Movin' On

I guess it's time we pack up and head home.  Last night I saw the signs.

First the pirates sailed by......

Then the natives paddled by in their outriggers......

Then the sun god lit the buildings on fire......

As I watched the sunset I knew it was time for us to leave and head back to Minnesota.

It was a wonderful trip and we've had a great time here in Clearwater Beach.  We met some very nice people at the pool and would be happy to see them again some time.

But for now, it's back home.  There are some children and grandchildren we are anxious to see again and will gladly exchange the sun and pool for them.

Until next time.  

The Countdown Has Started

We have started counting the days we have left here in our little part of paradise.  Departure is on Thursday so we have four days, counting today, to enjoy the lovely warm weather and the water and beach.
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Yesterday we went over to Tampa and Ybor City and got a Cuban sandwich at Brocato's.  Yummy! Then we went in search of a router John found on Craigslist.  Yes Craigslist.  I thought it was bad when we were going to the Twin Cities to get things.  Now we're going to Tampa!

Have I told you we're sort of on a movie location?  They are filming the sequel to "Dolphin Tale" at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.  Harry Connick Jr, Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd, among others are here in the area.  I'm pretty sure that they are filming beach scenes this morning across the waterway. I'm heading out on the balcony now with my binoculars!

I guess I had better go get the suitcases out of the closet so I can start throwing in things I don't need as I come across them.

I'll be back again on Wednesday before we leave.

Sweatin' With the Oldies

Uh-oh!  Our air conditioning went out sometime Sat night.  We have the repairman here today and I hope it gets fixed soon.  It's nice and sunny here today and hot and humid.  I'm not sure of what the temp is outside but inside it's 83!  The humidity is okay because we've kept everything shut up tight. We've been living in the pool or under the ceiling fans.

It's just us two old farts here again.  Tim and Jessica and the girls left yesterday morning.  It's so quiet without those two little voices piping up all of the time.  We had one last pool day on Sat before they left.  Here are the bathing beauties.

So, we're going to spend the rest of out time soaking up sun and enjoying ourselves.  If I get bored I can always color princess or Barbie pictures.  If I can get them away from Grandpa, of course.

More later.

They're H-e-e-e-e-r-r-e!

Tim and Jess and girls arrived on Saturday.  As you can see, we've been a little busy and I haven't posted for almost a week.

We've been in the pool, or they have been at the beach every day.  There are shells, bathing suits, towels and sand everywhere!  And lots and lots of smiles and giggles.

The other evening we went to Tarpon Springs to see the sponge boats and the shops.  Here are the girls posing for me as we were walked down the sidewalk.

Yesterday John, Tim and I went fishing on one of the big boats.  We caught a total of 20 fish, all gray snapper, also called grunts.  Yes, they actually grunt.  I heard them.  It was a really fun day, the seas weren't too wild and there were dolphins playing around the boat at times.  Tim cooked the fish for supper and they were great.  As good as shore lunch in Canada.

The view from my end of the fishing rod

John and our catch

If you can pick out the biggest fish on that stringer it's one that I caught.  I told the guys I was going to catch the biggest fish among the three of us and I ended up catching the biggest one for the whole boat!  Not to brag or anything.  But it is in my blood.  Guess I can't help it since one of my earliest memories is going to dig worms with my dad so we could go fishing.  

We got some nice pictures of the area from the boat.  

The Clearwater Marina

The Bridge to Sand Key

440 West Condos

Can you see the girls waving from our balcony?  They watched us when we left and returned.  

I really like being on the lower floor.   The girls are early risers and they go out on the balcony and watch the dolphins swim by in the morning.  

This morning we went down to the beach to collect shells.  The girls love to jump the waves and play in the water and the sand.

Jess and the girls checking out the waves and shells

Erin

Bridget

It was very nice at the beach this morning.  Grandma even went in the water for a little dip.  I haven't been swimming like that for decades!  

  

So, now you're all updated on what's happening with us.  I'll try not to take so long to blog again.  

Blogs, Breakers, Birds and Bakeries

Oh wow!  I can't believe that it's been four days since I've blogged.  There's a word I never knew I would use when I was learning to spell in grade school.  Blog, byte, email, upload, download, google, skype and internet.  If I had used these words when I was ten years old I would probably have been locked in some juvenile facility!  Or, I'd be a gazillionaire now.

Anyway, here we are.  It's been very windy here, cloudy and warm and humid.  I think it was left from the tropical storm the early part of the week.  But now there has been a cold front that's come through and it's cool, dry, and sunny.

Clearwater Beach Waves

Earlier this week we went to Fort DeSoto Park at the southern end of St. Petersburg.  It is a huge natural  area with camping and hiking facilities as well as several beaches.

We walked out on the north beach for a while but it was way to windy to stay out for too long.  It was low tide so there were lots of birds on the shore for the food that was there.  I called this guy the Long-Billed-I'll-Get-You-Little-Fish Bird.  Not as elegant as the real name but I'm not a water bird expert.

North Beach, Fort DeSoto

On our way home we stopped at Manos, a little Greek bakery in Clearwater.  They have the most delicious filo pastry pies.  We shared a spinach cheese pie and a custard pie.  It makes my mouth water just writing about them.  We'll be back at least once before we leave.

We're cleaning and stocking up for our visitors coming on Saturday.  Tim, Jess and the girls will arrive then for a a week.  We can't wait to see them.

More later, I have to go make beds.

Found My Spot

What a wonderfully quiet Sunday. We just hung around the pool and I did some cross stitching.

Tonight I went out on the balcony and read my book.  I watched while the day went to sunset, dusk and then night.  There was a cool breeze blowing in across the balcony with the waves lapping the seawall and the stars coming out one by one.  I may never leave.

Marine Life

Yesterday and today we watched the dolphins swim by close to shore.  There seems to be a pair that travel together and then a third that follows.  We also watched the manatees swimming between two sets of pilings just off the shore.

Today we were fortunate enough to visit the Clearwater Marine Aquarium courtesy of a wonderful lady we met at the pool.  She volunteers there and was able to give us free passes.  If you have seen the movie "Dolphin Tale" you will be familiar with their star resident, Winter.  If you do not know the story, Winter was caught in a crab trap and lost her tail.  She would have died except for a prosthetics company that made her a prosthetic tail.  She has has 19 tails so far, each one being improved and replaced as she grows.

Here is a short video of Winter as she did her daily physical therapy session with her tail.

In addition to Winter the aquarium has several other marine animals that they have rescued.  There are other dolphins, one being Nicholas.  He had his mother, Noelle, were found beached.  Noelle died and Nicholas needed a lot of care.  He will never be able to be released because he did not have time to learn from his mother the things he needed to survive on his own.  But he is a performer!  

The aquarium is very friendly and hands-on.  We even got to pet the sting rays.

After the aquarium we came back and relaxed in the pool.  The sky is "milky" tonight.  It's the tropical storm system that is moving up the Gulf of Mexico heading for the panhandle, Alabama and Louisiana. We may get some rain but not until later this weekend.  

I may not blog every day so if you don't hear from me tomorrow keep checking.    

Until then. 

  

A Little Pool Today. A Little Pool Tomorrow

It's another beautiful day on the beach.  Partly cloudy and hot, in the high 80s to low 90s.  We're settling in, went and bought groceries for the next few days.

Here are a few pictures.

Having lunch at French's Cafe

View from the balcony across to Sand Key and the beach

The pool area from our balcony

It's time for me to head for the pool again.  I'll be on dolphin watch while I'm there.

More tomorrow.

 

We Have Arrived!

Well, the population of old geezers in Clearwater Beach, Florida has just risen by three.

We arrived at the condo at 3pm.  A few minor glitches ensued at the security gate when we attempted to check in.  Barney Fife, or whatever his name is, told me we weren't scheduled to be here.  He had no information on a "Cotta, or Cawtaw, or Cawtta."  This after I spelled my name for him--TWICE! Of course, I should cut him a little slack seeing as he was about 92.  I feel so secure.

Once we got up to the condo, after playing Marco Polo in the parking garage for a while (AAAANNNN---JOOOHHHNNN---AAANNNNN??---JJOOOHHHNNN?) we found the condo unit and are very pleased.  It is exactly the same as the one my folks had.  I will have pictures tomorrow.

We've already been for a swim in the wonderful pool and are now enjoying a glass of wine, moving soon to the balcony.

More from me tomorrow unless I am way too relaxed to blog.

Not Quite The Bates Motel

We made it to Tampa!  Actually Ybor City.  We stayed here last night and will check into the condo at 3pm.  I can't wait.

Our stay here was very interesting.  First of all, there was no TV.  The cable company is upgrading and all of the TV was turned off in our wing.  Not sure why we weren't offered a room in another wing, but we were just told that they were working on it and it should be repaired soon.

This morning we awoke to find no electricity.  I guess a transformer blew somewhere and there was none in the whole area.  So, no coffee, juice, water, only milk with the cereal at the complimentary breakfast.

I know things could be worse, but I'm getting the heck out of here before they are!

On to the beach.  More from there.  

Savann-aaahhhh!

Today we toured Savannah and had a wonderful time.  We took an Olde Towne Trolley tour which is a hop-on hop-off bus.  The drivers were very informative.  We never realized that Savannah is such a beautiful and historic city.  The beauty and charm of the squares and the homes around them are entrancing.  Every square has a statue, monument or fountain.  And the homes have wrought iron fences and balconies.

When it was time for lunch we headed to Paula Deen's restaurant,  The Lady and Sons, hoping that we might be able to eat there.  To our surprise, we were able to be seated, although it was on the third floor.  Never the less, we enjoyed the Sunday buffet.  Dessert was fantastic, peach cobbler and ooey, gooey butter cake!

After the tour we drove out to Tybee island and the lighthouse.  

By the time we were done with all of that we were done!  So, here we are calling it a day.  Tomorrow we are on the road again heading for Florida.  We hope to be in Clearwater Beach on Tuesday.

More tomorrow.  

Foda Foodies

This blog is for the (foda) foodies out there.

Last evening we went to Beaufort, South Carolina for dinner at Gilligan's.  It was a very nice little seafood restaurant out on the swamp.  A family of raccoon was playing in the trees right in front of us. Guess they're the greeters.

We tried fried green tomatoes and fried pork skins that were really good.  And the hush puppies were so good they'd "Make you wanna slap yo mama!" per the young woman at the desk in the hotel. She was right.  Look out mama!  The shrimp was also delicious, caught locally and fresh.

Tonight we are in Savannah, Georgia.  We found a restaurant called Sisters of the New South specializing in real southern cooking and meals.  We made a reservation and took off to find the place.  When we got there we were a little surprised.  It was like a "fast food joint" where you ordered cafeteria style.  but the food was great.  Think McDonald's does meatloaf, fried chicken, and liver and onions.  Would you like okra with your meatloaf?  How about some key lime cake?  We chose red and white velvet cake.  Saving it for later.

Tomorrow we are going to do a trolley tour of Savannah and maybe even have a bite to eat at Paula Deen's place.  We're searching for peach pie or pecan pie.  I'm pretty sure we'll find it somewhere here.

More tomorrow.

Peanuts and Peaches

Yesterday we drove from Alexandria, Virginia to Washington, North Carolina.  We visited the Outer Banks and Kitty Hawk, with the Wright brothers memorial.  There was a very interesting presentation by a park ranger describing the Wright brothers efforts leading to their historic flight.

Today we drove to Charleston, South Carolina where we hoped to stop for the night.  Oops! this weekend is The Taste of Charleston, a Southern Living event.  Evidently everyone from North and South Carolina and maybe Georgia comes attends because we couldn't find a room.  So, we drove on to Yemasee, South Carolina and found a room.

Along our route today we saw many roadside places where we could get peanuts or peaches.  We'll probably stop somewhere for some boiled peanuts and maybe a piece of peach pie.

Tomorrow we will head for Savannah, Georgia.  More then.

More then.

A Little Loopy

We didn't make it to the night tour last night but we did go on the bus tour today.  It was the Big Bus Hop-On Hop-Off Tour.  There are three different loops that take you to or near almost all of the sites in Washington.  A lot of them require walking closer to the monuments.  We opted to ride the bus and took our photos from there.  Of course, we had to ride the Red Loop and then the Yellow Loop to get to the Blue Loop.  They don't all start and stop from the same location.  And then we had to ride the Red Loop back to the Yellow Loop to get to the Metrorail to get back to our hotel.  So, we are all a bit Loopy tonight.  

Here are some pictures. 

The Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool

World War II Memorial

Georgetown

FBI Building 

Ford's Theater

The Capitol Building

The Old Post Office

The Jefferson Memorial

The White House and South Lawn

Tomorrow we are going to continue heading south.  Not sure where we'll end up but I know we'll have fun. 

More then.

Just a Little Crabby

Today we drove through or into four states, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.  We are now in Alexandria,Virginia and are going out for a tour of the memorials lit up for the night.  Hopefully I will have some awesome photos of the monuments to post tomorrow.

On our way here we drove through Annapolis, Maryland and the US Naval Academy.  Here are some pictures.

 
We couldn't pass up some of the Maryland crab so we stopped just outside of Washington in Bowie, Maryland at Jerry's Seafood and had lunch.  Pretty good crab and seafood.  Their claim to fame is "The Crab Bomb."  It's an 11 ounce crab cake.  None of us were brave enough to try it but we had a great meal of crab dishes instead.

Well, we are off for our night time tour soon.  Tomorrow we are going to do a hop-on, hop-off bus tour of the city going to more of the attractions.  Maybe even a river cruise.  If I don't get to post tomorrow I'll be back on Thursday.  More then.