In mid-January Rick and I took a trip to Tampa Bay Florida for some sunshine with Brad and Ruth.
The weather stayed mostly in the 50's and 60's the whole time which was a nice change from the 20's and 30's. We flew in on a Saturday evening and drove to Ruskin, about twenty five minutes from Tampa Bay, where we would be staying for the week. We had a three bedroom condo. Brad and Ruth upstairs and Rick and I on the main floor. While it was a fairly small place it worked out well because each couple had their own space. Darrell and DeeAnn were supposed to come along but they both got terribly sick with Covid, and then Darrell got pneumonia on top of that! We sure did miss them and wished they could have been with us but, we're glad that Darrell could take that time at home to get better.
After arriving and getting settled in our condo we went out to grab some food from the grocery store to stock up for our Sunday meal and breakfasts and snacks. Then we went back and enjoyed visiting around a platter of meat and cheese:)
The next day was Sunday, and we enjoyed some downtime. After zooming in on our respective Sacrament Meetings we enjoyed sitting around the front room with Brad and Ruth reminiscing about our younger years and how we each courted and married. That was fun reminiscing on those special years. After an hour or so of that Brad and Ruth put together a nice dinner for us. We had roast, potatoes, carrots and salad. Dinner turned out very nice:) Afterwards Rick and I took a walk out past the harbor next to the condos with all of the cool boats and then over to the beach which was just a five minute walk.
The next morning we all got into one car and drove over the Sunshine Bridge over to the barrier island beaches. We first stopped at Fort De Soto. We looked thru the old fort and took a few pictures but the real fun was when we discovered the beach just behind it. We walked out over a sand dune covered in beach grass and down to the beach where a few people were combing the seashore for shells.
This beach was absolutely COVERED with shells! It was super fun finding all of the sea stuff that had washed ashore. A local lady that was there beach combing said that a lot of the sea life was coming in because of the cold water. I thought that was interesting. We had a lot of fun finding shells and videoing our finds to send back home to the kiddos. We decided to come back at a later date to collect shells to take home to them:) (Which we did on Friday before we left)
After exploring Fort DeSoto we drove over to the Don Cesar Hotel for a yummy lunch and then enjoyed exploring around the hotel grounds. The Don Cesar is a boutique Hotel that has been around since 1928. The grounds were beautiful, and the beach was gorgeous.
After exploring the Hotel we drove over to St. Petersburg to see a house that Ruth's brother used to live in. Then we drove back to Treasure Island beach to watch the sunset.
Here is a picture of Rick, Brad and Ruth face timing with DeeAnn on the phone and letting her see the beautiful view.
The next day Brad and Ruth took off for a night down towards Miami and the Keys.
Rick and I drove into downtown Tampa and took an hour boat ride to see what was around the area. We rode past boat docks, mansion waterfront homes and the town's business district. It was all very interesting, and our captain guide shared lots of cool facts about the area. One thing that captured my attention was a beautiful Turn of the Century Hotel called the Tampa Bay Hotel. It was built back in the Gilded Age for the wealthy to come a visit. It had a very East European look about it, and I had read that it was the home of the Henry B. Plant Museum so that was our next stop.
The hotel was built in 1891 and was a destination place for the rich and famous. While most of it is now used of the University of Tampa Bay, a small wing is used as the museum. This little museum was a highlight of the trip for me. We only had an hour (because we stopped and had a really fun al fresco truck stop lunch) to explore the museum, but we made the most of it:) We downloaded an app that explained the opulence of the hotel and the different artifacts we were seeing and some facts about the different activities for the guests back intros days. It was great. Just outside the museum was a beautiful park adjacent to the river so we enjoyed a walk in the park where we met a young student from Indiana who was there to become a marine biologist. It was a neat experience.
A small glimpse of the Tampa Bay Hotel behind us.
It was getting dark so we headed back toward the condo to have dinner at the Sunset Grill Restaurant which had fabulous food. I ended the evening watching a fun show on Netflix while Rick did some homework.
The next day was our 32nd ANNIVERSARY!
We knew we wanted to head over to Clearwater Beach so we headed that direction. I had read about a cute town called Dunedin so we went North of the beach to visit. We found a fun pizza by the slice place and had a bite and then grabbed some ice-cream at Strachans and then did a little window shopping in some of the cute shops.
Next was Clearwater. We parked the car and took a half hour nap and then walked out to the beach. We passed a ParaSail kiosk and I said, "We should go Parasailing." Of course, Rick thought that was a wonderful idea but little did I know what I was getting myself into. I had been parasailing before. Twice actually, and I thought it would be a nice thing that Rick would like. Well he did but I DID NOT!
The other two times I had been parasailing were quite beautiful and calming at about 150 above the boat. I did not realize that this adventure was going to be FIVE TO SIX HUNDRED FEET ABOVE THE BOAT! We just kept going higher and higher and I was paralyzed! I could not let go of the harness holding on for dear life. Rick was enjoying the scenery and trying to help keep me calm the whole time! I tried to look over at the beautiful beaches and hotels but I could not believe how high we were up in the sky. At one point he reached over and touched my foot with his and I screamed, "Don't touch me!" I was so afraid that I was going to fall. Oh my goodness, truly I wanted to bawl and tears actually came falling down but I held it in for the most part and waited it out. My first words after getting back to the boat were, "I don't EVER want to do that again!" Anyhoo....Happy Anniversary to us! We sure made it memorable!
See that smile? I was ecstatic to be back on the boat:)
We had some time before dinner so we walked down the Clearwater Pier. This beach is so pretty. The sand is so soft on the feet and the water was truly beautiful. While at the pier we each bought a new shirt. Rick a water shirt and me a new Clearwater Beach hoodie. I was glad to have it because the nights got chilly.
Our new shirts:)
We had our anniversary dinner at the Rockaway Grill watching the sun going down into the Gulf.
It was a very nice way to end the day:)
The next day we drove down towards the everglades to find an airboat ride. Brad and Ruth had found one the day before, and Rick was chomping at the bit to see some 'gators so we went looking for them.
It was a three hour drive to the south where we found Corey Billie's airboat rides.
We donned some headgear and off we went with a local as our guide.
And he found us some.....
One 'gator was so curious he came right up to our boat!
We also saw lots of water birds....herons, egret, etc....
And here's Rick again EATING an alligator friend!
Gator nuggets! A Florida Specialty.
We got to see quite a few pretty sunsets.
Our Tampa Bay area trip was a very nice and memorable one!
