Walking on Sunshine

Hi Guys -

Sorry I didn't post anything last week. Glenn was in Miami from Thurs through Sat for a Strides event, and then Sunday he had to go to Orlando, so we didn't have the chance to go on any non-work related adventures.

In the meantime, Fall has arrived here in Florida. The temps have been in the low 80s for the highs and 60s for the lows. The humidity seems to be gone. We have turned off the AC and opened the windows. It's beautiful.

In fact, Friday morning, I was inspired by the sunny, brisk morning (55 degrees) and decided to skip the gym and go on a long walk instead. Inspired by my mother, I decided my destination would be the Starbucks in downtown Safety Harbor. I bundled up and headed out at 8 am.

 Come and walk with me.

See the mist rising off the water?

I took a little cut through this neighborhood park.

It was pretty seeing the sunlight filter through the spanish moss on the trees.

I believe this is called a Staghorn Fern - people have them hanging on trees all over down here.

After 45 minutes, I finally made it to downtown Safety Harbor.

And ultimately, to my final destination.

TA-DA!

There, I paid $5 for a tiny complicated coffee. (Mom would be proud!) I got a small, non-fat, no whip, iced Pumpkin Spiced Latte and gulped it down in about three sips. By now, the temp had gone up to 68.  That probably gave me enough sugar and caffeine to turn right around and head back home to the pups, who were probably wondering when breakfast would arrive.

Before I left, I did go and get a glimpse of the harbor to give myself a feeling of accomplishment.

I didn't take any pics on the way back, because I decided to book it straight home. Still, round trip, it took me an hour and half, and the pups were very happy to see me come in at 9:30.

Saturday morning, Glenn and I got up early and drove to Sarasota for his Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk there. The event was held at the Sarasota Polo Club, which was a beautiful venue, and about 6,000 folks were there to walk the 3.1 miles with us.

Polo horses!

Some nice houses along the route too

We had lunch in Sarasota and then drove home, and hung out with the dogs for a while, including this guy.

So handsome!

That night, Glenn took me to an amazing dinner at Caretta on the Gulf at the Sandpearl Resort in Clearwater. There were several weddings happening on the beach below us. One of our fellow diners took this pic of us.

Sunday morning was another beautiful morning, so Glenn and I decided to dust off our tennis rackets and attempt to play.  Suffice it to say, we were terrible! But we had a lot of laughs and got a great workout out of it.

Later, we got some packed lunches and took a blanket for a picnic lunch in Phillipe Park.

All in all, we had a wonderful weekend together. This morning, despite my legs aching a bit, I took another walk and made it to Tampa Bay.

Hope you all are well and enjoyed the pics! Love you guys!

My Parents' Visit

Hi Everyone!

This past Thursday through Sunday, my parents came to visit us in Safety Harbor. It was the first time we had seen them in nine months, and a good time was had by all.

After we gave them the tour of the house, and the barking stopped, we went to Safety Harbor for lunch, and then walked over to the pier.

First family selfie!

And we saw a bird eating a lizard.

We then walked into town, and after a required stop at Starbucks, took them to see the Baranhoff Tree.

Dad taking a picture of the tree. As you'll see, Glenn finds these kind of shots amusing. :-)

That night, we met with Chad and Lisha and Lisha's mom, Merrilyn, for dinner at a nice restaurant facing the bay called Oystercatchers.

Glenn and Dad went out to snap some pics of the sunset together.

Friday, we went to the Florida Botanical Gardens and to Heritage Village for a stroll. (Glenn doesn't have many shots of this, maybe because we'd been there before...I think he was slacking off.)

Afterwards, we went to Indian Rocks Beach for a spectacular pizza lunch at Slyce. Then we stopped by a local park to see the turtles. We saw giant soft-shelled turtles with pig noses and a big smiling snapping turtle that seemed to be attracted to my mom. And also these guys, just lounging in the sun.

We left the afternoons open for naps or reading  - just lounging around like the turtles, only out of the sun.

Friday night, we headed to St. Petersburg where we had dinner at the Birch & Vine and then walked through some shops until it started raining.

On Saturday, it was still raining in the morning, so we decided to check out the Salvador Dali Museum. Despite the abundance of pics, we unanimously decided that we did not really like Dali's work. We were through the whole place in about 20 minutes. But the museum itself was pretty and we found ways to entertain ourselves.

Yes, that is Dali in the background.

Me and the giant Dali mustache.

Glenn took some pics of the art, but it is weird stuff, and it will just give you a headache, so I am skipping it. 

We also drove over to St. Pete Beach and stopped in at the Pink Palace.

That night, we had a nice dinner on the deck outside at the Salt Rock Grill. Again, Glenn failed to take any pics. Boooo! We must have been caught up in fascinating conversation. :-)

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend, and great fun to see my folks. (They even seemed to like the dogs, who were somewhat well-behaved.) See? They look pretty happy.

All our love to you guys, and everyone else here on the blog. Come on down and see us anytime!