Hallowe'en Preview

Apparently, Hallowe'en is a BIG thing in this part of town! What I am used to seeing at Christmastime, I am seeing as part of the Hallowe'en festivities here in St. Pete. At least in the Old Northeast neighborhood!

I will start small. (I guess it's all relative!) Here are some 'basic' displays. Some 'tasteful' front entrances, walks, and some sections of larger displays, that I will 'unveil' later.

This giant snake was suspended above the sidewalk leading up to the front door!

This web is one of my favorite! Yes, it is that big!

The Bay, The Bayou and The Beach with the Girls

Adele, Mia and Gina came to visit me in St Pete today! Unfortunately, there was an accident on the Howard Franklin (I-275) Bridge (when isn't there an accident on that bridge???) and they got caught behind a backup for about an hour or so. But...they made it safely to my place!

We had a great time! I gave them a quick tour of my place . . . and then we headed out. First I took them over the path I take on my walks, over to the Bay and then up along Coffee Pot Bayou. Then we headed over to the beach area. We were all hungry so our first stop was Philthy Phil's on St Pete Beach. The weather was overcast, but the sun kept trying to break thru. But it was a comfortable day to be outside.

Then we drove over to Sunset Beach and walked along the water gathering sea shells and walking in the surf.

A wave snuck up on them in this picture!

Then guess where we went???

After a delicious snack...we headed back to my place. One last thing...to go thru their things that I had moved down with my stuff. And, what do you know? In opening one of the boxes, I found my long lost bedroom floor rug! I thought for sure it was MIA!

When the girls left, I told them to drive past this house that has a bizzillion lights and other decorations for Halloween. Watch for a post in the near future on the Halloween decorations done big and right!

A Visit to Orlando

On Saturday I took a drive to Orlando to visit my daughters. It's been almost 18 months since I've see A and even longer than that when I got to visit with all three of them together! I last saw G at the end of July and last saw M at the beginning of June. A shared a lot of photos and videos from her mission experience. It was nice seeing what's been going on in her life for the past 18 months! G had a homecoming dance at the Hard Rock, so we got to see her off all dressed up! She looked beautiful!

Hi Ho! Hi Ho!

I started my new job at Grow Financial FCU on Wednesday, and so far, all is going very well! There are eight new employees in my orientation group. We have been meeting with various executive vice presidents, senior vps and trainers, doing group exercises and team activities. We received a bunch of freebies, got a tour of headquarters and had lunch brought in for us, in addition to the bags of candy on our desks when we get there in the morning! Our group has gotten pretty tight and we have a fun time. I think I'm really going to like it here!

The drive is about 45 minutes each way...I have to drive to Brandon, which is on the east side of Tampa. It's really not that bad a drive, just long. I drive over the Gandy bridge across Tampa Bay and then take a crosstown expressway to the headquarters. It's an interesting expressway, has this 'express' lane that is raised above the highway in the center median.

We've got these badges to get us thru doors throughout the building, and into the parking garage. The headquarters has a nice gym, a pool table in the break / lunch room. Do I look tired after my first day of work?

When I got home tonight I took another long walk. What a gorgeous evening to be out for a walk. I took my camera. It's hard NOT to snap some pictures! But...to spare you, I'll only post one for now.

When Life Gives You Lemons . . .

Today is my last day as a free man. Tomorrow I go to Tampa for two and a half weeks of training for my new job. It's been nice. But, we gotta do what we gotta do. Unfortunately, there is no money tree in my outside garden.

I had to go up to Clearwater around midday to take care of some business. I had to visit a county office concerning some financial matters. It's all in timing. Sometimes it just takes those computer systems a while to catch up to reality. Let's just say that I paid a visit to an alternate universe. It's quite the experience sitting in a small room and taking to someone thru a glass wall. Sure makes you feel good!

So, after spending a little time there, I began the drive back. Hmmmm, I thought. It's Tuesday, and Philthy Phil's lunch special today is a reuben sandwich. But, I didn't have any of my beach gear with me and did I really want to drive over to St Pete Beach? AHAH!!! Mazzaro's!!!

My sister and brother-in-law have been in Italy for the past month and they met a couple from the Tampa Bay area and they told them about Mazzaro's in St Pete. I found out where it was (about 3 miles from my apartment) and paid a visit there last week to check it out. I saw an espresso bar, desserts, sandwiches, all types of salads....etc. etc. etc. Abbondanza!

So, today I decided to make those lemons into . . . cannoli! I had a huge sandwich (looked like it was made on a small loaf of Italian bread), two double Americanos and a chocolate cannoli....all for $9.99! And I got to bring half the sandwich home!

As I was enjoying my cannoli, an older couple sat next to me. They were very friendly and we started chatting. I believe Pauline and Dan may be the first natives I've met since I've been here! Everytime they come in, they just sit down and the girls at the coffee bar just make them something. Today it was iced americanos. I told them how I found out about this place and that I had just moved to St Pete. They said they are regulars and we'll probably run into each other there again. I said, oh yeah! I know I'll be back again and again.

Saturday Doings

I recently found out about a walking/running organization that organizes Saturday morning outings in different areas of St. Pete. This morning the group was meeting in the parking lot at the pool in the North Shore Park, just up the street on the Bay. Since I've been walking all around there, I figure it would be nice to meet others that shared a similar interest. It was a bit overcast when I left my apartment around 8:45 am, so I decided to drive, rather than walk, to the parking lot. I was wondering just how big this group was when I was approaching the park and saw police cars blocking the street, and the street filled with thousands of people walking! I saw that I couldn't get anywhere near the parking lot, so I took a right onto 9th Avenue NE and luckily a car was just pulling out of a spot! I managed to make my way across Beach Drive, weaving thru the throngs. I learned that the walkers were there for a Race for the Cure event. So, it was a great turnout for that, but fortunately, the group I sought was much smaller!

I headed across the park towards the Bay where I saw two guys waiting near one of the benches. They kind of looked like they were there for the same reason I was....sneakers on their feet....a dead giveaway! I approached them and asked if they were there for the Saturday morning walk with the Frontrunner Group, to which they said yes. They introduced themselves and I realized I had met them one Saturday night a couple weeks ago when I was out with some friends. Another one of those small world things. They moved to St Pete last spring from the Midwest. Eventually others showed up and there were about a dozen of us. We did brief introductions and then headed north along the Bay, rounded onto the walk along Coffee Pot Bayou up to the park, and then turned around and headed back. Took about an hour. Got to talk with some nice people that all had moved here from one place or another. I was talking with one guy who grew up in Vermont and he told me that during the summers when he was a kid, he would spend summers with his aunt in Colonie...the town where I grew up!

After the walks, the group usually goes out to breakfast. They originally had planned to go to the Dome, but because of all the people there for the Cure walk, they figured it would be impossible to get in, so planned to go to the St Pete Diner instead. I graciously bowed out, because I had wanted to go to the Saturday Morning Market which began today and runs every Saturday thru late May. So, I drove back to my apartment, picked up my camera and headed downtown.


It is a nice market with all types of food vendors, crafts, produce, plants, clothing and musical entertainment. I LOVE THIS PLACE!!! I walked around for a while, had a cup of coffee, was going to get a veggie/curry crepe, but then thought about the food in my refrigerator, so instead just had a guava pastry from the Cuban booth. YUM!!! I can see this being a regular activity!

Beets, Eggs and the Beach

I've been grocery shopping mostly at the Publix store up on 2nd Street N and 37th Ave N. They have a great selection in the prepared foods section. One convenience I love, is the packages of hard boiled eggs. I usually buy a half dozen at $1.69 and it's great...they're cooked perfectly and already peeled! My friend David usually puts sliced beets in his salad, and it got me thinking. My mother used to put sliced hard boiled eggs in with beets when we were growing up. So, for lunch the other day, I decided to take a trip back. Ummmmm! (Some of you may be thinking, "blech!") Memories can make things taste utterly fantastic!

And since I start my new job next Wednesday, in training full time for two and a half weeks, I figure I need to squeeze in all the beach trips while I have the time. So . . . off to the beach again. It wasn't too windy, but the waves were higher than usual due to another low pressure (I think) out in the Gulf. The beach was fairly deserted and there were mostly surfers out in the water. I enjoyed watching the birds. They would circle overhead, eyeing the fish swimming and suddenly dive straight down to pick up dinner. One of the pics shows one bird heading straight down almost to the water. Lets play Find Birdy.

Wednesday Walk - Man About Town

Another beautiful day in Paradise! There were calls for showers (like that's something unusual!), but so far, they haven't come. So, I decided to get some exercise and take another walk. This time I took my camera. (Those of you bored with my tons of pics can exit now.) I walked over to the Bay, took a look at the North Shore Pool, picked up a brochure with the hours of operation and admission prices, then headed right next door when I noticed a sign there.

Apparently, this Arboretum was named after a woman who used to feed the birds here. It contains an amazing variety of palms! I took a lot of pics, but in order to prevent you from falling asleep, I will only include a few here. (I heard that "Whew!")

I then walked over to Beach Drive and headed towards downtown. I said I had wanted to check out some of the shops and eateries there. :-)


First stop.........Paciugo Gelati. Figured I had to replace some of those calories I had lost in that walk down there.













OH MY!!!












This was soooooooo good!!!

Who cares about those ole palm trees? This is the good stuff! Let's keep our priorities straight!




Stopped into the shop to see my friend Otto. He was with a customer, so he invited me to sit in the empty chair nearby. He noticed that I had made a mess of a couple spots when I buzzed my head on Monday, so after he was thru with his client, he had me sit in the chair and gave me a trim. I asked if he would color my hair, but he refused. The nerve!

So, I then figured I should work off those few calories I added at Paciugos, so time to head back home. Some sites along the way...




A place to stay when you come for a visit? The America's Best Inn in downtown St Pete, where I stayed when I came down in July is a GREAT place! Highly recommended!!!











This place looks nice. I wonder how much?




































































These little guys are all over the place!

Monday is a good day for a long walk . . .

This is actually a post that I had wanted to do on Monday, but got side-tracked. Monday was a beautiful sunny day, very windy, but nonetheless I was enjoying this October day in shorts and a tank top. I decided that I would take a long walk...and do it in sneakers not in flip flops! You know, my feet hurt at first!

I walked east towards Tampa Bay. (The red line on the satellite map.) Once at the Bay, I headed south and walked the sidewalk that went along the bay and the beach. My goal was to walk all the way down and out to The Pier. About halfway, in one area of the park I walked past the North Shore Pool, a municipal Olympic size public pool, which I didn't realize was there. Then thru Vinoy Park and past the new boat docks being built in the North Yacht Basin. What was cool was that all the way down every so often I could see a dolphin or two swimming parallel to the shoreline and fairly close.

Once I reached 2nd Avenue, I headed east again on the strip leading to The Pier. The wind was so strong at some points, that I was struggling to try and place one foot in front of the other. Well, not quite that bad, but I thought for dramatic effect...oh, nevermind. Maybe the sneakers were too heavy?

I hung around the Pier for a while, checking out some of the gift shops there. Got a bite to eat and attempted to sit out on the outside patio, but the wind was a bit too much. And then a couple of the birds hanging around out there hopped up on the table where I was eating. I decided that between the birds and the wind, I was better off inside. On the way in, I noticed a sign near the door, "wild birds can be aggressive". Good decision to eat indoors!

I walked back west heading towards downtown. I then headed north up Beach Drive Northeast. Along the way I noticed a couple of sandwich and dessert shops that looked like they would be worth a future investigation.

I then headed back towards the Bay and headed north along the path that I had come down. I kept walking past my street and up and around, following the sidewalk along Coffee Pot Bayou, staying on that all the way up to the park at 30th Avenue North. That's the yellow-orange line on the satellite map.

So, where are the new pictures? I left my camera safe at home. I figure maybe I'm overdoing it with the pics, so decided to give the batteries a rest. If only...

It's Official!

My Jeep has finally joined me as an official Florida resident. I spent the $20 to pay New York State to furnish me with a copy of the title, which I needed in order to get my "tag" here in Florida. So, after surrendering the title, which will be replaced with a Florida title (at only $33.75) plus the $146.10 to register the vehicle to get my tag, for a total of $179.85. Plus, since I like to travel lightly, I only brought my checkbook and my VISA card with me. But, alas, the Tax Collector does not accept VISA. Only Discover, MasterCard or American Express. I knew I should have brought a fat wallet with me! And people complain about the rules and regulations and taxes in New York State! I won't even begin to go into the fun time I had with another one of Florida's fine departments!