Lavendar and Lace Tea Room

by Irwin Lengel
(Lakeland, FL)

At times I wonder why I do not get to my writing (you know – writing about all those things one does during these, our golden retirement years) as often as I would like to. But then after a day like today, I realize that it is because we are actually living those dreams we had prior to retiring. Our retirement is far from boring.

Today was a typical day for us which in essence meant that we were up early and out and about most of the day. Being Thursday meant getting up fairly early so that we can be on the road by 9:15 AM heading for “Line dance” practice. At the moment our practice sessions are necessary because we are working on several dance routines for an upcoming show we intend to put on later in the month for a Ladies Luncheon at St. Joseph’s Lutheran Church in Lakeland, FL.

However, as is usually the case, when practice is over, several of us go to lunch together. But rather than go to Taco Bell (a favorite of my wife’s) today was different.

Reservations had been made at The Lavendar and Lace Tea Room in Lake Alfred, Florida. There were seven of us and lunch was both delightful as well as delicious.

For those of you that may visit Florida in the future, take my word for it, this is a very elegant, but not too expensive, place to have lunch at. For more information you can visit their website at: http://www.lavendernlacetearoom.com/

However, having eaten and satisfied those hunger pangs that come from dancing our adventure was nowhere near over. Within a few miles of the tea room was yet another famous Florida landmark, namely The Barn. Go to www.barnantiques.biz for more information on this location.

We must have spent an hour or so just walking through the Barn taking in all the different and unique items they had on display. And while we ate at Lavendar and Lace Tea Room during this particular visit, next time we make plans to go to Lake Alfred, we hope to visit yet another unique and exquisite dining establishment, namely: the back-porch-at-the-barn.

The bottom line is that from 9:15 AM until almost 4:00 PM, we danced, ate, socialized and basically enjoyed ourselves doing that which we could not do while working.

How we live life, whether we are working or retired, is what we make it. As busy as our lives tend to get (yes, believe it or not, we sometimes say to ourselves – when will things slow down so that we can catch our breath), once we have taken that breath, we also say to ourselves – what are we complaining about?

We have our health, can still dance which means we are also upright, (at some of our ages – that in and of itself is a good thing because it means that we are on the right side of the grass) - so what have we to complain about.

We should be doubly happy that we are able to enjoy this time while we can. We know that the day will come when we cannot do all that we do today such as line dance and socialize with good friends. But with the right attitude, even when that time comes, I know we (Dolly and I) will be looking for other things to occupy our minds and time so that we do not just wither away.

There is nothing worse, that I can think of as we age, than to spend our days alone. So, while we were a bit pooped upon our return, we had a very fulfilling day. We spent our day dancing, eating and having fun with good friends. What more could we want or expect in retirement.

Enjoy life – it is shorter than we think! Until next time – Live, Laugh, and Love!

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