Sunshine Skyway Bridge

On Sunday afternoon we took a drive down to the North Pier of the Skyway State Fishing Pier. The Sunshine Skyway carries Interstate 275 over the mouth of Tampa Bay, connecting Pinellas County with Manatee County to the South. It's an interesting and somber site to visit.

On May 9, 1980, a freighter ran into the bridge during a rainstorm, resulting in the deaths of 35 people.

Parts of the original span were left, and at each end of the bay, they serve as fishing piers.

Lots of people sit out there in the hot sun to fish!

The new span is in the background.

Quick, Heathcliff! Run!

Gina Arrives in Boston

Gina arrived in Boston this afternoon. It's 90 degrees here in Florida, sunny.

Movin' On

Gina leaves for her freshman year at Wellesley this coming Saturday. [Cue the orchestra - Sunrise, Sunset . . . ] It's hard to believe that the baby is off to college! I visited Gina in Orlando on Tuesday. We spent a nice afternoon together!

Words of wisdom?

Always take along Hoops and Yoyo for laughs!

Flatbread appetizer.

Flatbread appetizer . . .

Lunch at Bahama Breeze!

Crispy chicken salad.

Tilapia, cinnamon mashed sweet potatoes, plantains

Warm Chocolate Pineapple Upside Lava Cake

Bahamarita!

Outings and Adventures

I signed up for a free membership to a fairly new Tampa Bay social activity club, outings & adventures.

It advertises itself as an "alternative to the bar scene and the on-line-hook-up hunt".

There are various activities, such as kayaking, book club, cooking classes, biking, art classes, performing arts, Segway tours, wine tastings, day hikes, bowling, movies and yoga. Wayne and I went to the Film Series Dinner & Movie Finale last Saturday night. We first went for hors d'oeuvres and sangria at Oasis Bistro & Lounge, a new space, soon set to open. After a two hour social, we proceeded over to Baywalk Muvico to see Every Little Step . "Every Little Step travels behind the scenes of the auditions for 2006 revival of A Chorus Line to investigate the goings-on and the interplay among the hopefuls. The film thus establishes a neat corollary between the events of the play itself and the offstage experiences of the aspiring tryouts."

A 'truncated' pic of the attendees of the sangria social.

I'm thinking of attending the next book club discussion.

Homecoming

On August 6 I arrived in Albany for the first time since I left on August 31, 2007, when I moved to St. Petersburg. It was a "compact" visit, so I tried to cram a lot into a short period of time as possible . My plane landed in late afternoon, and after picking up my rental, I headed over to Linda's and Louie's where I stayed while I was in Albany. Ray and Iz came over and we had a delicious home cooked meal!!!

On Friday morning, I met Ray and Russ and Jose at Grandma's Pie Shop for breakfast. Ray and Russ and I grew close from our time at the support group at the CDGLCCenter. Russ now lives in the Canary Islands with his husband Jose. Talk about another galaxy!

I LOVE breakfast at Grandma's!

After spending a couple of hours reminiscing and catching up, I left for Syracuse and Mike's and Katie's wedding celebration. See Mike and Katie Get Hitched

I left Syracuse early Sunday morning to head back to Troy to be a guest, along with Russ and Jose, on the weekly radio show on WRPI. Both Ray and Ulysses are co-hosts on the show each week.

It was a blast doing the show. We talked about our experiences and how our lives have changed since going to the support group.

Later that afternoon, Jim hosted a get together at his house, to celebrate our homecoming.


It was a treat to see everyone!

On Sunday night I met Ron, Joe, Dave and Gavin, to hang out for a while and catch up.

On Monday morning I met a couple of former co-workers from my last days at DCJS. Poor Rick got delayed in Buffalo, so wasn't able to make it back in time.

I also stopped in to see cousin Dave on Monday morning. He and Marilyn weren't able to make it to the wedding because of an emergency. It was fun chatting with Dave . . . his homemade wines have won some awards!

I met Patty, another former co-worker from DCJS, at Johnny Rockets for lunch. It's good to know that some things don't change!

And then later that afternoon I met Don for coffee. Again, it was nice to catch up with all that has been going on!

Finally, on Monday night, I went to the weekly support group meeting. It was very surreal being back after two years, and thinking back to all that was discussed in that room. Sunrise . . . Sunset . . .


All in all, it was great to visit. I did find that I was missing my palm trees though!