Florida with Kris

Kris went to a DairyXchange meeting in Cape Coral, FL. It was at the Westin Cape Coral, and it had all sorts of amenities.

Bikes

We rode them off the property to a park and then walked on trails in dense Florida growth. Every once in awhile there were towers you could climb up to see, and one of them had the biggest spider I've ever seen.

Dolphin boat ride

Twice a day, they take out a boat for an hour and half and try to show you dolphins and other wildlife. We watched 4 dolphins so long we got tired of watching them, and we also saw lots of birds!

Activities

They have yoga every morning (I didn't go, but I saw it), two pools, and a bocce court (great).

Land O' Lakes

After his meeting was over, Kris and I went to Land O' Lakes to visit my cousin, Susan.

We rented through Turo again, and we had to take an Uber from our hotel to the airport to pick it up from short term parking. I have been in Ubers countless times, and this driver made us both carsick. Blech. We got our Chrysler 300, which I've always thought was cool, and drove to Land O' Lakes.

The traffic was heavy, and there were five accidents on the way. We went to Susan's house which was right in the middle of the city, but when you turn down her driveway, you go back through dense growth into a very private place with lakes (of course! It's the land of them!), trees, and a few houses where her relatives live. Her parents (and ancestors) used to be fruit farmers there - she showed us an old orange tree still producing.

Susan showed us all around the property, we met her sister Lou and brother-in-law Warren, and then went out to eat at Vallarta's Mexican Restaurant, which was delicious.

Tampa

We stayed at an Airbnb right on the water in Tampa, because it was the cheapest we could find. The hurricane damage is still very obvious (including boats in people's yards in Cape Coral) and it affected the rentals on the west side of the state.

We ran to Café Quiquiriqui in Ybor City, and on the way there were saw tons of chickens and cigar shops. We learned Tampa is called Cigar City, and we learned the history from plaques and statues on the way.

We were walking down the main street of Ybor City, and a man who worked there said to us, "You ready for the mayhem?" We kind of laughed, because you could tell they were still cleaning up trash left on the streets from the night before. Little did we know....

At the coffee place, which we loved, they sold a shirt with  a chicken smoking a cigar. Sadly, it was not in Kris' size.

St Pete's Beach

We went back to our house and decided that the beaches in Tampa didn't look great online, but St Pete's Beach did. Plus, Kris had been there before a few years ago and loved it. It was a 40 minute drive to St Pete's Beach access parking lot, and we paid by app.

White sand! Waves! Clear water! This beach had it all. We walked, people watched and swam...paradise.

We even had lunch ON the beach, which you don't find just anywhere. It was at Bongos, and it was so on the beach, we were in the sand. We didn't even wear shoes there. Success!

We drove back, showered, admired how quickly we burnt even though we wore sunscreen, and parked on the street near the Children's Museum (again paying by app) to walk the Tampa Riverwalk.

Tampa Riverwalk

As we were doing it, Kris said, this is what people mean when they say they want a riverwalk. There were people of all ages, people running and biking, people stopping to eat and drink, people going there as a destination. Halfway at Big Ray's Fish Camp, they had a live band. It was a great Saturday afternoon. We walked the length of it and decided to eat. We went off the Riverwalk to Pint and Brew, but we decided not to eat there, and Kris suggested we go back to Ybor City to eat, since it looked so happening.

Ybor City

We parked there and were treated to a surprise! There were fences up and so many people dressed up like St Patrick's Day pirates. We asked, and a spectator told us the St Patrick's Day parade stated at 7pm. Just in time! We found a spot and...it was amazing.

Float after spectacular float of people dressed like St Patrick's themed pirates came down the street! There were bands and twirlers and dance teams - all people our age or older. They all threw beads to the crowd and I eventually had so many they were heavy. There was music, people shot confetti guns, everyone was dancing! It was such a fun atmosphere!

We watched this super fun parade for an hour and a half...and it still wasn't done. We went to Tampa Bay Brewing Company for dinner and learned about the krewes of Tampa. In all our searching 'what to do in Tampa' nothing about St Patrick's Day or the krewes came up. But now we know there are over 130 in Tampa, it's a long tradition, they dress up and have parades and also are philanthropic groups. News to us, and so interesting and fun! I love other places.

We walked toward our car, and you could barely walk on the sidewalk. The crowds were still watching the parade, which was now clocking in at two hours, you couldn't walk without stepping on beads, and there were pirate like people in green everywhere. A festive atmosphere!

We went home and set our alarms for 2:30 a.m. so we could drive the two hours back to the airport, gas up and return the car, and make our 7:00 am flight. It was also daylight savings time, and I woke up at 1:30 thinking...will our alarm go off if there's no 2:30? It won't. You're welcome.

And St Patrick's Day is happening here again this Friday...I have some new outfit ideas.