i wish vacations would never end! tx is too far from fl

so, thursday. shea had to go into work for a couple of hours, and then we rummaged around to get all of the necessities for JAWS PART II...shark tooth hunting. we made the necessary stop at sonic and then off to the beach (fortunately we were traveling south, because the northbound lane was backed up for over a mile). after we found parking, we made our way onto the beach to find a good spot to set up.

searching for jaws...or at least pieces of him!

 we began the scoop and sift process, shea likes to scoop and then sift up on the beach. me, i prefer to stay in the water and sift there. this is due to my dislike for being dirty. i tried to sort through the pile up on the beach, but i couldn't handle it. i need to be in the water in order to rinse my hands and such. i also did my best to keep my back facing the sun, as to avoid getting too much sun on my front side (where i'd gotten an abundance of sun earlier-and was beginning to experience the beginning stages of bubbling-which would start the peeling). i found a few, but we finally took a break and decided to lay and soak up the sun. may or may not have fallen asleep-to great music...oops. when i woke up, shea was appreciating the hummus and salsa chips, so i joined her (i'd eaten most of the previous hummus at the house!). then we decided to walk down the beach and see what we could find.

while we were walking we experienced the viewing of an older european male-in-a-thong...it was a little sketch. and while trying to avert my eyes, shea made sure to point him out! ouch-my eyes are ruined!  a short while later, shea stopped at a fallen tree, where she found a crab and took a little break, while i continued on down the beach, and found a great little spot where the water was leaving a path of shells on the sand...so as i stopped to look more closely, i found several little teeth, when shea came over, she found several as well. and then along came an older gentleman and found 2 fairly good sized teeth, then kept walking. shea decided to run back for the go-pro. it was about a mile back. bathing suit running...she probably played the baywatch song in her head the whole way...wait, do they have a song? i decided that it would be really cool if we had a little robot that could 4-wheel-drive it in the sand to carry the go-pro and a towel down the beach, following us like if it were following us with a tracker. we'll have to get our robotics team on that! anyhoo, we ended up finding a good haul of teeth before we headed back.

special isolated tree-place-area...i'm sure you weren't the only one with this great idea!

when we got back to our spot, one second i was packing things up and shaking sand off the chair, the next, shea let out a little gasp, and when i turned around, there was this beautiful giant of a bird, right behind me! after a selfie, he started to move away, and shea set up the go-pro-we've become quite the bird corrall-ers!
slowly walking around the back side of the bird, it chose the perfect path straight past the camera!

bird-buddy!

such amazing birds-he was probably looking for food

the sun was pretty low, so we decided we needed to stop at the pier at sharkey's in order to get some fun sunset pictures. i am not a professional beach frolicker- i had to practice-about 3 takes later, there were some decent ones that didn't look totally 1980s robotic...but it wasn't pretty. when everything is in dropbox, i will update them! then we turned it into yoga poses and from there, karate. we played until the sun got too low, then we headed back for dinner at st. armand's. we ate at the daiquiri deck-soft shell crab sandwich, mahi bites and sweet potato fries-yum! i was in luck because shea was having none of the eating-of-the-legs, so it was a jackpot for me! (love sharing meals-everything should be tapas style!) as we ate, the live musician had a fabulous playlist, but his tone was a little off-he was flat/ monotone on pretty much all of the songs, which made it really difficult for shea to sing along with-which is not a huge loss. ;) i almost got video to prove it, but not quite. afterward, we stopped at the tourist trap shop, but didn't find the cap we were looking for. also decided against the henna tattoo-opting for kilwin's instead, because we hadn't had our ice cream stop yet! it's probably a good thing that we contained it to one ice cream stop this visit! the cones were perfect! totally worth it, even though we should've probably eaten less at dinner in order to really appreciate the full effect of kilwin's...kilwin's shouldn't be ventured on a full stomach, although, we are brave, and we took the challenge.

shea is a professional frolicker; i'll load more when they're available!

friday morning we got up early for parasailing. i turned on the keurig, and forgot to push the go button=no coffee for me. boo. we got to bridge street, and found parking, then we went in search of 200 bridge street-which was, no surprise, at the top of the pier. so we checked in, and they sent us down to the metal dock to wait for the bright yellow boat. there was a family of four waiting as the boat pulled up. we entered the boat and the captain & parasail pro began to give us instructions. the safety instructions were brief-very unlike kanakuk...we decided we would've felt 100% safer with hank at the helm! i trust his caribiners and ropes! on the quick boat ride out, we did see dolphins, and then we stopped pretty abruptly, because i think they accidentally ran over a crab trap and got something stuck in the engine, so parasail pro had to lower himself into the chilly water to get things untangled and back in running order! this guy was a mix of beach bum and skater dude-with the black leather and metal belt...you can imagine why they didn't inspire much confidence!

parasailing!

more parasailing!

and yes, to parasailing!!

anyhoo, at some point, small talk happened. not on purpose-almost out of habit; i blame this on my dad. i felt like i had to converse-it's not a terrible thing, it opens the possibility of networking...what if it had been someone who could have been helpful down the road? but i did learn that they were from iowa (slater, north of des moines), they are cyclone fans, none of them like seafood, last year they went to san antonio for vacation and their youngest son fell in love with taco cabana...they drove to florida, school ran from aughust 18 through june 6th because of snow days...the oldest boy hasn't finished his SB homework...too much trivia. shea laughed at me-self-inflicted pain; i don't love it, but i do it to myself. boo.

so we went first, and lifted right off. we upgraded to the longer line, so that we could fly higher! it was pretty cool, but we didn't see more...in fact we didn't see any sea-life apart from a trash bag floating below the surface. we couldn't figure out exactly what to do with our dangling feet, and finally opted for crossing them. it would've been even more fun had i not been dealing with the ridiculous burn on the back of my legs! ouch!

once we got back, we decided to walk over the drawbridge to the STARFISH for lunch. best seafood!! the wait was long, but always worth it. all tables were full even after we got through the wait in line. we waited around on the dock for a bit and when a family began clearing up, shea went over to grab their table. she waited patiently and one of the guys at the table even asked if she was waiting for a table, and knew that she was. just as the family stepped away, some man was walking down the steps, and said, "oh! perfect timing!" thinking that he was getting this table, but shea had already staked claim. they guy looked at her and asked, "oh, were you waiting for this table?" YEP! but she told him since it was just the two of us, they could sit on the other side. they guy declined and pouted about it, and he and his friend walked down to the end of the pier where there was a swinging bench. better for us! #notfeelingguilty when our food finally arrived, we had the most succulent scallops-so tender! delicious shrimp, calamari and hush puppies!

QUESTION posed by shea: in a fight, who would win, the heron, or the pelican? i say pelican, because they're tough...their beaks could break the heron.

we walked back to the car and then drove to the sea haag, where i contemplated purchasing some small souvenirs, but my friends aren't really into chachkies...but i love looking around this place. when we got back to the house, i found a place to store some stuff so that i don't have to haul it back and forth when i visit...as this has become my new favorite vacation-visit. and shea slathered up in coconut oil...if the temp had dropped 15 degrees, i fear she would've hardened like the tin man, and i would've had to start chipping away. fortunately nothing of the sort happened. although, all the way to the airport, i kept wishing i had coconut creamer in my coffee... #subliminalcoconutmessages

the traffic was ridiculous on the bridges between bradenton and tampa-ridiculous, i tell ya! but we arrived in time and the security wasn't bad at all. it was a full flight, and the person in the middle seat next to me encroached a little into my space-i found myself being super conscious trying to allow for the space needed..it was an uncomfortable 3 hour flight. and upon arrival, i really wished i hadn't worn shorts, because dallas did not greet me with a kiss of warmth-nope...it was more like a cold sholder...nastiness. ready for sun!

meeting a friend for breakfast tomorrow-love it when friends pass through!
jrob

last day- it's still all about the food!

did i mention that shea ran out of toothpaste just before we started our weekend adventures? no worries, because i had plenty! i don't know that this is important, but i thought it was funny-so on monday i decided that it would be an excellent parting gift, so that she didn't have to use all of lily's person's toothpaste during the week! it's true.

monday morning, shea went to work and it was not a beautiful morning-i had thought about getting up and going to the beach, but it was raining, so instead, i got some stuff done and took a quick trip to for some items for the flight attendants (if they so happened to be amazing), and so it was that i met hobby lobby and target of bradenton. while i was at hobby lobby, i got a txt from shea-that meant she was free and ready for lunch. so i set WAZE to take me to IMG to pick her up. she gave me instructions for the gate and where to go after that. the only problem, was that WAZE took me to the back entrance. so the gentleman at the entrance looked at me like i was an idiot using some directions app and said, "well, the HR dept is actually on the other side." i wasn't sure because i saw the 'blue tent' that shea said she'd meet me at...but i followed his instructions and turned around anyway to go to the main entrance...it made sense.

i took his instruction and i went to the front gate and the lady there made a little tag for me to put in my window and sent me around to round-about and..i couldn't remember...did the lady say take a spot in the reserved parking area, or did she saygo to the blue tent is in front of the reserved parking area. i opted to pull into a spot, not being certain. then i worried that i was going to get in trouble for parking in someone's spot...and if i was pulled into this spot, how would shea recognize the back end of this rental car? so i decided to pull out and just wait in the loading zone by the blue tent, but i wasn't sure if it was one way or not, and i didn't see any signs. so i sent a txt to ask shea, then i got tired of waiting, so i backed out, and that's when i saw the ONE WAY painted on the pavement. so i pulled out and drove around the parking lot to get back to the bus-loading zone. while i was waiting, i watched a mother saying goodbye to her kids-she must have been leaving them for sports camp. she pulled away, so i pulled forward and waited. within minutes, my thoughts were disrupted by a little tap at the window and a, "look what i found! someone you might know!" when i looked up, there was morgan! (no, not morgan freeman, i know, popularity has it's benefits, but even better, it was morgan, a kanakuk gal!) we had a very brief greeting, then we had to take off so that shea could get back for her appointment.

like 'cheers' only better! 

one of the joints i'd been wanting to eat at was the starfish- a small cash-only, dock restaurant, it doesn't get any fresher than that! so we got a little sampler with shrimp and scallops with hush puppies and an order of calamari. then we found a spot under the roof, as it was still a little wet with possibility of more rain. while we waited, we went around to the little shop up front and i got to see where they sold their fresh fish, and some other fun little ocean-type art and knick knacks.

we got there at just the right time, because it started to get busy right after our food came. fresh sea food! it was delicious! i enjoyed every piece! sadly, i had never enjoyed the calamari and scallops i'd previously had, perhaps due to the fact that it had not been fresh...my take on these items is that they were just naturally rubbery. i am so thankful that i finally got to taste each of these items exactly as they were meant to be! and in the atmosphere it was meant to be eaten in, as well!

the view out-where the fishermen are!

the view in- where the consumers are!

old-man bird

from there, we had time to stop at the sea hagg. this place will surprise you! looking at it as you drive by, which we had done many times, it seems like a junk yard of crazy. shea knew better-she'd been there before. so when we went in, it was like a salvage yard along with some artsy sea-faring type decor. definitely the place to go for unique pirate/mermaid/ship-faring decorating ideas.

medusa mermaid? coral peacock hair...#mermaidproblems

yargh! a pirate's life for shea!

oh my...what's a girl to do when the shark jumps over the bridge to maul your arm? 

you can barely see the scratch gouge from the ripped flesh anymore, but trust me, it was there!

 some stuff was inexpensive, while other items were quite pricey. shea was eyeing some great ship wheels (the steering mechanism), which would probably rip the plaster and dry wall right off the studs if you tried to hang it-they were heavy, but beautiful! and they pics of mermaids that made me blush-apparently not all mermaids are as modest as ariel. #mermaidproblems

we didn't purchase anything, but shea found a back scratcher-tried doing creepy baby hands with it, but the skin type wasn't an exact match...

baby-hands are much more convincing without the pricetag...and when the skin color matches...but i still think it'd be a great item to have available in the office!

we went back to IMG, because shea had to get back to work and i had to make my way off to tpa airport. we stopped at her car and i grabbed 3 shark teeth to prove that yes, we'd really gone hunting! i'd kinda' like to take one in when we go for the boys' teeth cleaning in a couple of weeks and tell the new vet (who i've not yet met), that bruno lost a tooth, and i just wanted to make sure it didn't alter his ability to rip flesh....thoughts?

anyhoo, i drove up to tpa in the rain and i was beginning to miss it already. WAZE was kind enough to spot the traffic and reroute me around it, but i still got to the car rental place about an hour later than i had originally rented the car for-thankfully, the little guy didn't charge me!

if you look closely, the drops on the windshield-they are not rain...they are tears from the angels wishing i didn't have to leave..they know...they feel my pain!

as i got into the shuttle, there was only one other lady, and as i sat down, my google hangouts video called, but i somehow got cut-off and decided against calling back. the gal and i ended up conversing a little about the area and before you know it, we were at the airport and the skycap got me all checked in.

that night, i received the best text ever! i'm pretty sure i got it while i was in stl on a layover, and i laughed! so i must share it- the time lapse! hopefully it will play with the music! (boo- it wouldn't load)

 i guess i'll just have to add this one-just for fun because i found it on my drive!

officially it was over. i knew it was so when the airplane pulled into dallas love, and it took 20 minutes for the baggage to arrive...and i called the lyft driver to take me home at 20 past midnight.

so yes, it's all about the food, but let's be very clear-the food isn't nearly as good nor as fun without the friend/s! having the opportunity to eat and laugh and play with this amazing friend of mine convinced me that perhaps bradenton, fl needs me.

sigh. ready for the next trip!
julie