Thanksgiving 2009 at St. Pete Beach - the Brrrrr trip About This Page:

[ShellingConnie]

So the next update is Black Friday.

Of course it was still freezing. Brrrrr. I really wanted to eat breakfast on the balcony but it was just too cold. Even bundling up in my hoodie, jeans and sweatshirt just didn’t do it.

DD10 woke up not long after me and we ate in the room. She and I decided to try a walk on the beach. So we bundled up and headed out.
We stopped and got a couple of beach towels from the pool and brought her sand castle making stuff with us. She sat right down and got to work on making a sandcastle while I sat on a beach towel and watched.

Afterwards we looked for shells. She had no problems finding ones she wanted. They were small and nothing fancy but she was happy.
After about an hour and a half of freezing on the beach, we gave up and went back to the room.

We cleaned up, woke up the boys and planned what we wanted to do. With it being so cold, they wanted to hang out in the room for awhile before we headed.

So I walked over to the Beach Mart across the street (I couldn't stand it. I just had to do some shopping. ) and checked it out while they relaxed. It was large and had just about every toy, swimsuit and souvenier a person could want.

I picked up a box of salt water taffy. After the trip and we were home, I tried to eat some. I love salt water taffy. It reminds me of Ortley Beach, NJ and going to the boardwalk with my Grandmother, playing games and munching on taffy. Unfortunately, it was like trying to eat a rock. It was very hard and stale. Oh well, better luck next time.

When I returned to the room, DH was not a happy camper. He had stuck his Iphone on the arm of the chair he was sitting in while he was on the computer. Of course it fell off.

Unfortunately it fell into the bucket that DD used to collect shells. There was some standing water in the bucket. So he decides to get mad at me because I shouldn’t have put the bucket there. Oh yeah, that went over well. So he’s mad at me and I’m telling him he shouldn’t have put the phone there and shouldn’t be mad at anyone for his mistake. So he’s all grouchy and frustrated.

I decided we are heading out to Johns Pass. The kids were happy to do something since DH was in a bad mood. I figured he was going to stay in the room and be grumpy but he decided to come with us.

I love that area. It's very touristy but there’s tons of shopping and a boardwalk where you can rent all kinds of boats, go parasailing (shudder), take a shell tour or dolphin tour, or go on a fishing tour. I took the kids on the dolphin tour there a few years ago and we did see a lot of dolphins but we wanted to try the tour out of the Clearwater Beach Marina next time.

There are also quite a few yummy restaurants. DH drove and missed the turn because he was in a bad mood and not watching for the turn. Oh, I could see that was going to be a fun afternoon with him.

So I directed him to the new parking deck which he wasn’t thrilled about parking in because you had to pay. It really wasn’t that expensive though. And saved us time instead of driving in circles looking for a parking spot and still having to put money in a parking meter if we got lucky and found an open space.

Yikes this was long. I'd better post it before I mess it up.

[ShellingConnie]

Originally Posted by pamcarey

Sounds like a nice, easy day! You are brave to get in the water in that cool weather!

That wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done. I still get cold just thinking about it.
BRRRRRR.

[Colexis Mom]

Great updates!

[chezp]

More great updates! Probably just as well you stayed away from the Diet Coke and went for the wine instead...

[pamcarey]

The shells look so pretty drying on that round table. It almost looked like a pretty mosaic table.

[Hugmonster]

Enjoying the story. My DH and yours should be locked in a room in that mood.

[karadisney]

I love the sea shell collection!!!

[ShellingConnie]

I just brought in a bunch of firewood and cleaned up the mess I made while doing it so now it's update time! Someone needs to tell the weatherman that it's supposed to be warm in GA, not windy and only in the mid-30's. He's not listening to me at all.

So I left off with us heading to Johns Pass.

We walked around the area and did a bit of shopping. I actually found a store that sells ironwood carvings that I collect as my main souvenier when we go there. I couldn’t find any the last time so it made me happy. I picked up a sea turtle this trip.

I tried to get the family to pose in front of the Christmas tree but they wouldn’t do it. I offered to take a family picture of a group that was trying to figure out how to get them all in their picture. They were very happy that a stranger would do that for them and had fun goofing for their picture.

We watched the pelicans, seagulls and even a dolphin that was in the water before choosing to have a late lunch at The Friendly Fisherman Restaurant.

We’ve eaten there before and it was delicious. We were seated in a teeny tiny booth. I didn’t remember them being so small. All of the booths were that way so we just squished ourselves together. We ordered an appetizer of potato skins. When they arrived they were burned. The server put them on our table and asked if we would like to have extra sour cream with them. I looked at her and asked to have them redone because they were burned. I guess she was hoping we wouldn’t notice.

She nodded and took them away. Fifteen minutes later she comes back with more. Burned again. Not as bad as the first batch but they were still burned.

I said they must have someone in the kitchen who doesn’t know how to broil properly. I asked her if we could order something else instead (I always handle all this kind of stuff instead of DH. I don't know why, I've just always taken the lead on it) because we aren’t eating nor paying for burned food. She said yes so we switched to onion rings. The onion rings arrived just a few minutes later and they were correct and good. I thanked her for being helpful and we placed our food order. (I didn't really consider her very helpful since she was going to have us eat burnt food but I was trying very hard to be nice since the kids were there. )

When the food arrived it was good and filling. We had ordered chicken tenders for DS14, a hamburger for DD10, DH had the scampi pasta and I had the shrimp lunch platter. I also was drinking Rum Runners while everyone else had Diet Coke. (Wondering how I remember all this? Well, I kept the receipt. LOL)

When the bill arrived, our server had forgotten to remove the cost of the potato skins so I was glad I looked over the bill before DH paid. We got those removed, paid and left. The Rum Runners were delicious by the way.

During the whole meal, DH was messing with his Iphone instead of actually talking with us. He used a tiny piece of napkin to get water out of one area of the phone and just kept working on it until he could get the phone to work. He was much happier by the end of the meal. Thank goodness.

Based on the tiny seats and the burning of our favorite appetizer, I will be taking a break from the Friendly Fisherman Restaurant on our next trip. I think we will try the new Bubba Gumps Restaurant if it’s still there next time.

After lunch, we headed out, stopping at the puppet store where DD10 bought herself a Flamingo puppet to go with the dragon puppet she got the last time we were there. She saved up her allowance for it. She also goofed around with a pirate statue, asking him for all his money.
Here she is with the pirate statue:

DS14 didn’t want anything in any of the shops and wanted to get mini golfing.
Can you see the dolphin in this shot? Look past the bow of the boat and you can see it.

[ShellingConnie]

Oh and I forgot to put in a picture of this cute fellow. We saw him at Johns Pass too. I love Pelicans.

[ShellingConnie]

Originally Posted by pamcarey

The shells look so pretty drying on that round table. It almost looked like a pretty mosaic table.

That's a really good idea. Maybe I should gather enough shells to make a mosaic table next time.
I bet I could find the perfect spot for a small one in my office.

[chezp]

That pelican is too cute! Nice shot of the dolphin as well - I see him!

[ShellingConnie]

It's Mini golf time!

So we finished up with Johns Pass about 2pm and off we went to Smugglers Cove Mini Golf in Madeira Beach.
It had warmed up some but it wasn’t warm enough for swimming so Mini Golf it was.

We’ve played at that Mini Golf place for years. There's a Pirate Ship, alligators that you can feed and everyone if friendly there. The course slowly goes up so part way you reach the top and have a sort of water view. It's fun seeing how much better the kids get as they get older. DD10 even got a hole in one twice. She was thrilled with that. DS14 won with DH and I tied. Darn. I wanted to beat DH at least.


DD10 really wanted her picture taken with this waterfall.


This was the bay view at the top of the course:


And here's the Gulf View if you peak between the 2 condo buildings.


At the end of the game, it was getting dark so we decided to head back to our resort, keeping an eye on somewhere to eat for supper.

On our way, we stopped at a Christmas store. The kids didn’t want to stop so I didn’t look around long but did pick up a Star fish ornament painted to look like Santa. (which Rocky the cat promptly chewed off the hanger when I put it out this Christmas as a display piece).

We saw a Subway Restaurant that was only 2 blocks from our resort and ate there for supper. It was just like any other Subway. By this time, it was cold again and we were the only customers in the place. DS14 got one of his favorite suppers there. The meatball sub. He was one happy camper. The rest of us just got our normal fattening Subway Club Sandwiches.

When we arrived at the resort, DS14 wanted to go over to the Beach Mart. So he and I walked over (there was no traffic on the road so it was easy to cross the street but I could see it being a problem in the summer) while DH took DD10 into the room for the evening.
DS14 wanted a boogie board. They were cheap and he hadn't wanted a thing so far so I let him get one and I picked one out for DD10, hoping they’d get to use them before we left even though I knew the waves were pretty non-existent on the Gulf.

We hung out in the room before going to bed, with me putting away the dried shells and laying out more to dry overnight for DD. I also watched a man in a wet suit trying to do some parasailing in the water since it was so windy. He didn’t get far but the parasailing did work for a little bit.

I know I took a picture of the Parasailing fellow so I'll have to find it and post it in the next update, along with a picture of Rocky the ornament chewer.

Oh and I should mention that I promptly spilled a part of a can of Diet coke all over myself and part of the carpet in the room as soon as DS and I got back. I'm such a Klutz.

[chezp]

Mini golf looks like fun.

[Colexis Mom]

More great updates!

[pamcarey]

Sounds like a fun day! I stayed in Clearwater for a business trip last June, and it looked very similar to where you are. We had a Beach Mart across the street from us too.