Thanksgiving 2009 at St. Pete Beach - the Brrrrr trip - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
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There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
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We go on
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To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
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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.
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Me, DH, DS19 and DD15
Last edited by ShellingConnie; 02-08-2010 at 06:07 PM..
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) and checked it out while they relaxed. It was large and had just about every toy, swimsuit and souvenier a person could want. 
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