Bess and I took our annual drive and
cruise vacation in March 2006. We drove to St Pete Beach to
visit my brother, Linda LeSalle, Marion Dietch, and Arlene
Zadalac in the vicinity of Sarasota, and met some friends
and neighbors who were also in the area at the same time. On
the way down, we met my old high-school friend Ed Belskey
and his wife Bobbi in Huntsville, Al and Bob Lee and his
wife Lynne who were wintering in Orange Beach, Al.
On the way to Miami to catch the
Norwegian Jewel we visited my cousin, once removed, Charles
Koucky and his wife Nancy, who live in Bokeelia, Fl near
Cape Coral. On the way back from the cruise (to
Roatan, Honduras; Georgetown, Grand Cayman; Ocho Rios,
Jamaica; and Nassau, Bahama) we had lunch with Marty Lerner,
my old boss at Zenith/Rauland, at his country club in West
Palm Beach Gardens, Fl and then went on to Bess's sister's
in Deland, Fl. There we saw some sights and met with the
Canons and Carbones for pizza at Angelino's Pizza in
Deland. We then headed to Charleston, SC to visit
another old high school friend, Al Fortner and another long
time family friend John Tokar in Salem, SC . Finally we
stopped in Dayton, Ohio to see how Bob and Kassandra Conger
were doing. We took a lot of pictures and movies
which I have consolidated on this site. Rather than me
picking and choosing what to include, I am including
everything and you can pick and choose what you want to see.
If there are any questions or suggestions, please contact me
at the email address shown above. You will have to type the
address since spammers like search web pages for active
email links. Click on the photos to see additional related
photos. There are links to movies on some of the photo
pages. Just remember to read the fine print. Alabama Huntsville The Belskeys Our first stop was in Huntsville, Al to visit my old
friend Ed Belskey from Piper School in Berwyn, and Morton
High School in Cicero. We had dinner with Ed and and his wife Bobbi at one of
the local BBQ Ribberies. Orange Beach The Lees Although they have officially moved their residence to
their Birchwood
Resort in Three Lakes, Wi., the Lees have been spending
part of January thru March in Orange Beach, Al. We stopped
in to see how they were doing and they were doing fine. We spent a day touring their condo facilities and having
a few at the Florabama Bar which stradles the border between
the panhandles of Forida and Alabama. Later we had dinner at the Giggling Grouper
Restaurant. Florida Sarasota/Bradenton On Wednesday, March 15, 2006 Bess and I
met Linda LeSalle and her daughter Jeane, Marion Dietch, and
Bess's friend and coworker form Argonne Labs, Arlene, for
lunch at the Fin and Claw on St. Armands Circle at the south
end of Longboat Key, Fl. My sister-in-law, Jan, also joined
us. A fun time was had by all. All the old codgers kept
coming by and asking how I had so many women. Later some of us had dinner at Linda's
home in East Bradenton. St Pete Beach The Conrads Jim and Marilyn Conrad from Atlanta, Ga,
were staying on Treasure Island. We were able to have lunch
with them in St Pete at Dan Marino's Restaurant. Their son
went to high school with Dan and wanted to pick up a
souvenir for him. We got there a little early and went to
the Salvadore Dali Museum to pass some time. We took some
pictures of the paintings(I didn't see the sign cautioning
not to take pictures), but needed a tripod. If you are
interested click here. The Schleiters Our Elmhurst neighbors Dick and Lou Schleiter were down
in St. Pete Beach in February and March. We were able to get
together on St. Patrick's Day for dinner at the St Pete
Yacht Club, where my brother is a member. Bokeelia, Fl The Kouckys My cousin-once-removed Chuck Koucky and his wife Nancy
live in Bokeelia which is on Pine Island north of
Matlacha(Mat-La-shay), Fl west of Cape Coral. They own and
operate the Koucky Pottery shop at the north end of
Stringfellow Road. Chuck makes pottery and teaches the art
in his shop in the back. My brother had not met Chuck before and Bess and I only
got to meet him at last years family reunion. We all had a
great time reminiscing about family members. In addition to pottery, Chuck makes his own wine and
beer. If you are ever in the area, stop by and take a look.
Mention that you know the Prazaks. He might offer you a
glass of his home made porter beer. Chuck's wife mentioned that Chuck is known locally as the
"Hairy Potter".