second weekend in punta gorda

saturday cont: after our swim, we found out from the owner of the sea front inn that we may be able to buy beer cheaper than in the grocery store if we went directly to the distributor. we decided it was worth checking out, so we headed over there, but they were closed for the usual 12-2p lunch/siesta break. drove around trying to locate a store with men's shirts (rick's skin is still suffering with some ??? problem, maybe a reaction from the sun, so we thought a long sleeve shirt would offer some relief). nothing found in his size that would work, so we went back home. linda napped and rick later returned to the distributor for a 1/2 case of lighthouse and 1/2 case of belikin stout. a little internet, tv and then happy hour and dinner (chicken legs, rice/beans and pineapple). after dinner more of the same and cards...tonight rick takes the championship!

sunday morning we arose early for 0730 mass at st peter clavier. we were ready early enough to walk, hopefully we won't get rained on when we walk home. luckily the rain held off and we made it home still dry...in fact the clouds have pretty much disappeared. breakfast of oatmeal and then a quiet morning waiting for our plans with jenna. we headed over to her property after we watched a show on the mayan indians. found her place easily and met her dogs, sam and tinkerbell. she showed us around her property and home and then we visited for a couple of hours. afterwards we headed back taking a new road (jenna thought we might be able to encounter some wildlife) and found a farm with pigs (huge), goats, chickens and cows...rick is in heaven! stopped at a "cool spot" for a coke and then back into town. passed a restaurant that advertised jerk chicken, so we stopped for dinner, but no service today. we'll have to make plans to return tomorrow. decided to come home, enjoy our own happy hour and make the stew that we had previously planned...it turned out very good! spent the evening doing more research on cocoa trees and other possibilities for farming down here. also watched undercover boss...interesting concept! full moon rose over the bay and i tried to get some photos, but none came out...sorry, it was pretty spectacular!

monday am rick's skin issues were still giving him problems, as well as the off and on Montezuma's revenge that he has been fighting for a week. yesterday jenna had recommended that we visit the health center by her house, so we headed over there only to find it closed for the "first monday of the month". rick didn't want to wait any longer, so we returned to town and headed over to the health center there. interesting experience, almost like an ER visit, except no request for payment prior to service. weight down 10+ pounds and bp is perfect!!! yeah! we got in to see the "Dr" about 2 hours later. she asked a few questions (which we barely understood), wrote a couple of prescriptions and referred us to the pharmacy across the hall. a few minutes later we were given a couple of antibiotics, some oral rehydration salt mix and a couple of topical creams with specific instructions and advised that we were free to leave. the entire visit and all of the prescriptions were free, although we could give a donation if we wanted to! incredible! we offered a donation and they acted like they weren't exactly sure what to do with it. we were thanked and left the clinic. we had lunch at the snack shack, tried again for a long-sleeved shirt for rick (no luck) and headed home. we thought we might take a swim, but the wind had picked up and the bay had some waves so we decided against it for the time being. internet, tv and nap instead until returning to the restaurant for the jerk chicken that rick has been dreaming about since last night!