Home Again...

On Sunday we left the sunny, 70 degree weather of Florida to a chilly 35 when we arrived in Detroit.  But as with all vacations, they do come to an end and we appreciate the great weather we had in Florida. 

Not much to share about our trip.  We left the hotel a bit early, bought gas and turned in the rental car, and had no issues at the airport, arriving at our gate 45 minutes before boarding was scheduled to start.  The most exciting thing was that the flight was overbooked by 7 passengers so they were offering $600 each for people to take a later flight.  We volunteered but were not selected.  😥 It was probably just as well since we might not have been able to sit together on the later flight.   The picture on the right is one that Mary took as we left Tampa.  

In Detroit, we picked up our luggage and a parking shuttle bus was ready to take us to their lot,  We were glad that there was no snow to clear off our car.  We arrived at our house by 3pm and were pretty much unpacked and settled in by 4.  So overall, an uneventful travel day (which is always a good thing!).  

So until our next trip, adios!

Florida Day 8

 We didn't have much planned today, just some beach time in the morning and getting ready to fly home tomorrow. 

We headed to Madeira Beach for an hour, walking up the beach and back, then enjoying some sun.  On our walk we spotting five beautiful sand carvings someone had made.  The artwork was amazing.   As we continued, this pelican  posed for Mary.  We also took a selfie.  After the beach we headed to John's Pass for some shopping and lunch at a local brewpub.  

Not much planned for the rest of the day.  Mary sat by the pool for a bit, while Bill enjoyed the hot tub.

We watched MSU beat Purdue in BigTen basketball before walking to Jimmy John's for dinner.

Tomorrow we need to get an early start since we want to head to the airport by 8:15 for our 11:18 am flight as this vacation draws to a close. It's been great to experience warm and sunny for a week!

Florida Day 7

 Today was a travel day, with some beach time included.

We cleaned up and left the condo just before 10 and stopped off at a beach to take one last walk on Manasota Key.  Quite a few people were there already, but we found some quiet space and took a short walk.  Since this was one of the last days for the Sonic patty melt, we headed to a Sonic in Bradenton.  Unfortunately, they were out of those ingredients so we ordered something else and headed on to our hotel. 

We crossed over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge as we headed on to St Petersburg.   It's a beautiful bridge as you can see and offers great views as you cross it.

We arrived at our hotel by 1:30, but had to wait a bit for our room to be ready. After settling in, we sat by the pool for a bit, then headed to Gulf Shore Blvd where in the past we liked to stay at the Plaza Beach Resort.  We would have stayed there this time, but their rates have gone from $150/night to over $400!  We had a nice dinner at PJ's Oyster Bar, where I had broiled grouper and Mary had clams, plus we both had a cup of their specialty, clam chowder.  

Next we went to the beach in time for the sunset.  There was a pretty schooner sailing on an evening cruise which Mary captured in this picture. 

One more day in Florida before we fly home. 

Florida Day 6 - Our last full day on Manasota Key

Today we had some nice activities to close out this part of the trip before heading north to St Petersburg. 

In the morning, my buddy John recommended that we check out the Englewood Farmers market.  It was quite a large market, with a very wide range of stalls.  Many of the typical arts and craft booths, along with several fruit stands, and many serving hot food - German, Italian, Mexican, and more.  We made a number of purchases, two of which are in this picture.  I could not resist buying the freshly made, Reeses flavor peanut butter.  I can't wait to get it home and enjoy it!  We also bought a few additional food items to eat while we are here.  

I played golf with John and his wife, Laura, in the afternoon.  It was a very pretty course, with lots and lots of water.  As I recall, you had to hit over water on 16 of the 18 holes.  Needless to say, many golf balls went missing today.  I had a fairly good score for me, with only 1 very bad hole.   It was a beautiful, warm day with a nice breeze.   Sure beats the cold and snow Michigan is experiencing tonight!    This weather will be missed.  After we finished, John and I said our "good-byes" until April when he's back in Michigan and our summer golf leagues start up. 

While I was golfing, Mary took some pictures of our condo.  The kitchen in on the left and the living room on the right.  The door in the living room leads to the lanai (screened in patio) that was in an earlier blog post.  As you can see it is very spacious.  

Tomorrow we pack up and move north for 2 days before heading home on Sunday. 

Florida Day 5

Today was another relaxing beach day followed by a great Jim Curry concert.

We slept in a bit, then headed to the beach for a hour or so.  Enjoyed lunch, then spent time reading and relaxing by the pool.  While there we could watch the little geckos sun themselves (like in this picture) or scurry around on the rocks.   You see them all over he place around here. They are about 3" long  (plus a 3" tail) and are very fast.   We later took a second walk on the beach before heading back to the condo for supper.

After a pizza supper, we headed to the Venice Community Center for the Jim Curry John Denver tribute concert. Due to covid, we had not seen them perform since December 2018.  It was great to see them again.  The concert was mostly familiar songs, but with a few we hadn't heard them perform before.  They had also added some fresh dialogue and humor.  

That's Anne Curry on the mandolin and Diane Ireland on a special Native American double flute. 

It was especially nice that when Jim came out to greet fans after the show, the first thing he did was to give Mary a hug!   

Florida Day 4

 Today was a near-all-day golf outing for me while Mary had a quiet beach day.

I left to pick up John at 8:30 am and I did not get back until 5:45 pm.  That made for a rather long day.  We drove north to The Heritage Harbor golf club  which has a long reputation as a great golf course, having hosted many PGA golf tournaments in the past.  The right hand picture shows that we saw an alligator by our first hole. We found the course to be disappointing as it is in very bad condition.  One starter (a guy who sends golfers out to play) told us the new owner is closing the course this spring and doing a major renovation.   But it was a nice day to be outside in 80 degree, sunny, weather and enjoying fellowship with our foursome. 

Meanwhile, Mary had beach time.  She spotted this sailboat passing her, and took this picture of her feet in the waves.   

After I got home, we headed out to take in the sunset.  It was a very pretty site, as Mary captured in these pictures. 

After that (around 7 pm) we headed out to eat.   We both find it amazing how busy the restaurants are.  For example, tonight we had a 45 minute wait to get a table.   This is true nearly every evening.  

Looking forward to beach time tomorrow.

Florida Day 3

Today was a very pleasant and relaxing day.  Mary and I slept in a bit, then we went down to the beach where we sat for a while, then took a long walk in the sand.  After lunch, we headed out to run some errands, then spent a quiet afternoon, reading, and enjoying our private pool. 

We then visited my golfing buddy,John Olson and his wife, Laura before out to dinner with the two of them and a former DTE supervisor, Irene Chmura.   It was a very enjoyable dinner with great conversation.

Tomorrow should be another quiet day for Mary, but I'm playing golf with John for most of the day.  

Florida Day 2

 Today pretty much went as planned.  After yesterday, that gets a big WHEW! Since we had a lot of time, we got late checkout from our Fairfield Inn, had lunch, and then visited the Manatee Viewing Center near the TECO Big Bend Power Station, which generates the warm water that attracts the manatees during the winter months. Then it was time to head to our AirBnB condo.

We had a relaxing morning with a late complementary breakfast followed by some reading and quiet time. The manatee viewing center was very nice, but a bit crowded.  I counted over 3 dozen manatees floating around, but I'm sure there were a lot more.  Mary took this nice picture of a mother and baby. Next we went to the sting ray pond where you can touch a stingray.  I tried, but they were all swimming too deep. All, but one pair who flew across the top of the water, splashing everyone. 

It was a 1 1/2 hour drive to our condo for a 5 day stay.  The host was very nice and the condo is quite spacious.  It even has a screened in area with a private pool.  Sure beats spending a week in a hotel room!

Across the street is a private beach just for this group of condos.  Very nice!  The sound of the waves was wonderful and it will be a great site for getting sunset photos.

Later we went out to eat at Ken and Barb's, a local restaurant with outdoor seating. We had an hour wait, but the food made it worth it.   Next was grocery shopping as we stocked up for the week.  It's amazing how empty a grocery store can be at 7:30 pm! 

Tomorrow is some beach time, followed by a dinner with two former DTE employees.

In Florida

 Well, we had quite a travel day today.  Had a plumbing problem at home, left something at home, had a totally full flight (they were offering $2000/person to take a morning flight tomorrow), then got a bit lost getting to our hotel.  But now we're settled into our Fairfield Inn and we don't need to leave until late morning since we cannot check into our AirBnB until 3:00 pm, and it's only a 1 hour drive so we'll have time for some sightseeing.

We had an early lunch, but as I ran the garbage disposal after putting a small amount of lettuce down it, the sink backed up and would not drain!  I quickly tried to plunge it (no luck), then took off the trap so I could clear the drain.  That spilled a lot of water, overflowing the bucket, and in the end, I had to give up since it was now 12:15.  So we headed to the airport to catch our 2:25 flight.  

But when parking our car, Mary realized that she did not have her carry-on, that had meds, curling iron, book, laptop -- ESSENTIALS!!  So we left the DTW parking lot, and headed home.  After collecting the bag, we set out again and finally got to the Delta terminal at 1:45.  To avoid baggage check-in lines, we used curbside and headed to security and our gate.  Had no line at TSA pre-check (no one else in line!) and we got to our gate as boarding was starting.  Mary commented that this was the first time she got to an airport gate and did not sit down.

Overall our flight was uneventful except that when Mary sat in her seat she felt something wet... someone had spilled a water bottle leaving a puddle in the seat.  Got that taken care of and were happy to see that there were in-flight movies; I watched The King's Speech and Mary watched a long-time favorite of hers, When Harry Met Sally.   Once we landed, we got our rental car and headed out.  I had some notes about the route to the hotel, but evidently missed a turn.  So we stopped for supper, checked google maps, and got here.  

So, after a rather eventful day, we made it!  It was 70 and sunny when we landed, and now we are relaxing on day 1 of our vacation.