flying alligator beats vampire. shark beats flying alligator, vampire shark beats all!

so we got to the condo and as late as it was getting, there was really only one thing to do: eat a little ice cream and watch the only thing on worth watching-friends re-runs, and then i was off to bed and out!

the morning brought sunshine! it was AWESOME! and we determined that breakfast would be simple muffins from dunkin donuts, because shea had experienced her first blueberry muffin from said establishment, and was impressed (it was a bit of a fumble the way she found out she liked them, but a great story-you'll have to ask her about)!

we were driving in the general direction of the DD, and shea was worried we may have passed it (not scared worried, more like 'hmm...where could it be'-worried). so she asked siri, and the closest location that siri was willing to give us was about 37 miles away...but shea was POSITIVE there was one just ahead, so i kept my eyes peeled-there it is, no it's not, yes, yes, that's it on the right! (strangely the logo wasn't normal...it was dunkin, alright, but usually the words are stacked, these were written horizontally, and not in the color scheme). so we pulled in and went to the counter. i ordered my blueberry muffin, coffee and diet coke (you'll be happy to know that since vacation, i haven't partaken of diet coke-going to make the effort to cut back! again..). i handed the girl a $20 and she didn't have change, so she said she'd go to the back to get change. so we waited. after a minute or two, another gal came up, i imagine a manager, and said 'change-girl' would be right back, but she'd go ahead and get the drinks ready for the next in line and looked right past shea-who MUST have been wearing her invisible ring...one ring to rule them all....anyhoo, in the meantime, the other gal must have gone to the mint to print out some money and stamp some coins, because it took forever. manager-type told me i could get a diet coke from the cooler to the left, so when i went to said cooler, TRAGICALLY, there was only regular coke and some off brand of crazy drink, so i told her that, and she looked baffled! (money bags had still not returned). the manager-type went back to get a refund for me when the other gal finally returned with the change.

i think everyone else's orders went smoothly. no wonder siri was so hesitant to direct us to them-that dd was a hot mess! and she was just trying to spare us!

we arrived at lily's home, and this adorable little cocker spaniel was soft as velvet! but of course, she's a 'DESIGNER DOG!' shea had to find the can-opener and so we looked everywhere! where in the world could it be?! well, we took her for a little walk around the neighborhood and around the pond, stopping at an older neighbor's home to let her know shea would be there all week to take care of lily. it was very obvious that this was a place of treats and comfort. she knew exactly where the treats were, and what to do to get them! we left after a few minutes to continue around the pond, and shea went through the scenario of what she would do if walking lily and an alligator appeared. it sounds like she'd have a new handbag (not that she'd use it), and an alligator paw (that, she would find a way to use....like my creepy baby hands, no doubt!).

we then took off on another day of adventure-ca' d' zan (house of john..RINGLING!)  and shark tooth hunting!

first stop: the grounds of the john ringling, of the ringling brothers-like big-top circus! wow! the grounds are beautiful! the house is probably spectacular, the view from the back 'patio' certainly is...and the trees all over the grounds were imported from a plethora of countries. the obvious favorite were the massive banyan trees-humongous! fascinating- it would certainly have been fun to be a kid around here, playing hide and seek among these beauties! definitely a relaxing, quiet area.

entrance- welcome!

fascinating mix of trees and plant life!!

back side of the mansion that looks out to the bay

pic of me taking pic-LOOK AT THIS PATIO! just waiting for a party! (and by party i mean like 5-10 close friends-anything else is just over-population).

check out the architecture! beautiful!

ASLAN's table! 

someone hiding from the busy-body guards on constant patrol

we didn't pay for the tour of the house or the museum, but i'm sure it's very interesting (not nearly as interesting as the beach, but perhaps for a stormy day adventure). we did sit in the little tourist intro movie that tried to talk us into purchasing tours...and learned that there is a great video about john and mable, and that after john had passed, one of the directors purchased/imported an italian theater-house and that is where they hold many of their spectacular shows on site. all about the show...THE SHOW MUST GO ON!!

just so you can get an idea of the immensity

dog's eye view! woof woof!

must have at least one 'leaping for joy' pic

once we had enough pics, we went down to venice-a beach called caspersen beach, with darker sand. my understanding is that there is a reef not too far offshore where the nurse sharks come to breed..have babies...and when the babies lose their teeth, the current washes them ashore. so we stopped at walmart on the way there to acquire some gear-88 cent plastic strainers-what all of the professional shark-tooth hunters are using these days- WE SPARED NO EXPENSE! when we arrived on the beach, we staked our claim to a little plot of beach and began the process of collecting. when the waves roll in, and out, a ledge of shells, coral and such accumulates. that's the place to scoop from. so we began to rinse, sift and sort...rinse, sift and sort, with our professional gear.

shea taught me how the pros do it...find a tooth and hold it in your mouth until you have enough to put into the collection container. as i was doing this, i kept imagining tomorrow's headlines: IDIOT DIES OF STOMACH PERFORATION BY SHARKS TEETH-NOT A SHARK BITE! jrob, did you get your tongue pierced? umm. no, shark tooth accident.

so we didn't fill the container to the mark we were shooting for..i suppose that just gives me a reason to return! 

for real, though, finding treasure is exciting! 

this is pretty much an independent sport, so while i was working, i had a lot of time to think about some very deep things. i came to the conclusion that shark DEFINitelY beats vampire. hands down, no contest. EVERY time. sorry, not sorry, twilight fanatics. yep, shark wins EVERY time, unless..it's vampire shark. in that instance, i believe VAMPIRE SHARK WINS. here's the thing, shea spoke with authority on the issue and claimed that shark even beats flying alligator, because flying alligator's arms just aren't long enough to punch shark on the sensitive part of the snout, like the surfer dude...particularly during sharknado.

toward the end of the hunt, the water continued to get rougher, and it actually bowled me over at one point and i scraped my leg up on the coral and shells...i mean, a shark bit me, yeah, that's it! AND he drew blood trickles from these legs of steel. time to go before becoming shark bait. i tried to get some of the sand out of my suit before we left, but i fear i may have actually allowed more sand in! i even tried to rinse out a little at the public shower by parking, but you can only do so much before it is frowned upon and is considered borderline illegal..i mean, there were children present! ;) even at that, i had a little beach when i took a shower back at the house. one-piece suits are NOT the way to go when at the ocean.

my shark bite--battle wounds. you should see him!

we rinsed off, picked up lily and still made it back to tide tables for my last fish tacos-shea was feeding my addiction in hopes of winning over a #teambradenton...it may be working, as i am STILL dreaming of fish tacos! and the sunset did not disappoint! i could imagine myself as a regular there-lily was comfy-i'm sure the boys would love lounging by the causeway on the dock!

lily, the designer dog!!

you can barely see the rainbow, because the sky was already so beautiful!

and why WOULDN'T you want to come here at every possible opportunity?

the view, the smell, the company, the food- cue pharrell williams with HAPPY!

after dinner checking out the 'back-up-dock'

so we went back to lily's and shea continued trying to figure out how to make the time-lapse work, but had still not figured it out by the time i went to bed. but apparently overninght, something uploaded/downloaded/synced...idk, but shea said it something had worked with the app, and she was going to try to figure it out and pull it all together.

oh, so that can-opener that we couldn't find from the beginning of the post? well, shea got a text from lily's mom, and it was hidden in plain sight-camouflaged, if you will...#moderngadgets now we know!

next post: last day and traveling home.
julie

and another weekend begins-no damp spirits here!

rain. boo.

FORTUNATELY, we're not afraid of the rain!! nothing can dampen our spirits! i met shea at her house, and waited as she packed up what we would need for the weekend. her roommates had their baby, and the last thing we really wanted to do was be in the way while family was there and they were trying to settle in with baby!

it actually worked out well that shea had animal sitting appointments. so on friday and saturday night we would be staying in st. petersburg, in a beautiful condo with an amazing view of the bay! but before we would get there, we had to grab dinner. this was the one area that we decided to try something not on the 'list.' shea has this great list of eateries and entertainment, but not as much, yet, for the st. petersburg area, so we put our eating experience into the hands of yelp. where would it lead us?

we ended up at station 9, because it sounded like a fun little spot. it was another little burger joint with a huge selection of burgers! we had very similar burgers, and they were pretty amazing! i had more burgers on this florida trip than i've had over the past 4 months in dallas-but they were perfect! it was cold with the air on and having just come out of the rain, but we were able to overcome the discomfort of the cold-over-comers that we are. TOTALLY WORTH IT!!! i mean...the aesthetics of the knife-game over!

burgers for real people!

 how do you cleanse your palate after gourmet burgers? the only thing i can think of is kilwins! back by popular demand! now just to find it. so we drove around in the rain looking for kilwins (deceptively disguised because the front of the awning said: CHOCOLATES, FUDGE, ICECREAM with the KILWINS name on top of the awning at an angle, difficult to see in the rain), it took longer than expected to locate! but through perseverance and dedication.. more perseverance.. excellent google skills, we located it, and now to find parking on this busy little strip! apparently everyone on the peninsula had decided that due to rain complications, they would go to the movies-aargh! after a few minutes, driving around about a 4-block radius, we found a spot near a park and then walked over in the light drizzle, through swampy grass-no worries!

we may or may not have entered the ice cream shop and purchased 2 pints of mixed ice creams...i mean..maybe. shea ran back to the car to pull it around, while i protected our frozen assets-our investment! with just a little bit of rain, the paper bag was subject to disintegration...i had to be very careful-in my mind, i may have dubbed myself: PROTECTOR OF THE MIXED PINTS. 

when we arrived at the condo, i met mushka (sp?) the skinny, drunk, black cat. he really was super sweet, he just needed some love and attention and a little tuna...ok, a lot of tuna! i was given strict orders to not wake shea up at an ungodly hour (which translates to anything before 8:30/9-ish), so although it was raining outside, it was still a great view. i had some coffee and watched the clouds rolling by and jotted down the events of the past few days so that i would be able to write them up. when shea came out, she brought her go-pro to try to figure some things out-time-lapse, particularly; not quite figured out, we decided to go for breakfast.

rainy and still beautiful!

if it doesn't bother the birds, why should the rain bother us?!

 the rain was not letting up-oh well. off to the sea horse, in pass-a-grille for breakfast! i didn't ask where the name for the area arose. is it because it's so small that if you walk more than 400 foot in any direction down main street, you'll 'pass a grille'...or because the homes are so close, you could look over your neighbors fence and if you were in need for your little cookout, "hey, neighbor, could you pass a grill?" umm....well, none of these sounded quite right, so i looked it up, and the story can be located here. oh, and p.s. if you go more than 400 ft in either direction from the middle of main street, you'll be in the ocean on one side, and in the bay on the other! i understand it has been known to be called the shortest main street in america at one time...

the sea horse was an excellent call for breakfast, though, we split blueberry pancakes, half-order of biscuits and gravy, and a sausage omelette- it was just too difficult to choose! again thankful for sharers! and afterward, we walked around the little stretch to see what all was there-not much, apart from the little crossover suv that looked like an alien foil ship; seemed like a hazard for other drivers with the reflection from the sun! fortunately for our retina, there was no sun-YET!

we were hoping for farmers market to get a few of the necessities for grilling at the beach with lo and mitch, but unfortunately it was rained out, so publix, it was...and of course i would have to use the restroom while they were cleaning it-he did a way thorough job, as i had to wait impatiently for him to finish-by which time most of the shopping had actually been completed.

we kept praying for the rain to clear out-because grilling in the rain is nothing like singing in the rain-even with friends. and as promised by the weather service, it was indeed clearing. we got to the fort desoto state park, and saw the electronic sign informing that there was exotic tree removal going on. shea was certain it said exotic animal (although to be fair, she was glancing/driving). so we drove out to the northern-most part of the park and found lo and mitch waiting. it was SO good to see lo again after way too many years, and a pleasure to finally meet mitch. unfortunately, they were, in fact, removing exotic trees-or rather they had already removed them. sadly, that was where we were going to put up the hammocks. devastation. we unloaded by the shelter and talked for a bit over beet humus, carrot humus and chips. i wasn't sure about the different flavors, but surprisingly pleasing to the taste-buds! good call, lo and mitch!

they showed me the stumps that had long been their area. sad day-all of the good hammock trees-GONE! and to what end? apparently it was supposed to stop the erosion that the trees were causing-when they were originally planted to stop the erosion in the first place. australian pines...like i said, sad day. we ended up finding some evergreen shrubs that were big enough and strong enough to support the weigh of the hammocks! it was a fair little area, and we were able to watch a couple of guys out doing some kite-sailing-that looked like a lot of fun!

 anyhoo, we set up (are you getting the point that it was relaxing vacation?), talked and laughed. then shea pulled out the paddle board and caught some shots with the go pro-i mean, this is exactly they type of thing it was made for!

from the comfort of a hammock-make due without the australian pines!

don't be deceived, it was rougher than it looks!

shea and lo-roommates reunited!

 after a few hours, the water was beginning to slowly creep up onto our beach. we kept an eye on it, but stood our ground lay our ground (lay being the past tense of lie) and before heading in to grill by the shelter, it was necessary to try hanging the three hammocks horizontally in a stacked formation. with these crazies in them! good times-

mitch did the man-thing and got the fire started, while we pulled out the veggies and shrimp and skewered them up. we'd chopped the veggies earlier and shea proved that not only can she PLAY soccer (by the way her co-ed team just won their championship trophy for this weekend's game), but also she would make a formidable soccer mom-she thought to bring plates and forks-utensils are a plus!

look at those skewers and mushrooms!

"let's pretend we're really grilling." because this looks like a candid shot of really grilling, right?

you can't hurry grilling...but you can make it more fun, just add friends!

all we could do was hope and pray that everything would finish cooking in time, as the park closes at sun-down and we were dancing dangerously close to that fine line, you've probably heard the lyrics "you can't hurry love," well, i wouldn't know too much about that, but i DO know that you can't hurry chicken and shrimp- not if you want to avoid freakish digestive failures. chicken-almost ready! pretty sure lo and i were both a little worried about salmonella. the sun went down, and...along comes a truck speeding across the grass-the park ranger had to let us know it was time to leave. and of course we were doing our best to make it look like we'd been packing up and preparing to leave. so he went to tell the one last family that it was time to leave, and sat in his truck waiting for the last car to pull out. can't believe they weren't willing to extend the hours due to the rain delay! my understanding is that shea is habitually one of the last visitors to help shut the park down-why should this day have been any different?!

sunset

shea had a plan- so we wrapped everything up in the foil and stored it in the brand new cast-iron skillet to christen it, and moved our party to the marina, not too far off, where shea was certain she'd seen picnic tables before.. mitch and lo followed us to a gas station where we turned in and drove around the parking lot toward the back warehouse area, and i'm sure they were wondering where in the world we were taking them, then we all saw it-the picnic tables! sigh of relief-and the food was delicious and conversation exciting-so fun to hear about their plans and all that is about to happen for them! i pray all moves along smoothly!

we've given the skillet its first flavor! 

and we're not quite done yet-more to come!
julie

they don't wear blazers in miami anymore-at least not that i saw!

when monday came, i borrowed shea's hammock and made plans as i went. first stop: (where else?) the donut experiment on anna maria island! i just wanted to make certain that they still tasted as good the 2nd time around! thank heavens, it did! i went in search of parking to go down to the beach, but parking on a.m.island is scarce! so i just kept going because i knew there would be a place at coquina beach! i found a spot near a restroom, shower area and set the hammock up in the perfect area behind the lifeguard station.

not a bad spot!

it should go without saying that i was in paradise! i fell asleep for a bit and then a little later, i saw a man walk up to the lifeguard and tell him something (hard to read lips from that distance); he then got into his little sand-rover-thing and drove off. some little girls came running up to their dad from behind the dune. they were so excited when they told him there were sea turtles! so i grabbed my camera and made my way around the dune to see them! it was especially exciting, as shea and i had observed the turtle rescues earlier...they were cuties!

cowabunga dude!

wonder how many were under there waiting for nighttime to get out!

there was a small crowd gathered, and the lifeguard had put the little dudes into a 5-gallon bucket, and said he was waiting for some rescue people to come and take them away. one of the older ladies in the crowd (if you can call 7 a crowd), was explaining that she felt something crawl over her foot and thought it was 'one of those little crabs' (i hadn't seen any crabs on the beach since i'd arrived). she proceeded to brush it away, then looked down and realized it was a baby sea turtle-imagine her surprise!!

after a couple of pics, i went back to the comfort of the shade and continued to be lazy and relaxed.

while i was laying there, i saw some beautiful sails up over the beach-parasailing!  that looked like a bit of fun! so i texted shea to see if she'd ever been, and decided to try to book tickets for that evening. the lady was super friendly, and she said she had me down, and if anything came up, she'd call to let me know! then i decided to go down to the little snack shack down the way. i'm still working on trust issues of leaving things on the beach unguarded.

when i arrived, i was looking for something light, just to tie me over until dinner. so i went up onto the deck and ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and a diet coke, and the lady at the register-area was having a discussion with the park maintenance guy. for as much as i hate small talk, i must have inherited some gene from my dad or something, because i often either say one thing that leads to a full-blown conversation, or people strike up conversation with me out of the blue. sometimes, i'll just say one silly little thing, and it completely draws me into a conversation--must stop letting those thoughts exit through my mouth!

anyhoo, i learned all about the ridiculous protocols for state park employees-good times. but hey! i got a delicious grilled cheese! so simple, yet so comforting! when i got back to my little area, almost no sooner did i get back into the hammock before i felt a huge raindrop-so i immediately unstrapped and got everything to the car before i was completely drenched. i decided to stay and just watch for a bit and see if it passed over. it did, and then i got a call from the para-sail company and they apologized, but they were going to have to cancel because they were having to move all of their appointments back due to the rain, and at the moment there was lightning. boo.

it may have been a good thing though, because when i met shea back at the house, she wasn't feeling great, which means that a ride like that might not have gone so well. she self-diagnosed: sugar overload and dehydration from soccer camp. so i insisted that a nap would do the trick...only...for me a nap is 20 minutes and BOOM! let's go! shea's body doesn't know how to nap apparently, and i didn't want to wake her up, so i just did some work; i worked on this awesome postcard! a postcard that i had to put in an envelope in order to send it off to trish; hopefully she appreciates that!

when shea finally exited her state of hibernation, we went for poppos tacos-not bad! in fact, an excellent dinner to end out the 1st weekend! (regardless that it was monday, shut up).

 tuesday morning, i wanted to get the earliest start possible so that i could get to hellen's before she had to leave for an appointment with her mom.  the drive down to miami was really uneventful. what would miami adventures hold? would it be more like csi miami, or more like miami vice with crocket and tubbs? i am happy to report that it was really like neither! although, i have determined that it could probably never be home for me. big city...dressing up and putting on make-up are not among my favorite things. there is a time and a place, but in my ideal world, every-day-life is not the time, nor the place! (thankfully hellen was still willing to be seen in public with me!)

when i arrived, i heard the voice of an old friend on the other side of the door as it opened, and it was so good to see hellen again! we had just enough time to catch up a little, before she had to take her mom in. i settled in a bit, had some time to do some work. her husband came home with sofi from the daycare, and i got to meet this little firecracker of girl, with the most amazing head of curls! i think part of her personality is wrapped up in those curls!

i was thrilled that jacira and karla were able to carve out some time for dinner-i know there is always so much going on in the summertime, especially with families in town and places to go, etc. so it was great when jacy arrived and we were able to catch up- she has not changed! kind, fun and so caring. nor has karla-funny as ever-she was sharing some great 'mom' stories! we were laughing just envisioning everything!! especially the holes in the yard-omg! we had some tasty mango with salt and pepper-delicious! i have decided that i really need to eat more mango (which is why i purchased and ate some today!). we went to dinner at a great little central american restaurant and a huge appetizer plate with pupusas-ah! yum, i was impressed! but more than anything, it was the company that did my soul good. the funny thing is that saying goodbye is kinda' like see ya later, and it feels like we'll see each other again, sooner than later (i mean, why wait 24 years to reconnect?! ridiculous, i tell ya!).

it had been an especially long time since i'd seen this one-karla had left eis after our 10th grade year-such a joy to see her again!

jacira and i-my spanish-class friend..and just all around friend; i'm betting that part of what makes her a successful teacher is her caring spirit!

riquisimo!

these gals are pretty stinkin' amazing! so glad i got to spend time with them!

i loved being able to stay with hellen, because it gave me a glimpse into normal life-and one doesn't come by these glimpses every day. running errands with people is such a great opportunity to chat and laugh and just share thoughts about what's going on, so i do consider this time precious!

on wednesday, hellen kept sofi home, okay, not really home, because we weren't home most of the day! after the first stop, we decided to go down to miami, lincoln road to walk around for a bit. we took the stroller for sofi and made our way down the road to an area with several restaurants. we opted for rustic pizza, which was delicious! great salads, and even greater pizza! i'm just a sucker for margherita pizza! yum! the only drawback of eating outside is pigeons. pigeons wouldn't be so bad if they didn't strut around pretending that they owned the entire walk! and if they didn't scare sofi so much..not sure if she was scared by them, or merely annoyed.

i had so much fun sharing the back seat with this one for a few days!

you can't really see it, but there is a great little mist sprayer there!

and we got to pose together in front of the coolest wall full of singer sewing machines! 

we left as the sky was beginning to gray-up and there was lightning in the distance. so we began our little trek back to the car, and were trying to remember which parking lot we had left the car in. we located it without too much of a hassle and made our way to the pharmacy to pick something up-sofi's movies were entertaining, and it was hard to believe that by the time we got back to the house, it was so late! we had a little coffee with some sweet bread and just talked-i couldn't even begin to retell what all we chatted about, because i'm sure we were all over the place!

thursday we took sofi to her school and i got to meet her teacher and see her classroom-this was particularly fun because it connects some dots-karla's kiddos had also gone here, and i remembered on fb, hellen had asked for some recommendations about where to take her, and this was one of them. so seeing it made it more real-she's a lucky little girl! she is going to be so prepared for school both academically and socially!

after we dropped her off, we went down to wynwood walls in miami, in search of the actual little park. it was an impressive area! it was fun looking at all of the artwork. we decided that truly, some of the most creative artwork was on the walls of the buildings surrounding the attraction. i love it when townships recognize the importance of revitalization!

check out that wall! i love this girl! 

for lunch, we went to a wonderful little hole-in-the-wall bar and grille that had one of the most amazing hamburgers i have ever tasted! i think part of the secret was the pencil fries and the guava paste, not to mention the sweet potato fries-in love!

best burger ever!! i would certainly go back for another!

we made it back in time to pick sofi up from school and once again, coffee in the afternoon (it's how we do). later that evening, i got to meet hellen's brother and sister-in-law. we went to their home for dinner, although we weren't too hungry due to the amazing burger at lunch. BUT when someone offers you HONDURAN tamales, you don't say no! these are usually a Christmas delicacy, but for whatever reason, they had some and they were willing to share! that was amazing. loved meeting the fam-they are so fun and easy-going!

unfortunately i had to leave on friday--time is always much too short when you're with old friends!
i was in far too much of a hurry to get this posted, and i failed to include one of the most important parts about miami. hellen was a most gracious friend! she wouldn't allow me to pay for any of my meals when we were out-which i was totally not expecting! and she had a gift that she'd meant to send earlier-it was a gift for the boys! including some sweet artwork from sofi! touching! so thoughtful! thank you, hellen for being you! what a treat it was for me!

the drive is short enough to not be long, but long enough to enjoy and unwind. while i was driving through the everglades, i was certainly thankful for the fences around the glades, as the stop and go for wildlife on the road would not be very entertaining. i did look over to one of the ponds and saw an alligator peeking his head out. not nearly as exciting as mayakka state park! ;) i was very impressed by the rest areas, though. almost confused by the roads that wound around and under bridges to get me to it, but impressed none-the-less.

i did appreciate the WAZE app! it took care of things and even re-routed me around a slow traffic area..or so it said. for all i know, it may have just been taking me on the scenic route because it knew i was a tourist. (?) anyhoo, i got to see an area that i was unfamiliar with and then got me into bradenton a little after noon. it was pouring down rain, so i couldn't go to the beach, and shea would be at work until later in the afternoon, so i went to starbucks. while i was there, i worked on my first post about vacation.

and now you are probably wondering, well... how did the last weekend end? and trust me, i will cetainly let you know!

julie