PHASE 1: OPENING UP
Florida is beginning to open up, so restrictions are gradually being lifted.  Last week, restaurants opened with 25% capacity.  This week, restaurants can accommodate 50% of their capacity, state parks are being opened for day use (no campgrounds open yet), and groups of 50 are now allowed.  People are still to practice social distancing and masks are recommended when going out in public.  These are the masks that George and I wear; these were made by our friend, Mary Lynne.  She sent them to us all the way from Bartlett.  Thank you, Mary Lynne!

Eleanor and I took the opportunity to visit one of the parks in Homosassa that recently opened, the Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Historic State Park.  David Yulee was a prominent businessman in the first half of the 19th century.  He built railroads and had a massive 5,100 acre plantation where sugar cane was processed in a mill to make syrup, molasses, and rum.  The plantation was burned down by Union soldiers during the Civil War, because it was being used to stockpile Confederate supplies.  Today this park contains the remnants of the mill: a 40 foot limestone masonry chimney, iron gears, and cane press. 

Although the restaurants are beginning to open, we are opting to still cook and eat at home.  Believe me, we are eating well!  Here's a sample of one of our recent dinners:

Crab-stuffed salmon on spicy pasta, with a glass of wine

Chocolate-cherry poke cake

OK, I never heard of poke cake before, but Eleanor turned us on to this delicacy.  You bake a cake in a 9 x 13 inch pan.  Let it cool slightly, then poke holes in the cake using the handle of a wooden spoon, about 1 inch apart.  Then you make pudding or jello (we used chocolate fudge pudding for this one) and pour it over the top of the cake so that it soaks into the holes.  Place that in the refrigerator for at least an hour to let the pudding or jello set.  Then you frost it.  We frosted this one with cool whip and topped it with cherry pie filling.  I think I exceeded my daily weight-watcher points eating this one, but it sure was good!

I also recently updated our "travel map" that we have on the side of our RV.  We place a state sticker on any state where we travel in our RV.  Today I added Florida to our map.  It's about time I did that since we have been here since March!  If things had gone as planned, we would have also added Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina to the map by now, but the coronavirus halted those plans.  Oh well, maybe next year we'll be able to add those states.

That's it for now.  Stay safe and stay well everyone!