Welcome April, You Old Fool!

Today was the first day this year that I went to the beach.  And I mean, actually sitting there in a beach chair.  The weather was beautiful . . . hot sun, cooler breeze.  Perfect.  Joe's mother is visiting this week so we met them at Sunset Beach.  And the beach was fairly crowded too . . . probably still many spring breakers, mostly families, there.

After the beach we joined Pete and Joe and "Mommy" for a chicken bar-b-q, chicken with pineapple, macaroni salad with sun dried tomatoes and grilled corn on the cob.  All super yummy!

When Wayne came down on Saturday he gave me a nice bouquet of flowers.  What a nice surprise!    :-)

Sunset Beach Sunday

In between celebrating Lucy's B'day, watching marathon on Hallmark channel, spent a few hours at the beach with the boys.

Hot day at the beach.  Had to stop at  the 7 Eleven on the way back!

Sunny Sunday

Went to the beach this afternoon.  Beautiful weather, but that sun was HOT!!!  The Gulf was relatively calm and the water temperature was refreshing.  Most of the people were hanging out in the water because it was a lot more comfortable than laying in the sun!

We went to Bowled Restaurant  on 4th St N for dinner tonight.  I've been wanting to go there after I first heard of it.
So many excellent choices on the menu!  I decided on two appetizers.  Crab Cakes – "jumbo lump crab meat lightly breaded and sautéed, served with roasted yellow pepper remoulade".

Orange-Cashew Crusted Shrimp – "generously dusted with our unique orange–cashew crusting and lightly fried, served with sweet chile aioli".  A definite return trip, again and again!

While hanging out with P&J and watching a movie, I received a photo message from Ruby.  She received the package of onesies and bibs I had ordered.  She likes me!  She really likes me!!!

A Swim in the Gulf

I needed to get out of my apartment.  I've been like a crazy man. I've started going through the 12 photo boxes of pictures from our home, plus albums and other stuff.  I figure I can put together some slide shows.  My first idea was to get old pictures of parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, immediate family, and so on.  But then I decided to go through the photos and pull out ones that I thought would be nice to put in slideshows.  So now my idea is to put all the extracted photos in one box and then eventually categorize them to put together various themed slideshows.  My only problem is convincing myself that it doesn't all have to be done by tomorrow!

So, at the urging of dear friend Wayne, who really thinks I need an intervention, I took a couple of hours and headed over to Sunset Beach.  I'm glad I did.  I brought my sunscreen, umbrella, iced water and a book.  And, for the first time in 2011 I went completely into the water!  It was beautiful!  And there were not many people there by the time I got there, and that's the way, uh huh, uh huh, I like it!

Dinner in Gulfport, Key Lime Pie at Sunset Beach

Pete and Joe have out of town visitors for the week, so scheduled a whirlwind day for them.  I caught up with them at 5:30pm Saturday at Pia's Trattoria in Gulfport.

 Pia's has changed a LOT since I last ate there with Wayne.  Seems like they annexed the building next door.  Amazing, the difference!

 The older part.  I arrived just as the guys were arriving and got a parking space right in front.  Pete and Joe were joined by Jim and Will visiting from Lawn Guyland, and Arnt and Linda.

 One of the private dining rooms.

 Another private dining room.

Larger 'wine cellar' dining room.

The bar room located in the front of the new area.

 We had a table on the back patio.  This is a view from my seat.

Pete and I had the scallops and lobster ravioli.

We let Tinker Bell out of her prison cell while we were making our selections from the menu.

Joe's penne.

 Orchids hanging nearby.

Pia's is known for the lasagna.

 Jim, Will, Arnt, Linda, Pete, me and Joe.

 Our server, Valentina.  She was super!  She told us she got her name from being born on Valentine's Day.

Lots of bikes parked there.  I think maybe a lot of the employees there ride their bike to work.  Gulfport is described as an "artsy" community, and it is!

Wall on the side of the building in part of the patio seating area.

We went for a short walk afterwards, over to the Casino and beach front.  There was a wedding celebration going on inside.

We headed over to Arnt's condo on Sunset Beach to have some key lime pie and watch the sunset.  These vagrants were hanging  around the parking area.  I just waved my hand to dismiss them.

Joe relaxin'

 Pete relaxin'

Cruise ship in the center heading out into the Gulf.

The people on this sunset cruise boat were all shouting as the sun was setting.

Watch for the green flash.
:-)

Such a nice breeze.  Ooops!  Dropped my mojito!

Daylight Savings Time Weekend

The weather has been beautiful this weekend.  Pete and Joe's friend Ben has been visiting these past few days, checking out St. Pete for a possible relocation.  I met up with them on Friday night at Georgie's for dinner.  Saturday we had a cookout at Pete's and Joe's.  Sunday we went to Sunset Beach.  The beach and the beach roads were packed with people, maybe a combination of spring breakers and locals getting a start on the season.

The Gulf hasn't warmed up quite yet, so there were few people in the water.

Ben is on the left, then Steve, Joe and Pete.

I'm tryin' to take a pitcha here!

Acrobats were the entertainment for the afternoon.

Then to the Flamingo for dinner and to hang out for a while.  Otto and Phil joined us.  Then off to Georgie's to hang out for a while too.


All in all, a great weekend!  And I started the day listening to the guys on Homo Radio interviewing Lisa Lampanelli, who will be in Albany next weekend doing two shows at The Egg.

Repeat: Another October Sunset

 Arnt invited us over to his condo on the southern tip of Treasure Island.  He has a balcony with a beautiful view of Sunset Beach and the Gulf of Mexico.  Dinner, the sunset, a beautiful breeze off the Gulf, and watching the Rays loss to Texas.  

View of the walk to his unit.

This is the view looking south towards St Pete Beach and the Don Cesar.

 This is the view looking north on Sunset Beach

 Starting off with a little vino.

The living room seating area.

 Dredging to replenish the beaches.

Sunset Rich

 Birds flying by on lower center left.