I’ve not been able to get to Cypress Cove since Labor Day because of commitments to attend Gator home football games and a homebrew day and work Sunday last weekend.

I couldn’t afford to rent a Villa room for two nights, so I decided to tent camp again. Two nights in my big Hobbitat tent from REI, an air matress and campsite right on the shore of Brown Lake. Ideal housing, but by Sunday night my old back paid for sleeping on an air mattress.

Lots of sun. I, aka heliophile, love the sun on my bare skin. It’s the main reason I became a naturist back in 1985.

The usual 75 to 90 min walk through the residential neigborhood and RV park at 9:30 am or so followed by two 75 min (or so) sunbaking stints next to the West Pool. (no walk on Friday as I got a late start due to an ‘all-hands’ required attendance meeting at work at 9:00 am).

Problems with costly bad habits. I ate too much and monkey-wrenched my weight-loss diet AND I drank too much, especially of their overpriced beer ($3.50 per draft) and wine ($5.25 per glass of jug Burgundy!).

Next trip:

• stick with the drinking plan – only my own beer from the cooler.
• Drink less at the pool and NONE at the trivia sessions and dinner.
• Don’t eat their food, bring your own dinner and a grill or at least a propane camp stove to heat up the NutriSystem lunches & dinners. Bring vegetables.

Summary: A wonderful time was had by all.

I’ve just joined skinbook, a facebook clone for nudists. Here is the embedded link
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I’ve made so many visits to Cypress Cove since starting this blog, but this is the last one. Because, it was the most naked people I’ve ever seen in my life. And most of them were in the pool. And most of them had been drinking (heavily?). I only made it Saturday, not the whole weekend of Friday, Saturday, Sunday, but I got the party-time flavor of the happendings.

This is a trial for adding text to my blog via email. This is a writing exercise from a book I’m reading on writing a memoir. The text is about a recent event in my nudist lifestyle.

I am thinking of. . .

Walking around Cypress Cove residential neighborhood wearing only my Sketcher like sandals this past Saturday morning. The weather was very cloudy at the start and it was very windy, too. But it was so relaxing to feel the wind on the bare skin. I tried the Zen ‘live in the moment’ thinking suggestions, but they were not working for me this day. My thoughts were all over the place, instead of concentrating on the input from the five senses. Smell – not much here, no flowers blooming or mowed grass smells. Touch – my thumbs and forefingers were touching, but I didn’t feel grounded. The sandals on my feet were noticeable, as was my chubby thighs rubbing together. Occasionally my fingertips brushed my thighs as they passed by going forward and backward with each step. But no other touch senses lasted long enough for me to take notice NOW. Sight – the most used sense, but perhaps overused. I’ve walked this route often enough that the routine sights were not enough NOW. I passed different folks also out on a walk, and of course looked at some of them as we nodded hello. Birds and flowers were seen, but not noticed too much. Taste – nothing here to notice.Once the sun started coming out at the end of the hour long walk, the warming of the skin facing the sun was wonderful to feel, as always. This is one of the major reasons I like being naked. feeling the sun all over!

I’m now thinking of. . .

Stopping this, shutting down the computer, gathering up my stuff, and going home. I’ve got to be at the exercise place by 6:00 pm for my update with an athletic trainer on my weight-lifting progress.

I’ve missed a couple of weeks because I’ve been Gatoring – going to football games at the University of Florida for the Kentucky game and to Jacksonville for the annual ugliness (with regards to sportsmanship) that is the Florida – Georgia game.

Extended weekend, to include the Veteran’s Day federal holiday (Tues., 11-Nov)

Except for the driving, these daytrips resulted in another fun and sun -filled time at the Cove.

Saturday was their first Nude-A-Palooza, a charity music-fest to help in the fight against breast cancer (Rock Pink, and the Susan Komen Breast Cancer Foundation [I think it's a foundation?]. The music started at noon and went late – later than I could stay. They had several groups / individuals going on at once, but I only took in events at the Main Stage. I particularly enjoyed the Ghost Riders, a southern rock band with former members of several known rock groups. The guitar playing was exceptional. I’m not familiar with the group, but they played all original songs (original to the group). There was a half-hour break between groups, so I went off and ended up missing the next group. The blues group that followed was pretty good too, with good harp playing. They could play the boogie.

As I had a bit too much to drink, I went poolside, laid down in a lounge chair and promptly took an hour nap. I needed it, because I had to drive the 1 hr 15 minute trek back home (didn’t I mention that the driving sucked?).

Before the music, I had arrived early, ~ 8:30 am to get in my hour long walk and several hours of browning time. Plus lunch. The music venue had grilled burgers, hot dogs, and brats, and the Lakeside Restaurant was open (they’re usually closed at lunch time). I ate at Cheeks, the poolside bar, because I didn’t feel like eating any of the above items.

Sunday More of the usual routine, for me at least. Arrived ~ 9:00 am, walked, tanned for 3 hrs., ate lunch, tanned some more. And drove back home.

Monday The same. But there were a lot more people there than on the previous two Mondays that I’ve been at Cypress Cove. There were more ‘tourists’ staying at the villa – some Scandanavians, probably Norwegian, pale northerners, some Brits, etc. I wanted to see if I could tolerate getting some sunning while standing up, so I stood around the pool. I started to feel that I was being watched – no one else was standing (alone) so I think I may have seemed that I was gawking, or something. So, I walked over to the lake shore as the sun was getting lower on the horizon and found it to be perfect. The breeze off of the lake was fairly strong and the perfect temperature. So, while that side of me got cool, the other side was being warmed by the sun. I rotated periodically to get cool and sun-warm on all sides (I think I’ve got 4 sides – front-back, and left-right). I went to the lakeside beach and feel that this may be a good place to get a standup kind of tan, too.

I almost forgot to mention it. Driving through downtown Kissimmee, just past the OBT / John Young Parkway intersection, I came very close, within a few inches, of getting sideswiped by a semi. We were going about 30 mph in heavy morning traffic and I was watching the cars in front of me as we approached the next stoplight. I then realized that the semi was just 2 or 3 inches from the driver’s side and he was changing lanes. I was in one of his blind spots – just behind the cab. Luckily, he noticed his error in time and had just started to get back into his lane about when I noticed him. I probably wouldn’t have been injured much – unless the airbag deployed and/or he forced me to the curb and into a lamp pole or whatever. I don’t need a car accident in any event. Do any of us?

Tuesday Mostly like Sunday & Monday. I actually got a bit bored with the routine, after this, the fourth day in a row. But I am as brown as I’ve probably ever been.

Stayed in a villa. 2 nights, 3 days Sat – Mon. The regular motel-style villa room was roomy with queen-sized bed, sofa, dining table and chairs, TV, small fridge, bathroom & commode/shower/tub room.

First time I’ve stayed past ~6:00 pm.

Dinner at Lakeside Restaurant. I was the only nude person there. All the couples had on nice clothes – Saturday night out, I guess. Anyway, I felt self-conscious of being naked. I felt out of place, even though the restaurant’s dress code encourgages nudity. The food was very good, but the portions were too large.

Nightlife – ok. 7:00 to 8:00 Trivia at the lounge in the Lakeside Restaurant. I came in quite late after dinner, but was able to win a free drink. 8:00 until??? Streak at Cheeks w DJ Xavier. Many textiled people. Quite a few young people. Quite a few drunken people. I listened to music while I had the free drink. I was nearly the only unclothed one there, so I wrapped my sitting towel around myself, sort of polynesian style.

I followed my usual routine – take a 1.25 hr walk, get 2 hours + of sunning time at the pool, eat lunch, more sunning time, etc.

Day trip, Labor Day, 1 Sep 2008

I wasn’t going to go this weekend, but I enjoyed my past visit so much that I changed my plans. I went to the UF football game in Gainesville on the previous Saturday night and was occupied with other activities Sunday. My schedule of activities was the same, and will probably remain so for a while. Arrive, take a 30 -> 45 minute walk, get some sun for 2+ hrs at the west pool, eat lunch at Cheeks, sun some more, take another walk, drink a beer and go home.

Day trips on successive days, Sat. and Sun., 13-14 Sep 2008

Just like the previous daytrip. I’m in a rut. This weekend had a ’60s theme, but I didn’t feel like staying into the evening and going to the dance. I had an emergency stay in the hospital from Monday through Thursday the previous week (dangerous heart arrhythmia caused by a medication I was on).The crowd was heavily dominated by couples with few single females in attendence. Sigh. I also had a short reoccurence of my faulty heart arrhythmia, so I felt it was more prudent to not push it and go home early. No such problems occurred on Sunday. I’ll be back next weekend for two more day trips on Saturday and Sunday. It’s volleyball bash weekend.

Link: Cypress Cove Nudist Resort

Summary: Friendly, non-discriminatory towards single males, moderately expensive ($18 per day for AANR member), very peaceful – restful place. Two pools. The larger west pool was moderately busy at peak suntanning times. The east pool lounge chairs were about half occupied at peak times. ‘Cheeks’ restaurant and bar had good food, reasonably priced. Nature trail was too wet to traverse, but this visit was just after Tropical Storm Fay dumped 10 – 30 inches on Florida’s east-central areas. I liked it enough to buy an annual Full Membership.

• The drive over. ~7:30 to 9:00 am. Uneventful. Paid attention to their directions, available on theirweb site. Traffic was very light, but it was Sunday morning.
• Registration. Pretty easy. The gate guard at the entrance booth asked a few questions. Was I a member of AANR? (He asked for my membership card). Had I been to any other nudist resorts? (Yes, Lake Como). These all helped in getting a single male into the resort. He then directed me to the building. They were expecting me, the gate guard had called ahead. I filled out a form, paid my daily entrance fee ($18) and got a virtual tour of the resort when they pointed out highlights on the site map. I got a bunch of other literature, too – rules, description of the different memberships, etc. I asked a few questions, too.

• Parked the car near the pools area, got naked and walked around some to get further oriented.
• Suntanned at the pool for about 2.5 hrs starting at ~10:30.
• The weather was not too hot, so I didn’t have to cool off every hour or so, like I did at Lake Como.
• Ate lunch at the Cheeks bar and restaurant. Had a cold draft beer – daily special was $2.50 a glass. Food was good, I had a southwest steak salad. It was twice as much as I should eat, so I saved half for later and put it into the ice chest I had in the car.
• Another hour + of suntanning. I didn’t mention this earlier. The pool was chilled, so it was very refreshing to take an occasional break from the heat. Like almost all public pools, they require you to take a shower with soap prior to getting into the pool. The showers are along the poolside wall of the restrooms. Liquid soap was available. The west pool, which is where I camped out, is good sized and was somewhat crowded until later in the day. The only floatation devices they allow are ’spaghetti’ tubes, which they supply. They don’t have enough of these to go around on a crowded day, though.
• Took a 45-60 min walk around the resort residential and RV camping areas to get some exercise. They have a nature trail though the woods, but I couldn’t find the access point for it. That was okay, because, during the past week, Tropical Storm Fay had pretty much flooded it.
• I really enjoy walking around with nothing on but my orange pith helmet, circa 1984 or so from ‘Ron Jon’s’, and walking sandals!
• Had another daily special draft beer at Cheeks and drove back home.

Comments: Amenities – Brown Lake beach and paddle boats, tennis courts, petanque courts, tent camping area right next to the lake (wet from TS Fay), large RV camping area, residential area – mobile homes and prefabs, library, clubhouse, shops, gym ($5 per day), sauna / hot tub, pretty friendly people but I really didn’t get to talk with anyone. Mostly couples with a few single males and females.

I had a very peaceful and relaxing day. This was my second experience in a social nudity setting and I had no problems adapting to a no clothes lifestyle. I liked Cypress Cove enough to purchase a Full Membership ($355 / year without AANR membership, $388/year with AANR included). The main deciding factor over Lake Como was the driving time for day visits – 2h 40 min rount trip for Cypress Cove vs. 4.5 – 5 h for Lake Como. I’m considering this as a place to retire and live permanently. On my walk I noticed three or four mobile homes were up for sale. I’ll probably inquire into the price, but I’d have to sell my townhouse first. In today’s market, that is not likely to happen. Maybe in three or four years. As yet, I still have no friends that are into the nude lifestyle. I should attend one of the singles’ weekends at either Cypress Cove (I just missed they’re last one in mid August) or Lake Como.

Weekend Getaway to Lake Como – Fri, Sat, Sun, 8 – 10 August, 2008

Summary: Very friendly, non-discriminatory towards single males, spartan and out-of-date motel rooms (but if all you want to do is sleep and freshen up there, the room I was in was adequate), inexpensive, very peaceful – restful place. Pool was ‘taken-over’ by small to moderate-sized groups at times – possibly residents, but it’s their home resort. Weather was hot and muggy, but this is Florida and it was August – hottest month of the year! Most peaceful and relaxing time I’ve had in years.

Friday

• The drive over. Heavy rain just when I was exiting I-4 onto I-75 N. Had to break from 70 to 40 mph. More rain after exiting onto FL Rt 56/54. Took a wrong turn because I thought I’d gone just far enough (~4.1 miles) west. Got to another I-75 exit and was totally confused. Backtracked, found the right route, turned on Land O’ Lakes Rd. then missed the tiny side street to Lake Como. Discovered my error when I went by the entrance to Paradise Lakes (another nudist resort) just south of this street. Again turned around and took the right street towards Lake Como.
• Registration. Pretty easy. I was an AANR member and showed my card, so no issues about being a single male. Paid my motel and daily entry fees and waited for the ‘first-time visitor tour’
• Tour. As a first time visitor, I had to take a guided tour, which is fair enough. I sat, clothed, next to the unclothed guide who was a permanent resident of Lake Como (I forget for how long). He drove me around the resort in a golf cart and showed me each ‘amenity’ and gave a brief history of Lake Como, the first nudist resort in Florida (founded ~ 1943, I believe). I saw the motel rooms, Butt Hutt (bar that opens at 4:00 pm), Lake Como with beach, paddleboats and kayaks, clubhouse, sauna, hot tub, library, restaurant (Bare Buns Cafe), pool, horseshoes and petanque courts, residential area – mostly house trailers and some prefab houses, campgrounds for RVs and one for tents, tennis courts, nature trails (two of them, more later).
• Settled into the motel room. Quite spartan. Full bed, chest, lamp, ~17″ very old TV, sink & mirror, open closet, stuffed chair, air conditioner. Bathroom down the hall, shared with 3 other rooms.

• Got naked and walked around some to get further oriented.
• Suntanned at the pool for a little more than 1 hr. (~10:30). Paranoid about overdoing it on the first day, so I covered myself with SPF 4 sunscreen.
• Way hot. Dodged rainstorms. Went to room to cool off.
• Suntanned another hour-plus. Face felt sunburned already so I covered myself with SPF 8 sunscreen except my face, which got SPF 15.
• Once more, went back to the motel room to cool off and eat lunch. I’d taken a cooler filled with breakfast and lunch items, to cut costs for the 3 day weekend.
• Another hour + of suntanning. SPF 30 this time.
• Cooled off.
• Went to the Butt Hutt (bar) at ~4:30. Got a free drink (they gave me a coupon when I registered. Had to use it today.)
• Had an interesting conversation with a lady that sat next to me at the bar (her husband was on the other side of her). They’d lived in the Carribean for years, boat-sitting, etc. and had been through a number of hurricanes. They’d retired and were now settled in the Lake Como area (not sure if they were residents there). They’d been nudists for years. She said Paradise Lakes was not for them. Quite a few at Lake Como didn’t have much good to say about Paradise Lakes. “Plastic people” was one comment. Anyway, she had an accent, and I later found out they were from Canada (Quebec, I’d guess.)

• Ate dinner at the Bare Buns Cafe – reasonable food, good price. 2 or 3 daily specials. Appetizer, sandwich, pizza, and salad menu items.
• Went back to the Butt Hutt to watch the opening ceremony of the Olympics, but it was WAY too smokey, so I went back to my room, turned on the itty bitty TV and fell asleep in about an hour.

Saturday

• Breakfast in the room.
• Took a 45-60 min walk around the resort and residential area to get some exercise.
• Suntanned at the pool for a little more than 1 hr. (~10:30). Felt I got too much sun yesterday, so I covered myself with SPF 30 sunscreen.
• Went to room to cool off.
• Suntanned another hour-plus. Pool area was filling up with visitors and residents. Quite load groups socialized in the pool while floating on spaghetti tubes.
• Once more, went back to the motel room to cool off and eat lunch.
• Another hour + of suntanning. Walked down to the lakefront beach and sat on a lounge chair in the shade of a cluster of palm trees. I was totally alone there. Read for about a half hour and dozed some. Very peaceful and relaxing. Nothing better.
• Wanted to watch a petanque game, but no one was there at 4:00 pm, the scheduled time for matches. Maybe it was too wet from the occassional rainstorm.
• Cooled off in the room.
• Took another walk, more lengthy this time as I went on the two nature trails. The first was through a cypress swamp. I’d been forewarned to wear mosquito repellent, so I put on Bullfrog SPF 30 with insect repellent. I had no problem with mosquitoes. The swamp was more of a flooded forest and was quite interesting. It hadn’t been traveled recently, as evidenced by the spider webs that crossed the trail at times. VERY enjoyable hike. But I wasn’t done. Over near the tennis courts there was another mowed trail through a (cultured) pine forest, past several small ponds. Unfortunately, I overdid it and started to get blisters on the balls of my feet. I was wearing my ‘walking’ sandals.

• Ate dinner at the restaurant
• Skipped the smoke-laden Butt Hutt again (kareoke night and I wanted to watch the Olympics). I guess I’m not really the social type. Mostly couples anyway, of course.

Sunday

• Breakfast at the Bare Buns Cafe.
• Wanted to take a kayak out onto the lake, but changed my mind and took a 45-60 min walk around the resort and residential area to get some exercise.
• Suntanned at the pool for a little more than 1 hr. (~10:30). Wanted more tan, so I used SPF 15 sunscreen. I was too much. Should have used SPF 4 or 8, instead.
• Went to room to cool off. Check-out time was 11:00 am (or was it 12:00 noon?)
• Suntanned another hour-plus. Pool area was filling up with visitors and residents. Very loud groups socialized in the pool while floating on spaghetti tubes.
• Ate lunch at the restaurant, too.
• Another hour + of suntanning. Live music at the pool.
• Took my last walk around the resort, including the pine forest nature trail. Tried it barefoot, but the blistered feet hurt too much.

The drive back

• Going south on I-75, I took the wrong fork and ended up going towards Tampa on I-275. 12 miles r.t. out of the way. No re-entry southbound, so I had to go north-bound to the next exit and do a U turn.
• Then I missed the I-4 exit (I was daydreaming and it came up faster than I expected) and again had to go to the next exit, U-turn, and head back to get on I-4.
• The rest of the drive back was un-eventful. I’ve really got to pay better attention when I’m on a new (to me) road

Comments: I had the most peaceful and relaxing 3 days in years, possibly in my life. It was my first experience in a social nudity setting and I had no problems adapting to a no clothes lifestyle. I took my clothes off at about 10:30 am on Friday and I didn’t wear anything more than my orange pith helmet and sandals until I got into the car for the drive home on Sunday at about 5:30 pm. Perhaps my ~23 years of non-social, home nudity/naturism with full-body suntanning on weekends had me mentally prepared for this. I’d love to retire and live permanently in a nudist resort / community. But I need more social nudism experiences to fully evaluate whether I want to do this. As yet, I have no friends that are into the nude lifestyle.