It had only been two and a half weeks since we'd been at Big Bend NP in Texas and now we were all settled in near my sister, Emily, in the cute little town of Safety Harbor, FL. We always return to the great little Clearwater RV Park just a couple of miles from her home so it a perfect location for us. This year we booked early enough we had a standard site, not in the overflow. It is high season in February so prices double and no Passport America discount offered, but, the location is so good. Close enough for Emmy to drop by on her way home from work or for us to scoot over for dinners at night. Plus we are very close to Tampa and all it offers.
Our annual visit means it's also time to renew our membership at the Sunken Gardens in St Petersburg. Always a treat to take a picnic with us and enjoy a walk through the tropical garden built so many years ago. This was a new one for me, balloon milkweed.
The paths meander through the palms and ferns and along the way there are birds and flamingoes.
One thing we love about Safety Harbor are all their designated wonderful bike trails. Actually all of Florida has fantastic off road trails that go for miles and miles. We rode over to Phillipe Park for an afternoon, looking out at Tampa Bay.
Later that evening we met Em and Steve at the Crooked Thumb Brewery right in their town. We were sitting outside when the skies opened up with a heavy, but short, downpour, we grabbed our beers and ran inside, but so crowded and noisy, the yard is much better!
Dinner every night at their house, such a wonderful time!
Sunday Emily had made plans for us to spend the afternoon with our nephew, Jason and his son, Alex, and his girlfriend at the Tampa Museum of Art. So fun to see them all and spend a few hours together.
After the museum we walked to our favorite Tampa eating place, The Fly Bar, just a short walk over. Alex and Uncle Paul.
Another visit we never miss is a day at the Dali Museum in St. Pete. This year the special exhibit in cooperation with the Royal Academy of Arts was titled,
Dali/Duchamp. It was a fantastic exhibition of their relationship and the influence it made on their individual art. "Two dissimilar 20th century artists who shared similar artistic interests" the perfect description... displaying works we'd never seen before, including Dali paintings and sculptures and Duchamp's assemblages, also photographs by Dali and their personal correspondence. So interesting! This is now the third such exhibit we've seen at the museum, always a unique look into this artist's relationships with his contemporaries. And of course the museum itself is a piece of art we never tire of seeing.
We'd brought our bikes on the back of the car to enjoy riding all over lovely St. Pete. It's such a beautiful town on the water with a beautiful marina, shops and parks. I always love just riding through residential streets...and we found this sweet little trailer, Beatrice, parked outside a house. Flower baskets all around!
Riding our bikes is so wonderful in this area...its all flat!! Well, most of it is! We finally rode the causeway bike bridge this year. So much fun to be riding across Tampa Bay on our bikes with a great sandy restaurant bar at the other side...keeps you going, that's for sure!
Yep, that's Tampa in the background.
Our reward...The Beach Restaurant at Whiskey Joe's overlooking Old Tampa Bay.
The days are short in February and we were back at the car park just in time for sunset.
And of course, our week with Emily was over all too quickly! But, February seems to be our "spend time with siblings" month and we were on our way to meet up with Kurt and Laura in Mexico!!! Sure love the flexibility of our life style.
It had only been two and a half weeks since we'd been at Big Bend NP in Texas and now we were all settled in near my sister, Emily, in the cute little town of Safety Harbor, FL. We always return to the great little Clearwater RV Park just a couple of miles from her home so it a perfect location for us. This year we booked early enough we had a standard site, not in the overflow. It is high season in February so prices double and no Passport America discount offered, but, the location is so good. Close enough for Emmy to drop by on her way home from work or for us to scoot over for dinners at night. Plus we are very close to Tampa and all it offers.
Another visit we never miss is a day at the Dali Museum in St. Pete. This year the special exhibit in cooperation with the Royal Academy of Arts was titled, Dali/Duchamp. It was a fantastic exhibition of their relationship and the influence it made on their individual art. "Two dissimilar 20th century artists who shared similar artistic interests" the perfect description... displaying works we'd never seen before, including Dali paintings and sculptures and Duchamp's assemblages, also photographs by Dali and their personal correspondence. So interesting! This is now the third such exhibit we've seen at the museum, always a unique look into this artist's relationships with his contemporaries. And of course the museum itself is a piece of art we never tire of seeing.
No comments:
Post a Comment