Warm Respite

While Michigan was experiencing bone-chilling cold February temperatures, Mary and I took 9 days to bring some of that cold down to the Sunshine State.  We had a great time visiting my Mom & Dad, who are staying in Clearwater, Florida for a chunk of time, and also Mary’s brother Matt and his wife Karen who live in Bradenton, Florida, about an hour away.  Some of those days were sunny and warm but all days were filled with great company and good food.  And the beach is beautiful even on a chilly day.

We flew in on Allegiant Airlines, a discount airline that charges for amenities like carry-on baggage, choosing your own seat, beverage service, and even using a credit card on their website.  They don’t have a First Class section and one surprise benefit of that is that fellow travelers seemed generally nicer. Flying no frills on the cheap is a common value. No one was pushing to get ahead in the boarding line, there was plenty of space in the overhead compartments and no one seemed grumpy about little inconveniences.  The St. Petersburg/Clearwater airport was small and easy to navigate and we were greeted by the smiling faces of Mom and Dad who were parked right in front of the terminal.

They were renting a doublewide mobile home at a nearby mobile home park where Mary and I had our own bedroom and bathroom.  It was not a particularly beautiful neighborhood... lots of nearby traffic and strip malls... but there were plenty of palm trees and lush gardens that made us feel like we were in Florida.  I was surprised at how quickly it felt like we had jumped right from winter to an illusion of spring.

In the morning, I joined Dad on his routine walk to get a newspaper from the machine in front of a chain restaurant around the corner.  Mom reads them and does the crosswords but Dad does the legwork.

We decided to spend the day at nearby Honeymoon Island StatePark. They have a beautiful beach and a great Nature Center with an awesome hiking trail where you will see dozen’s of Osprey nesting and flying around talking to each other.  There was a bonus Bald Eagle’s nest at the end of the trail where we saw two hatchlings and a parent eagle.  We also ran into a couple of armadillos who seem quite oblivious to having people around them.  I’d never seen an armadillo before so it was a treat to see them up close and try to figure out if they were mammals, reptiles or possibly dinosaurs.

Birdwatching

Chip off the old block

Beachside lunch

The old man and the sea

Mary

Osprey Hike

What is this creature?

The next day Mom and Dad drove us down to Bradenton where we were greeted by Matt and Karen at their home.  We all dined together for lunch before bidding adieu to the folks.  Matt, Karen, Mary and I hung out in the lush back yard and discussed plans for our next 4 days.  We had splurged on a near-beach, 2-bedroom apartment rental on Anna Maria Island to celebrate Mary and my 8-year Anniversary and Matt and Karen’s “honeymoon” as they had just legally tied the knot the week before; a mere civil rubber stamp to augment their commitment ceremony marriage from years ago.  The “Key Lime Cottage” was large and lovely with a big and well-appointed kitchen, although we had to walk across a busy road to get to the private beach.

There were may highlights to our days on Anna Maria Island, including a wonderful celebratory dinner at Sign of the Mermaid restaurant, Karen’s fantastic cooking, beach wandering, meeting up with Blake, Brie, and Kimber (nephew and nieces), nature hiking, birdwatching, napping and general beneficial laziness.  I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

Happy Anniversary- 8 years!

We will eat you!

Photo standoff

Beach entrance

The balcony of the Key Lime Cottage

Balcony up close

Dinner at the "Sign of the Mermaid"

siblings

Lots of room on this beach

Matt & Karen bundled up for sunset view

Yeah, we were there too.

Obligatory selfie

Brie and Blake

Back at Matt & Karen's

Karen whipped up a batch of fresh lemonade. Rum optional.

Matt and Karen delivered us back to Clearwater for the vacation end cap with my folks.  We all had a terrific Vietnamese dinner together before Matt and Karen said goodbye. Mom, Dad, Mary and I watched the Academy Awards together that night. 

The next day was very foggy but we decided it would be a perfect day to try out the very popular Clearwater Beach.  On a nice day you have to get up pretty early to avoid the gridlock traffic of beach-goers.  It was a relaxing day and after lunch we went to the Clearwater Aquarium which is essentially a rehab facility for wounded dolphins, sea turtles and sea otters.  Its claim to fame is being the setting for the Disney movie, "Dolphin’s Tale” and much of their displays had to do with celebrating that movie.  Since none of us had seen it, it was pretty much lost on us but we did see the real life tail-less dolphin “Winter” who stars in the movie.

Mom cooked another amazing dinner and we watched a PBS British baking competition show before heading for bed.

Our last day was a travel day.  Marlee was waiting for us with winter coats at the Gerald R Ford Airport in near-zero temperatures.  The house was welcoming in spite of the cold.  It is always good to be back home.