond looking for lunch.  No sign of any alligators.  The grass was a bit bare in places but we gather the natives are desperate for more rain to help restore it. Ben found putting difficult and needless to say I beat him. We went into the club house afterwards for a drink and found many of the 55+ residents enjoying their retirement in hospitable surroundings. 

We travelled over the skyway bridge on the way there and back which is quite impressive as it goes high over the water to allow tall shipping to travel underneath. 

Skyway Bridge

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