Hillsborough River, Indian Rocks Beach, and the Callihan Pool

Hi All -

We had another action-packed week and weekend here in Tampa.

On Friday, I got my hair cut, taking off about 4 inches. I feel much lighter!

Saturday, we took the dogs to Hillsborough River Park. It was a huge, gorgeous area, with nice trails all along the Hillsborough River.

Deuce is raring to go!

Shortly after entering the park however, we were attacked by a million angry mosquitoes. Despite being coated in bug spray, it was terrible. Poor Deucie had a cloud of mosquitoes on him, like Pig Pen. We quickly figured out the key was to keep moving, so we practically ran through the whole park.

Glenn and Mo agreed to sit still for a brief moment, but otherwise it was the fastest 2 miles I think we've ever covered.  Still, it was so pretty, we'd probably go back, maybe soaked in kerosene...

I'm telling you, the bugs down here are not messing around. Check out this grasshopper! He was probably 3 or 4 inches long!

Anyway, Glenn took so many nice pics, it's hard to choose. So here are a few more...

On Sunday, we took a walk around the neighborhood and then took the dogs for a dip in our glamorous new pool.

We eventually were able to lure Mojo in with some ice cream, but she's not a big fan.

Glenn and I later celebrated "Sun" day by going to Indian Rocks Beach, which was quite lovely.

I had no idea why it's called Indian Rocks, because we didn't see any rocks or Indians. We did however find some really cool shells which we snagged. (Not a great pic, but you get the idea.)

So anyway, that's the news from the South. It remains in the 90s every day here, so we aren't really experiencing any fall, except the Halloween stores are opening up everywhere, and I did get some Pumpkin Spice coffee. Hope you all are doing well!

An Assortment of Random News

Hi All -

We didn't really have any big adventures this week or weekend, but I will report on an assortment of random news for your reading pleasure nonetheless.

The Outside is Coming In!

Earlier in the week, when I went to let the dogs outside, a small frog hopped into the kitchen and immediately disappeared into a closet. Shortly later, while Glenn was sitting on the couch, he was stung by a hornet.

The hornet died, Glenn is okay, and the frog is still unaccounted for.

Additionally, we have a guy that has taken up residence in our mailbox. It makes sticking your hand in the mailbox a bit more exciting.

Also, we have three palm trees at the end of our driveway that Glenn likes to take photos of on his way to work in the morning. They are pretty, especially at sunrise.

The Dogs Are Being Spoiled

On Saturday, we once again took the dogs to Al Lopez Park for a walk, although Deuce was kinda being a jerk and I was losing my calm and assertive demeanor.

Still, it's a great park.

And Glenn captured us in a more peaceful moment.

You should know that we also purchased a baby pool for the pups, and after our hot walks on the weekend, we put them in the pool to cool off and eat doggie ice cream (Glenn purchased the ice cream, because he is a sucker.) My allergist told us to rinse off the dogs at least once a week to keep the dander down, so this lets us do that.

Deuce likes the pool, although he just kinda stands there; Mojo is not convinced it is a good idea. Sadly, I have no doggie pool pictures yet, but we'll work on getting some.

A Million Small Children

So Saturday afternoon, we went to our friend Erin's house for her son's 1st birthday party. Chad and Lisha did not attend because they were out of town (jerks) so Glenn and I were on our own. There were about 30 little kids there and while it was nice meeting some new (albeit very distracted) people, it wasn't really our scene.

Still, we had about as good of a time as we could have at a child's birthday party.  Here's Erin and baby John Patrick (JP) and an assortment of other people...

Oh, and here is a picture of Erin's pool. You can pretend the dogs are in it.

Stupid Steeler Sunday

So Sunday, Glenn and I went to an outdoor sports bar called the Patio to watch what my friend called "that steaming turd of a Steelers game", since we couldn't get the game on our TV.  It was a nice location even if the game was spectacularly bad.

That night, we had a unsatisfying dinner at a Thai place on Davis Island. It claimed to be "gluten free friendly" but the waitress had no idea what gluten was and clearly did not care. But we stopped at the harbor on the way home to see the sun start to go down, and took a few decent pictures of ourselves, even though I was cranky.

So that's it for this week in Tampa. Hope all is well back in the 'burgh. It is still in the 90s here every day but we don't mind one bit. :-)

Labor Day Weekend: From the Ridiculous to the Sublime

Hi All -

Hope everyone enjoyed the holiday weekend. Glenn and I had an overall great time, though some of our adventures were not as good as others.

Saturday, we wanted to go to the beach, but fearing holiday tourists, we went to Picnic Island which is a park with a beach on the bay. We quickly renamed this Poopy Island, because the whole place smelled like sewage. We beat a hasty retreat, and went instead to Pass-a Grille Beach on the Gulf.

1000 times better. And not overly crowded at all. A beautiful day at the beach.

Saturday night, we opted to go to the ridiculous "Hogan's Beach" which is a restaurant / bar owned by none other than Hulk Hogan.(Oh yeah, Brother!)

Of course there was a bikini contest (along with a nearly naked spectator), a mechanical shark to ride (no, we did not ride it), and lots of other silliness.

Still, it was amusing and a nice spot to see the sunset.

On Sunday, we went to the USF Botanical Gardens, which were surprisingly lame. Worst. Botanical. Gardens. Ever. Glenn was angry the whole time, and was tempted to pick up sticks everywhere.

Here's a couple pics, but really, the place was not as nice as many of the parks we've been to and we had to pay $10 to a bunch of hippies to get in.

That night, we went to our first community event -  Tampa's Labor Day celebration, featuring bands, fireworks and a "Light Up the Night" boat parade.

Glenn and I got great seats at the Sail Pavilion on the water.

We had a fun and relaxing time people watching as the place filled up, and the band was really good. It was a pretty night, as you can see.

However, we could not see the fireworks from where we were at all, which is probably just as well, because they only lasted for about 5 minutes. Any true Pittsburgher would be shocked at such a poor display.

And then, there was the boat parade. Such a fabulous idea, but really poorly executed. We only saw three boats with lights, and I've seen more impressive lighting inside my refrigerator. But here...I think we got all three boats in this shot.

woo.

Ah well. Still had fun.

Monday was perhaps the best day, in that we discovered that the Marriott Tampa Waterside has a rooftop pool that is open to the public. You just need to pay to park there. I am thinking if they have Wi-Fi, I may make this my new office. (I couldn't find any pics Glenn had taken from here, so here's a pic of it I found online.)

 It was awesome, although we discovered that spray-on sunscreen provides rather spotty coverage, and Glenn is burned in patches making him look like a leper.

Monday night we went to the waterfront in St. Petersburg. We decided to make it a day of rooftops, so we ate at a rooftop place called the Canopy, which was very nice.

You can see the St. Pete Pier in the distance, which is slated to be torn down soon, and there is much controversy as to what is going to replace it.

 

After dinner, we walked around the waterfront and the marina. The colors as the sun went down were just gorgeous.

So that's it for this holiday edition of Adventures in Florida. Stay tuned! Love, Us

Lettuce Entertain You!

Hi All -

So, let's see. First, the medical updates. I had my allergy tests done - was tested for 49 allergens (ouch, ouch, ouch) and was negative for all of them (mold, dust, ragweed, etc.) - everything but one....DOG. I can't believe it.

I am still on a bunch of meds, am treating the dogs with dander-reducing solution, and have banned Deuce from our bedroom. He was not amused.

Say What?

We had an epic battle of wills the first night we kicked him out of the room, which lasted until 1 am. But since then, he has been a little angel, and has slept peacefully downstairs with Miss Mo.

I still may have to take allergy shots, but I'm trying the other options for a while first.

Meanwhile, Glenn got his MRI results back and not only had two bulging discs, but also two ruptured discs in his neck. He is now undergoing some physical therapy which he thinks is helping, and has a back brace that he wears on occasion, which makes him look like he just parachuted into the living room.

We had a pretty quiet weekend. We went to Old Hyde Park Village on Saturday to walk around and window shop, which was fun. And on Sunday, we went to Lettuce Lake Park, a park near Tampa that was recommended on TripAdvisor.

The park had lots of nice trails. Back in this area, the cicadas were so loud, Glenn and I had to yell to hear each other.

Dora the Explorer

It's hard to believe we were just minutes from the expressway.

After much walking, we found the raised boardwalk that goes around the lake and through the swamp area.

At the lake, you can see these huge cypress trees coming out of the water.

And that's not all that was coming out of the water!

Our first alligator sighting since we've been down here. This guy was very close to us and nice enough to pop out on shore. He was probably 5 or 6 feet long.

We also saw two baby alligators. This little guy was a cutie. I wanted to take him home to be Deuce's playmate. (Plus as my friend Julie said, alligators don't have any dander. They're hypoallergenic!)

Anyway, it was a great place to walk around and commune with nature.

Anyway, you get the idea.

Signing off, from the wilds of Florida - Us