Party Bus to Lakeland

Hi All -

So in case you've worried about the fact that Glenn and I are in a whole big weird new state and have only our dogs and lizards for company, let me allay those fears. Chad and Lisha have lovingly invited us into their social circle, and this past weekend, we got to go with a bunch of folks to Lakeland.

Our new friend Rachel had a friend who had opened up a winery/restaurant in Lakeland (The Red Door Wine Market), and wanted everyone to go together to check it out. Since Lakeland is a long ways north in cow country, everyone pitched in and rented a bus for the festivities.

Here are the girls:

(Lisha, Kathy, Rachel, KK, and myself)

And here are the guys:

 (Ken, Brit, Chad, Glenny, and John)

Here we are on the road. It was a pretty posh bus.

There was one more couple - Erin and Xavier (below), who showed up a tad late, so they aren't in some of the group shots. We went to Erin's birthday party about ten years ago, and she was in Lisha's wedding with me - we've been good friends with Erin ever since. She recently adopted a baby boy, named John Patrick (JP), and we'll be going to his first birthday party in September.

Glenn and Xavier were wearing very similar shirts, and hence made quite a cute couple.

Anyway, the restaurant brought us 3 or 4 courses of food, along with a wine pairing for each, and we had a very fun, relaxing evening.

Upon arrival, I told Glenn I wanted to finally get a decent photo of Lisha and I together, and this is what he came up with.

You see what I have to put up with here?

On the way back, there was much hilarity as Chad attempted some sort of wild dance move and accidentally kicked out one of the sconces on the bus. Here is that special moment. You can tell Lisha is proud.

So that's pretty much it. Some new friends and a fun night in Lakeland. I suppose I'll sign off by letting you know that one of Glenn's new favorite talents is taking pictures of himself making funny faces. Enjoy!

43 is the new 29

Hi All -

Sorry its been a while since my last post. This past Tuesday was, as you all know, my birthday (Wooooo!). Glenn took me out to a nice dinner and presented me with a necklace he bought me in Marco Island. So pretty!

Not sure why that pic is sideways, but you get the idea.

Anyhow, we had more general festivities over this weekend. On Saturday, Glenn and I went to Historic Pass-A-Grille Beach. Not sure what makes it so historic, other than the fact it is old.

We went to dinner at a place called Sea Critters and sat out on the dock.

There were, in fact, a number of sea critters there, including a school of catfish.

Here's another sea critter, wearing a starfish necklace.

After dinner, we went to the rooftop deck of a very old restaurant called the Hurricane to watch the sunset. Lisha and Chad had actually taken us to this spot ten years ago.

It was a nice breezy spot to watch the sun sink into the ocean.

All in all a fun evening.

On Sunday, we headed to Davis Island to take a class in Stand Up Paddleboarding. We will probably get some more pics in the days to come from the place's Facebook page, but here is one - Glenn and I are in the foreground, receiving a long list of instructions.

I had long thought that paddleboarding looked peaceful and relaxing, just gliding over the water, and was very excited to try it.

Instead it was an exhausting workout. Every muscle in my body was shaking after about ten minutes, and when I got off the thing, I started seeing spots and seriously thought I might faint into the sand. It is harder than it looks and it was hot as hell.

You have to concentrate the whole time to keep your balance, and you can't stop paddling because the momentum is what helps you balance (like riding a bike - when you stop, you fall over.) So NOT relaxing.

When we were done, I said to Glenn, "Hey, let's never do that again."

I'm probably the first person ever to hate Stand Up Paddleboarding, but I am willing to live with that distinction. Glenn did well and neither of us fell off, but that's definitely the first and last time I do that.

Maybe we'll stick to birdwatching.

 That's it for now, peeps!

20th Anniversary on Marco Island

Wow...it's hard to believe its been 20 years since that lovely morning at Smithfield Church when Glenn and I got married. We are so lucky to have each other.

I could not have asked for a better husband. In fact, he completely blew me away with my anniversary gift this year. Glenn gave me a small jump drive. On it, I discovered that he had been making little videotaped messages for me every year around Christmas since 1999!

What a treasure! Each year, he tells me a little about what happened that year, along with photos set to music. The technology has certainly changed, since he started out using his dad's old Super 8 video camera, but has now progressed to his iPhone.

Anyway, I can't believe he's kept this a secret for 14 years (!!), but at last I get to see all these old tapes along with some very heartfelt messages. I've also gotten to see a younger Glenn, along with Buddy and Tocchet, and Maxine and Mojo as puppies. We've been watching a year or two together every night. So far, we're up to 2006. It's priceless. (I said, "Crap, I have nothing to give you that would possibly compete with this....")

Definitely the most romantic gift ever. But we did have a wonderful trip to Marco Island on top of that. We didn't make this sandcastle, but it seemed like a good picture to take to introduce our trip.

 We stayed at the Marriott Marco Island Resort & Spa, which was gorgeous. We had a great room with a balcony on the 10th floor. This was our view.

There's a big fountain at the entrance when you come in.

And proof we were actually there...

But there really isn't too much to tell regarding our activities. We walked on the beach every morning and evening collecting shells (I have never seen so many shells on a beach!) and spent the afternoons lying at the pool or reading on the balcony. We also had a couple of spa appointments on Saturday. It was lazy and lovely.

Here's the view from the hotel lobby.

And here are some shots of that fabulous pool area.

And here is the beach.

We found out these thatched shelters are called Chickee Huts.

On our last night, we were treated to an amazing sunset. We plopped down in the sand and stayed for the whole show. Glenn took a zillion pics so it was a challenge to narrow down the ones for this post, but these are nice.

 

We had a wonderful time from sunrise....

to sunset...

  

Thanks for all your well wishes for us! Here's to the next 20 years, and the 20 after that!

These Trees Are the Bee's Knees!

Wow...that headline just came to me. Please hold your applause.

Anyway, continuing our weekend adventures, we decided to go to Safety Harbor. It's a charming little area, where we would love to live, except that we can't find a house there we like that's for sale. Yet.

According to Wikipedia, Safety Harbor is the home of the historic Espiritu Santo Springs, or "Springs of the Holy Spirit", a natural mineral spring. Its waters were given this name in 1539 by the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto, who was supposedly searching for the mythical "Fountain of Youth".

Similar to Bedford Springs, The Safety Harbor Resort and Spa grew out of these springs - people visited for their supposed healing properties.

This is outside the resort. And a cute little shot down their main street.

Safety Harbor does in fact have a little harbor, as well as a nice fishing pier and a little park.

But the true star of Safety Harbor is the Baranoff Oak, named after Salem Baranoff, a doctor who owned the Safety Harbor Resort and Spa.. This live oak tree is the oldest tree in Pinellas County and is estimated to be between 300 and 500 years old.

Here's Glenn in front of it to give a better sense of scale.

They estimate the tree weighs...wait for it....800 tons! They built platforms to help support some of its giant branches.

Look, they also have a little gazebo in the town square.

And sir, just for you, we took a picture of this giant century plant just growing in someone's yard!

But more history. While in Safety Harbor, we went to Philippe Park (named after Count Odet Philippe who supposedly introduced the grapefruit to Florida).  Philippe Park is home to an Indian temple mound, built by the Tocobago Indians and perhaps the only true hill we've seen.

In fact, they say that Philippe and his family survived a storm surge in the 1800s by getting to the top of this mound as the tides rushed in.

It does provide a lovely view of the surrounding vista.

And again, you just can't believe how beautiful the trees are here.

So that's your little tour for now. Next weekend is our anniversary trip to Marco Island, so we'll be sure to report back.