North of Myakka River State Park is a Ranch where Lipizzan horses are bred, raised, trained and shown. On Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays they are open to the public for a few hours and provide a show from December to April. After that they are on the road to all parts of the country to present these horses and their talents, as well as the talents of the trainers. This continues to be a family business. The horses are beautiful and the trainers/riders are very skilled, including a girl about 10 years old. We saw the show yesterday afternoon from 3 pm to about 5 pm.
After the horse show, we drove into Myakka City for gasoline (much needed!) and found a small local restaurant/bar for dinner. It was not a fancy place...clearly a local joint...but the food was excellent and definitely home cooked.
After dinner, we drove back to the park and saw a beautiful skyline as the sun set over the lake.
This was our last night with Neil & Kat, who left to head home today. Having no cell service for them (AT&T), a granddaughter in need of a home, and missing young grandchildren drew them to head home early. We enjoyed traveling with them, and will miss them, but knew that we would be parting company about this time.
