Christmas Season 2013 in Saint Pete

December always seems to fly by.  Maybe because there is so much going on with the holidays and preparations and so on.  I always try to make sure that I do things to make it more relaxed and enjoyable.  This was Steve's first Christmas in Saint Pete, so we wanted to make sure that we did enough activities to keep it simple and fun.

We went to the Nutcracker at the Palladium (Steve's first time seeing it.)  The little clowns reminded me of Adele when she did that part many years ago!  We also went to the Santa Parade and the Snow Festival downtown.

I ran into these Canadian ladies on Coffee Pot Bayou on one of my walks.  They were having a blast as they got away from the freezing weather up north.

We baked ginger crinkle cookies using Steve's mother's recipe.  They were soooooo good!

We went to North Beach at Fort DeSoto one Sunday.  The water was cold, but it was a beautiful sunny day.

For Christmas, we went away for a few days to Mount Dora.  Talk about a relaxing Christmas.  Post to follow. . .

Skipping ahead to New Year's Eve, it also was relaxing and fun.  Enjoyed a special toast, tarot card readings for us both, a quick stop at a friend's party, walked around the First Night activities a little and ended up meeting friends to watch the fireworks on the Bay at midnight!

Christmas 2013 Family Visit

Two days after Christmas, on Friday, all of my children and my grandchildren came to visit for a few days.  What fun it was!  My apartment became full to the brim!

First order of business after getting out of the car was "jumping in muddy puddles" as Ruby's friend Peppa Pig does with her family.  And Red greeted me with big smiles!  He's such a chill 8 month old!

Ruby is talking up a storm and repeating everything.  When her Mama said "This is G-Pa's house" Ruby echoed, "G-Pa's house."  When she began exploring the layout of my apartment, she repeated, "G-Pa's kitchen" when we went in there.

We had some snacks and exchanged gifts.  Ruby enjoyed playing Santa and giving everyone their presents.  We took a break to call in an order to Valentino's Little Italy.  Gina and I went to pick it up and we feasted in the kitchen!

 We took a walk over to the Bay after lunch.  Ruby loved seeing all the birds.  It was good to walk off some of our lunch.  But, next order of business, off to Mazarro's to pick up some pastries for dessert!  We're a family that loves to eat!

On Saturday morning we went downtown.  First stop, Steve's condo to get a tour and then all of us to head over to the Saturday Morning Market three blocks away.  It was way too crowded so we headed over to the playground at Demens Landing.  Then, off to Sunset Beach on Treasure, after a pit stop at the apartment and a stop at Fresh Market to pick up lunch vittles for the beach.

It was overcast, but comfortable.  Ruby loved the beach.  Red was a little cautious of the sand and the water.  The Gulf waters are a little cold for my blood too!  Ruby loved finding shells.  When she found a fancy one, I said, "Oh, look!  A variegated shell!"  And Ruby said, "variegated".  She's so good at that!  Steve built a little mound with a moat around it and a riverbed leading up to it, so that a wave would find it's way up to surround the mound.  As a wave was coming, we got excited and exclaimed, "here comes a wave!"  Ruby took off in the opposite direction!
Steve then dug a hole for Ruby to sit in.  She loved it and promptly pulled sand in over her legs and feet.

Saturday night was a relaxing one since we were all tired.  On Sunday morning I headed to the apartment to make French toast with the Panettone.  I dip it in egg and egg nog and vanilla batter.  It's sooooo good! Gina manned the Choco Motion machine to make the hot cocoa with peppermint marshmallows.

Since the forecast was calling for rain, we headed over to the Florida Aquarium.  We ran into a lot of traffic since there were several cruise ships docked to let passengers off and pick up passengers for the coming week's cruises.

The aquarium was lots of fun.  Ruby loved the otters doing flips in and out of the water right in front of her.  And the penguins too!

We spent Sunday night going through some of the multitude of boxes of old photos.  A lot of work still ahead!

On Monday morning we headed over to Crescent Lake Park.  First the playground, then a walk around the lake, then over to Panera for a late breakfast.  Shortly after that . . . the family left for the trip back to Leesburg (northwest of Orlando).  The visit went way too fast!

But . . . the following Friday I met up with Joe and Joy and Ruby and Red (the Big Js and Little rs) and Mia and Gina at Linda's and Louie's in Bradenton.  After having lunch we headed to the beach (it was way windy and cold).  Brave Joy and Mia and Gina took off their shoes to wade in.  Ruby enjoyed jumping in the muddy puddles.  

For a much better coverage and photos, see Joy's blog here.

Christmas in Mount Dora

For Christmas we went to Mount Dora for a couple days.  We got a special holiday package at the Lakeside Inn which included two delicious breakfasts, plus cash vouchers for dinner and the buffet.  The Inn has been in operation since the 1880s!  It's a quaint old inn.  There was a special Christmas Eve dinner and a huge buffet on Christmas Day.  Over 600 people were seated for the buffet throughout the day on Christmas!

The downtown area and the park were decorated with thousands of lights.  There was a light show set to music for the Christmas tree.  Fun!  Not quite like the Osborne light show at Disney, but nice!

We took a stroll shortly after breakfast around downtown.  The streets were deserted!  Very relaxing, but not a place to grab a coffee or pastry later!  Our buffet reservation was for 5:30 pm, so we were looking for a snack! We thoroughly enjoyed the Lakeside Inn.  All of the staff and other guests were extremely friendly.  The wait staff worked their butts off, but you could tell they were enjoying themselves!  It was a nice way to spend Christmas!

My Sixth Old Northeast Candlelight Tour

Another year of visiting some beautiful homes in the neighborhood!  This marks my sixth tour, 47 homes, (one was a repeat from my first tour; it was in the middle of major renovations back then!)

Linda came up from Bradenton for her second tour, and this was Steve's first tour.  Lonnie joined us again this year too!

The homes were clustered in two different locations.  We started on the southern end with three homes, then caught the courtesy trolley to the northern cluster of seven homes.

Decking the Halls at Disney

Last year was the first time I visited Disney World when it was decorated for the Christmas Holiday Season.
This year Adele and Gina invited us to spend some time enjoying the decorations, and specifically, to see the Osborne Family Lights at Disney Hollywood Studios.
So, Day 1 was spent at the Magic Kingdom after a stop at the Grand Floridian to meet up with Adele and Matt and to see the decorations there.  We enjoyed some warm chestnuts before boarding the monorail to the Magic Kingdom.  We met up with Gina at the Be Our Guest dining room to have lunch.  Then a leisurely stroll around the park.  It was Steve's first visit there, so we had to do a few of our favorite rides:  the Haunted Mansion, the holiday Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Unfortunately, Splash Mountain ran into a problem and shut down just as we got there.  We had a really fun time meeting the talking Mickey!  What a hoot!  An ice cream treat, watching the street dance party, then out until the next day.

On Friday we headed over to Disney Hollywood Studios.  Our main item, to go on the Great Movie Ride with Gina as tour guide.  Our moving theater 'car' was full with a Disney Fan Club, who had a scripted response to Gina's  tour spiel.  It was hilarious!  Adele had to leave for a while, so Steve and I  took the boat over to Epcot.  After we strolled around a while, Gina met up with us after getting out of work.  We had a nice lunch at the Morocco Tangerine Cafe.  Adele and Matt joined up with us later.  We did get to hear Whoopi Goldberg  as the narrator for the Candlelight Processional at the American Gardens Theatre.

Then to the back lot to watch the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.  Worth the trip!  Plus it snowed!  Amazing!

Rib Fest 2013

Beautiful weather again for the annual Ribfest in Vinoy Park.  The three day festival is very well attended.  The lineup of bands included (Friday night): REO Speedwagon, (Saturday): Gin Blossoms, Sister Hazel, Edgar Winter, John Kay & Steppenwolf, (Sunday): Randy Houser and Justin Moore.

Steve and I took a walk around the outside on Friday night to catch a little of REO Speedwagon, planning to actually go in on Saturday to enjoy the festival.

On Saturday we walked over to the festival to catch the Gin Blossoms.  I remember them from way back (?) when my son Joe was in high school.  On the way we stopped at Fit2Run to check out running shoes.  My old Aisics had just about bitten the dust.  OK. They were long gone.  So I left with a nice new pair of Brooks.

We got inside the festival just as the Gin Blossoms took the stage.  We walked around and selected some ribs from Uncle Bub's (because the his picture reminded me of Peppa Pig)!  We sat along the bay to enjoy.  Shortly after, we met up with Pete and Steve and Evan and Lonnie.

The crowd continued to grow as the day progressed into night.  Along the way we had a treat of cappuccino frozen yogurt covered in dark chocolate and chopped peanuts.  And we figured, we're at a 'carnival' so why not a funnel cake!?  Settled for the closest thing, an elephant ear.  YUM!

Halloween in the 'Hood - Old Northeast

My seventh Halloween in the Old Northeast neighborhood.  Linda and Betty and Christine came up from Bradenton (about 40 minutes south of me) to join Steve and me for our Halloween tour around the 'hood.  We started with sandwich wraps and snacks before we headed out.  As time went on, the streets and sidewalks became more crowded.  We went out early enough and by the time the teenage crowds began to gather, we headed back home!

Happy (Belated) Birthday Mia!

I'm still playing catch up!  Happy Birthday Mia!  This photo was taken in Greenwich Village near my birthday this past summer.  I got to spend my day with Mia and Joe and Joy and Ruby and Red.

This picture was taken this past weekend (early November) when Mia was back in NYC for a few days.  She's with her best friend Ruby.

Mia will be finishing up and receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree in December.  So it will be good to have her back on the East Coast!  Hopefully back in NYC!!!  I love you!!!

October Visit to Disney World

Adele informed us that The Manhattan Transfer would be performing at the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival on October 12 and 13.  So, a road trip was quick in the making.  It was Steve's first visit to Disney World.

We met up with Adele at Hollywood Studios just after 8 AM on Saturday.  Since it was early hours, the park was not very crowded yet so we got to practically walk on the several rides that we had selected.  We first headed over to the Hollywood Tower of Terror.  Always a must!  What fun!  Then we headed next door to pick up a fast pass to the Rockin' Roller Coaster.  In between we visited Star Tours and watched the new recruits duel with Darth Vader at the Jedi Training Academy.  We headed over to catch the Voyage of the Little Mermaid.  I have some friends in that show . . . the Turtle, the Black Fish and one of the Eels.  After the show we met up with Adele and had lunch at the Backlot Express.  We had hoped to eat at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater, but because of a recent policy, visitors can reserve far in advance of visiting, so that all spots are booked before the park even opens!  I don't like that!!!

We then took the boat over to Epcot where we walked around the World Showcase visiting the different nations represented.  Just as we got there we caught one of the sets of the "British Revolution" at the United Kingdom exhibit.  They are so good!  Always a must see when there!  We then met up with Adele when she got out of work and caught the Manhattan Transfer show.  We had a great time, but being a Saturday night on a 3 day weekend (Columbus Day), the park was extremely crowded with people lined up for wine and food all around the World Showcase.

On Sunday morning we headed over to the Port Orleans French Quarter Resort where we met Gina for lunch in the Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory.  It was her first full day there for her new assignment.  I'm glad we got to catch her on her first day!

Now to plan more trips to Disney!

October Visit to NYC - Some Ruby and Red Time!

I was back in NYC for my seasonal visit to spend some G-Pa time with Ruby and Red.  Oh, and to visit with Joe and Joy too!  I found a place to stay via Airbnb right in the same building where the Js and Rs live.  It was a sweet commute in the elevator!

My trip was made, heck, my whole year was made when I first got there.  The battery on my cell phone had died and the phone would not even start up after we landed at LGA.  So, I got a cab over the LIC, headed up to the Js, and parked myself outside the apartment, plugging my phone into an outlet in the hall.  I wanted to send a text to Joy to let her know I had arrived.  I didn't want to knock or ring the door bell for fear of waking a possibly napping baby or toddler.  So I waited outside the door.  Very soon I heard some noise from the other side of the door and the door swung open.  There was Ruby and Red in the tandem stroller and Mama ready to wheel them out for an afternoon at the playground.  They were surprised to see me!  And Ruby said, "G-Pa!  Hi G-Pa!"  Right then and there she stole my heart!

The eight days were spent hanging with Ruby and Red.  Red has gotten so big already!  Six months old!  Playgrounds, playing games, reading books.  And . . . I was introduced to Peppa Pig and her family!  What a joy!

Thursday night I went into Manhattan to see the new musical "An Evening with Janis Joplin", still in reviews when I was there.  I LOVED IT!  I had seen Janis live four times back in the sixties.  I loved the musical numbers and the staging and lighting!

On Friday Gavin came down from Albany and we spent the day together.  We first headed over to the High Line Park and walked the length of it.  Then we headed down to the WTC.  We were going to attempt to go to the memorial, but the line for tickets stretched all the way to Terre Haute! We then walked over to the South Street Seaport and then up to Greenwich Village where we had lunch.

On Saturday I went with the Js and Rs to a seasonal pumpkin patch 'festival' out on Long Island.  We had a fun, although a bit (a bit?) overpriced!  Ruby loved the animals!

On Sunday we went into Manhattan and attempted to have lunch at the Shake Shack in the UWS.  Unfortunately the wait to get in was far too long, so we headed down to Bryant Park to get sandwiches at 'wichcraft.  It was overcast and a fine mist every so often, but we made the most of it.  And Ruby got to ride the merry-go-round!

As my time to return home approached, I made sure I got to spend as much time as possible with Ruby and Red.  On my last day Ruby and I got to spend a fun time at the new playground on the waterfront.  What fun she is to be with!  I'm looking forward to our next visit!  Hopefully, this January in Florida!

September Potpourri - Six Years in St. Pete

In honor of my seventh September in St. Pete, I thought I'd post some pictures taken so far this month.  I haven't been posting much on this blog this year.  Life has taken several turns since I started this back in 2006.  Thanks (or no thanks) to Facebook, I get more news and share my own stuff on there much more than on here.  So, maybe this will be winding down.  Plus my life is moving on to other things.  It's hard to stand still!

Early September Sunset: Reason #246 Why I Live Here

On my walk last night.  6.3 miles around.

Next to Last Summer Weekend - Myakka State Park

It's hard to believe that the summer is almost gone.  WHEW!  And also hard to believe that this coming weekend will mark the sixth anniversary of my move to St. Pete.  Time flies when one is having soooooo much fun.

To begin the weekend, Steve and I went to one of our favorite cafes, Meze 119 Bistro.  It's Middle Eastern vegetarian and the food is delicious.

On Saturday we took a trip down to Myakka River State Park which is just east of Sarasota.  Since Steve moved here from San Francisco early this year, and being a park ranger in a previous life, he hasn't been to many places outside of St. Pete and was craving an outing to an area where he could see some of Florida's natural ecological systems.  And I can't say I've seen too many either beyond St. Pete proper.

It was a short drive to the Park.  It was magnificent!  It was amazingly quiet.  You could hear a whisper from a distance.  Those black buzzards in the tree could overhear our whispered conversation very easily.  :-)

We went to the Canopy Walkway which is suspended 25 feet about the ground and extends 100 feet through the hammock canopy.  A tower soars 74 feet in the air at one end, "to present a spectacular view of treetops, wetlands and the prairie/hammock interface.  You can look down on eagles, hawks, vultures and the tops of live oaks and palm trees."

We spent several hours there, then headed over to Siesta Key to have some dinner.  We made a pit stop for gas and some refreshments (a Big Gulp and a Slurpee!) on the way.  We walked around the Siesta Key Village for a little and had dinner at The Hub before heading back to St. Pete.

Sometime in the near future, we'd like to pack a picnic lunch and head back to the park.

A Day at Sunset Beach with the Rays

This summer Florida has been blessed with such beautiful weather!  And as some long timers have said to me, the almost daily afternoon or evening thunderstorms are the way things used to be more regularly in the not too distant past.  At the end of this month, it will mark six years that I have lived here in St. Pete, after living in Albany (NY) all of my life.  I am enjoying the majestic power of the storms.

For the past three weeks a small group of us who have the luxury of having the time, have gone to the beach one day each week.  Today was an unusual one in that there were many fevers of rays (I looked it up and that's what it's called!) swimming around the shallow waters at the beach.  We were trying to figure out if they were sting rays or manta rays (or maybe Cownose rays like the ones at the Tropicana where the Tampa Bay Rays play; I looked this up on Wikipedia).  At times when we were out in the water, we'd see a fever swimming towards us, then they split in two and pass us on both sides.  All afternoon they were swimming back and forth, sometimes almost up to the beach sand.

And we saw a manatee swim by too!  It's in that picture with the two guys, that long shadow is the manatee swimming close to Dave.

After heading home from the beach, Steve and I decided to swing by Georgie's for the happy hour special of half price appetizers.  We hadn't eaten all day, so ordered four different ones.  The Chicken Cordon Bleu Balls and the Provolone wedges were gone before I took a picture.  We ran into a couple of friends who snapped that picture of us.

Happy Birthday Joe!

Happy Birthday Joe!  Another great year and more great memories!  I'm looking forward to many more!  LOVE YOU!!!

Celebrating Our Birthdays - Ruby and G-Pa

My slideshow of my recent trip to NYC to celebrate Ruby's and my birthdays.

Joy's Blog on Huffington Post Parents

My daughter-in-law Joy has been posting to her blog for just over two and a half years now.  She has been writing beautiful entries about her journey through two pregnancies and becoming a Mama, and the ups and downs of parenthood.  Her most recent post was picked up by the Huffington Post Parents section as a featured blog.  We are all so proud of her!

Check it out:

Kate Middleton and the Mom in the Mirror

Celebrating Ruby's and G-Pa's Birthdays

Ruby celebrated Birthday #2 on July 9th, and I celebrated Birthday #65 on July 10th.  What fun to celebrate together! My original plans called for me to be in NYC for eleven days.

I arrived in NYC the day after the Fourth of July (I guess that would make it the fifth)  :-)  Joe, Joy, Ruby and Red were away visiting family for the long 4th holiday in Albany and Syracuse, so after a brief rest stop at their place and lunch at the foodcellar, I took my luggage and hopped the subway (can you call it hop?  Maybe if I had used HopStop?) down to Mia's place in Greenwich Village to meet up with her after she got out of work.  Mia is in NYC for the summer doing an internship in public relations.  (See previous post)  I stayed with Mia for the week that I was in NYC.

On Saturday morning we did a little shopping downtown and then up to midtown.  We stopped into Uni Qlo  where we were handed scratch off contest cards as we entered.  Mia had won a 'second prize' of AIRism innerwear.  I won a third prize of a hand fan.  Mia had wanted to get one of those hand held motorized fans for Ruby, so we thought we had hit the jackpot!  On our way out, after making some purchases, we headed over to the counter to claim our prizes.  First, Mia got her receipt for the one she had chosen from the tons of shirts and she was told, "no returns".  No problem.  Next, I looked forward to getting the hand fan.  See photo for my prize.  Hee! Haw!  Funny, the clerk didn't say anything about no returns.

So, in mid afternoon we headed over to the Js and Rs place after they had arrived back home.  I couldn't wait to see Ruby and Red!  It's been almost three months!  And in G-Pa / grandbaby terms, that's a looooooonnnnngggg time!

On Monday morning Ruby and I headed over to the 'rainbow' playground for some play time.  Bubbles in hand, we caught the attention of many of the day care kids there that morning.  The day care adults brought plenty of water things to help cool the kids down, water balloons, bigger bags filled with water for "sprinklers" and a wagon load of their drinking water bottles.  Ruby kept going over to hang out with all those kids.  When it was time for them to sit on the spread out parachute for birthday party celebrations, Ruby joined right in and kept re-positioning herself to be right at the center!  Party crasher!  So funny!  The head teacher said she was welcome to stay.  But soon, another activity a short distance away caught Ruby's eye, a bubble machine, and we were off!

Finally, Ruby's big day arrived.  Since Mia didn't get out of work until 6:00 PM, we decided to head over to LIC so that Mia could see the Birthday Girl before she headed off to work.  What fun!  Ruby was enthralled with the new "Second Year" video from her Daddy Dad and we immediately were welcomed to join her in watching it non-stop!  And what a beautiful video, beginning at her first Birthday party up to the day before her second.  She loved the polka dot shirt with the red 'R' that Mia got her, and ran right to the mirror to check it out!

Joe was still in the throes of assembling the kitchen, so we played around him.  Off to the playground again, and then back for Ruby's favorite meal later in the day:  risotto with bacon and peas, followed by a 'bubble' cake by Mama and ice cream!

I looked forward to spending my birthday with Ruby and Red.  When I arrived at their place I was greeted with lots of smiles from the Rs!  And also a beautiful drawing by Ruby and dark chocolate chunk coconut muffins by Chef Joy!  She knows the way to my heart!

More bubbles and playground and hanging out made for a perfect day!

I loved spending my birthday with Ruby and Red!  It was the best present ever!  I have so much fun when I am with them.  At one point, as I was holding Red and playing with Ruby, I thought to myself, "it doesn't get any better!"

Later in the evening I met up with Mia and we made plans to go out for my birthday dinner.  With the heat of the past week (in the mid 90s) we were not very hungry for a big meal, so we opted for something light at Ellary's Greens in the West Village.  During the dinner we received a call from Gina.  Her news was not good.  Adele (my oldest daughter) was in transit from a hospital in Cellebration to the Neuro Critical Care Unit at Florida Hospital in Orlando.  Things did not look good at that moment and both Mia and I were crying at the table, and on the walk home.  I cut my visit short and headed back down to Florida the following night.  Fortunately all turned out well after spending a week in the critical care unit.  All brought on by dangerously low sodium levels.  An education for all of us. Now some career roles and life changes and on to a good future!