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Text Box: Smith Family Newsletter March 2009

Text Box: As of March 13th, Bob & I said Good-bye to Key West and started to move our house North and out of Florida! We both really enjoyed our stay in Florida, and in particular, Key West.  Our first stop going North was South Bay, FL which is located at the South end of Lake Okeechobee.  This location enabled us to visit with my long time friend, Maxine.  We got to go to dinner at Sweet Tomatoes, which she introduced us to on our last visit a few years ago.  Maxine looked great in spite of some medical issues she has had to deal with.  Lake Okeechobee is an awesome body of water, which we took some time to explore.  It is the second largest body of fresh water in the US after Lake Michigan.  When driving around the entire 100 plus miles, we could only get a good view of it from a couple of spots.  A dike had been built around it to prevent surrounding communities and farms from being flooded.  Most of the land around the lake is for farming and the lake provides irrigation.  We took some pictures at Port Mayaca Dam and Lock site which boats use to access the Lake from the Intracoastal cannel.  This was one of the few places we could get a good view of the vastness of the Lake. To the right are some pictures of a boat coming from across the lake, going through the lock, and heading North.  Maybe they will end up in Myrtle Beach, never can tell.    Our next stop was Mayport Naval Base and the Pelican Roost Campground.  We have been here before and enjoy watching the many ships move in and out of the bay.  I took a picture through our windshield, of a Navy ship coming into port.  See below.  While taking a walk on the beach we spotted a similar ship leaving the port and going out to sea.  When ever a ship comes in from a tour of duty, people step out of their coaches and come from around the base to welcome the crew home.  Before we left here, the campground had a delicious free dinner of barbeque chicken, with all the fixings with a buffet style set up.  That was a nice surprise.   .    .    

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