After sending out our 2011 newsletter website, we experienced a once-in-a-lifetime treat, meeting Keegan Bradley who was voted the 2011 PGA Rookie of the Year.
PGA National Resort, Palm Beach Gardens
December 19-20, 2011
John and I drove to the PGA Resort for an overnight stay in order to spend some time with our son Dan who was staying there with a few other Putnam Investment people. Putnam is a sponsor for pro-golfer Keegan Bradley who was named PGA Rookie of the Year. The group is here to do a photo shoot with Keegan at the Dye Preserve CC in Jupiter. Keegan lives in Jupiter and plays at the Dye course quite often.
The PGA Resort has 5 18-hole golf courses, 11 tennis courts, and even some regulation croquet lawns. We saw a group of seniors playing croquet as we were driving to the main building to register. There's a gorgeous outdoor pool here also.
I made a call to Dan's room about 4 PM after we had settled into our room. Dan walked over to our room and we chatted for a while before heading over to the lounge area for a drink before dinner. We were joined by a couple of his coworkers. Dan, John, and I eventually dined at Ironwood, a steak and seafood restaurant at the hotel. The meals were excellent! We were pleasantly surprised when we asked for the check and were told that Dan's boss had paid for it.
Dan came to our room for a while after dinner. We called his house to FaceTime with the girls. Dan stayed to chat until about 10 PM. We plan to meet him in the morning for breakfast. We'll be checking out around 9:15 and driving over to the Dye course in Jupiter to watch some of the photo shoot with Keegan Bradley. (Dan will be flying back to Boston on Wednesday.)
The photo shoot at the Dye Preserve CC in Jupiter was very exciting. We stayed for 3 hours watching the crew filming interviews and clips of Bradley’s swing. We had Dan take a picture of us with Keegan. As we were riding the golf cart back to the parking lot at 1:30, I was able to find a Srixon golf ball that Bradley had hit into a treed area. Great souvenir of a memorable day! See more pictures of this special day.
January 20 - 23, 2012
Marian & Ray MacDonald’s Visit
After Marian & Ray arrived at 1 PM on Friday and settled in, we took them to Bonefish Grille at 5 PM. Back at the house, we enjoyed catching up on events since our country dancing days in MA. They had moved from MA and settled in Crossville, TN a little over a year ago.
Marian & Ray are touring FL for about 3-4 weeks checking out campgrounds for next January, so on Saturday we rode through Rainbow Springs State Park Campground in Dunnellon. Then we had a late lunch at Ivy House in Williston. When we got back home, John gave a little demo with Dusty. Marian was thinking about trying to ride Dusty, but she decided not to in the end. In the evening, we played Wheel of Fortune on the iPad and a regular card game.
On Sunday we rode to a VFW to see motorcycles and old cars, but that turned out to be a bust. We then went to Ocean Buffet for a late lunch. Back at home, we watched the Patriots’ championship football game that I had recorded. We watched the following game and played an iPad game for a while.
Marian and Ray left our house on Monday morning about 11. They were heading to The Villages and then on to Clermont. It was so nice to have our friends with us for a few days! Click to see more pictures of Marian and Ray's visit.
February
February was a rather quiet month. Besides completing good old income taxes, I spent a night away without John. I drove to Sandra Hreczuck's house in Hudson, FL on Saturday, February 25th. Karen Marcotte had arrived at Sandra’s on Friday. Sandra had arranged for us to play in the 1:00 PM shotgun at Heritage Pines. A friend of hers, Barbara Kelley, joined us for golf and for our dinner out in evening.
We went to a restaurant that serves whole-belly fried clams! What a treat! There aren't many places in Florida that have the whole belly clams. The onion rings weren't bad either. Back at Sandra's house, we chatted for a couple of hours and did more in the morning at breakfast time. It was great to see Sandra and Karen again. If all goes as planned, the ladies and their husbands will be spending time at my house in a few weeks. We're planning a day of golf in Ocala.
Here's a video taken at Sandra's house.
March 19 - 21, 2012
Karen, David, Sandra, George
The 2 couples arrived Monday afternoon. After they settled in and we chitchatted for a while, we headed over to Sky for some delicious Asian fusion style food. Back at the house, the men hung out on the back porch, the ladies in the kitchen.
On Tuesday, we had tee times at Stone Creek for 12:52 and 1:02. We had lunch at the course’s restaurant before playing golf (not very well that day). Judy and Wayne Mattison joined us to play golf. George and Sandra drove back to Hudson after we stopped at the 19th hole. Karen and David were staying another night with us.
Wednesday morning, John and David went riding in the neighborhood after David got some riding lessons on Dusty. Karen and I went walking through Shalom Park. Before heading back to Englewood, Karen and David had lunch with us at Cody’s. Click here to see pictures of the Hreczucks and Marcottes.