A Work in Progress...: Beaches

Monday, January 23, 2012

A January Afternoon Boat Outing

Kevin and David rented a pontoon boat and were in need of a crew, so they invited us to go along and help trim the sail. I think most of us thought we were going to some kind of sale, but anyhow, it was a fun six hour excursion through some of the Suncoast Barrier Islands.

Our tour took us from Indian Shores down to Pass-A-Grille Beach and back again. We shoved off shortly after 10:10 AM

David was our skipper. He sure knows his stuff! An afternoon of smooth sailing thanks to Skipper! I've even forgotten about that slight bump when we pulled into the dock. David was great at minimizing the water coming over the bow whenever a speeding boat passed!

Landlubbers sitting a fore. (I have no idea if that is correct.)

When we broke for lunch, the rest of the crew voted to throw Wayne and me overboard when we took out our cloth napkins and metal forks from our picnic satchel. Fortunately no one suggested keelhauling us!

Bay Pines VA Hospital complex.

John's Pass

Spotted some dolphins along the way.

And a fine mist.

We heard rumor of Oprah having a home in this vicinity. We were hoping to catch a glimpse of Gayle or maybe Stedman.

Proud Mary?

The downtown St. Pete (unhappiest place in the US) skyline and Tropicana dome look fairly close!

This speeding boat didn't see us before passing.

Another dolphin sighting. There was a pod of them in this area.

Guess who is skippering this boat?

How nice of them to open this drawbridge for us! Maybe because we were standing with our hands raised above our heads?

This is the bridge we normally travel over to Sunset Beach on Treasure Island.

We landed back at the dock just after 4:00 PM. What a great way to spend a winter sunday in Florida! And what a great first day of complete retirement!

Friday, July 22, 2011

Mia Visit Day 4 - With Adele and Gina Too!

We decided to head to Fort DeSoto this morning, to spend a couple hours at North Beach there. Gina rode shotgun while Adele and Mia and Willy rode in the back seat.

The water was calm and beautiful. Lots of beach days this week!

Mia decided to set Willy free!

Adele and Willy.

Adele and Mia with attitude!

Our homestead on the beach.

Willy with his adopted family.

Keeping it real. Our Super Big Gulps.

Enjoying the sun and water . . . gathering clouds in the background.

Love the cloud formations. Big sky here!

We joined Pete, Joe, Alan and Phil for dinner at Acropolis. Tried to capture the dancing wait staff, but too quick for the camera! Flying napkins and clinking plates too!

Zills a clinking too!

My dish . . . fish . . . crisp coating . . . and all the fixins'

Enjoying our entrees. Mia, Gina, Adele and Phil.

This side too! Alan, Pete and Joe.

One of our gracious neighbor diners snapped a picture for us!

Dad and his girls.

Leave it to the Gabriel Girls to get the party started! After standing near the dance floor for a while, and no one dancing, the girls headed out and within 2 seconds, the floor was awash with dancers!