Update - March 3 to March 9, 2019
-- Weekend Visit from the Girls
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| Adjusting Wiki Stick |
We are leaving for vacation this week, so we won't have our usual Tuesday visit from Lucy and Olive. So, we had them over on Saturday. And because of returning on the following Wednesday, we arranged that the girls can visit us on Thursday the week we return. Although the schedule is changed, we will still get our usual quota of visits for the month. That's a good thing.
Lucy was fascinated with something called a wiki stick, or something like that, which was shapable, and sticky, so she could make things out of it and then stick it on something. She created a series of characters and then with some help from Nana she mounted them on paper to form images.
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-- Snow Person Returns to our Deck
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| Shoveler |
Later in the week, Patti used one of the shapable objects as the mouth on a snow creature she built on the back deck. On the weekend before our departure, we got hit with a very large snow storm. The snow was heavy and wet, but undaunted, Patti shoveled all the snow on the back deck into a large snow pile and from this hardened pile of snow carved a snow person. The snowperson was taller than the deck railing and featured salt and pepper dispenser caps for eyes and the wiki stick shapable forms for a mouth. It was not a particularly handsome snowperson, but Patti was sure he could survive for a week until we got back from Florida. I was not so sure. As it turned out, the thing was about a foot shorter when we returned, but it was surely a sad, saggy, version of its original self.
-- Tuesday is Travel Day to Florida
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| Airport Lounge |
On Tuesday, March 12, we flew to Tampa non-stop. We had researched the flights to Florida during what is considered a peak time (considering college spring break) and folks trying to enjoy a break from winter weather in New England. After working our way through the various flight options, we managed a Non-Stop from Hartford to Tampa on a round-trip basis for a total of $347 for both of us on Southwest Airlines. Until we got this bargain the costs were easily topping $700 for airfare. The only hitch was that the flight down left at 7PM and the return flight left Tampa at 10PM. Those are not generally convenient hours, but for us, the savings was worth it.
-- The River Walk in Tampa is Impressive
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| Amalie Arena |
We have been to the River Walk in San Antonio, and we have always enjoyed what it had to offer as a vacation destination. There are other river-walks in the country including a modest three-quarter mile river walk park in nearby Providence. But, the Tampa River Walk was more than we expected. It is situated in such a way that many of the major attractions of the city including museums, theaters, attractions, and restaurants adjoin the river walk. You can reach everything independently, or you can reach them from the river. It's very walkable, which makes it affordable too, as you can park your car once and visit several venues on the same day. We parked at the Amalie Arena, which is the home of the championship Tampa Bay Lightning Hockey Team. The team nickname, "Bolts," appears everywhere on signs, t-shirts, and buses. The city has embraced baseball, hockey and even has an AFL football team now.
-- Food in Tampa was a Highlight
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| Patti at Columbia Cafe |
Something that caught our attention right away was the Columbia Cafe. On other trips to Florida, we had enjoyed visiting the famous Columbia Restaurant in St. Augustine where the food and ambiance were outstanding. We knew the original Columbia Restaurant was in Tampa in the Ybor District, so we planned to visit it on this trip. We didn't realize one of the "Cafe" versions of the restaurant was on the River Walk. The menu, the ambiance, and the service were reminiscent of the big restaurant, so we enjoyed our first vacation lunch there on Wednesday. At the cafe, you are on the water and can choose to sit inside or on the expansive deck. The weather was perfect, so we ate outside.
-- Hey, Open Up!
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| When Do They Open? |
We toured the walkway, and one of the venues we passed was the Straz Center for the Performing Arts. This was a beautiful venue, and outside along the river walk, they had an Air Stream trailer set up as a mini-bar. You could get anything you wanted and enjoy the seating area outside the Straz Center for some shade. Patti and I arrived a few minutes before they opened for the day, but when they saw Patti sitting outside, they opened early to take her order. Good thing they did as we were thirsty. Now that we had checked out the city and the river walk we made plans for how we would take it all in during the coming week. It was an ambitious schedule.
-- Golf at the Famous TPC Tampa Course
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| Ready for Golf |
Until just a few years ago, the TPC Tampa Bay golf course hosted annual events of the Champions Tour (formerly Senior Tour) where the greats including Arnold Palmer, Hale Irwin, and Tom Watson played and won. It's not often that we get a chance to play golf on the same course as the greatest professional golfers and we didn't want to miss that chance as this was the perfect time of year to hit the course. We scheduled an early afternoon start for two reasons. First, it was cheaper; and second, it allowed us to get in some practice time and to enjoy a great lunch at the famous Cuatro Restaurant at the Club. It turned out that as a result of renting golf clubs, instead of having our own with us, we had a few difficult shots that put the bite on us. I got a couple pars despite that handicap, and we had a lot of fun. If I play it again, I will be sure to use my own clubs.
-- Busch Gardens Was Worth the Trip
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| Cheetah Hunt |
We had been to Busch Gardens about 15 years ago and were looking forward to another visit. Patti made a point to get onto the highest, fastest, scariest rides right away. She rode on Cheetah Hunt first thing. It was as wild a ride as any roller coaster she had been on. I wouldn't know as I sat this one out. We saw all kinds of fun things and the weather was perfect. She also went on Sheikra, a ride I couldn't even watch. These things are made to pull your eyes out of your head.
-- Dining in Elegance on the Serengeti
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| The Overlook |
It was a great day, and the rides, the animals, the restaurant were all great. I know it's hard to believe the restaurant was good, but we did not settle for the quick food options that most families employ; instead, we went for the elegant, linen and silver approach to our luncheon at the Overlook Restaurant. The "overlook" is just that. From our elevated porch view, we could look out and see the giraffes, the elk, the zebras, the rhinoceros, and all the other animals on the grounds surrounding the restaurant. This was everything you would see on the Serengeti Safari ride. In fact, we watched as the tourists, standing in the back of a truck, rode through the park. I was happier to be inside. Later, we took the train that ran through the Serengeti area and saw all the animals there too. Back to the restaurant; the food was a buffet style prix fixe affair, and it turned out perfect. The choices were great, and portion control was in our hands. That made it ideal.
-- Florida Aquarium, Dolphin Cruise, and the American Victory ship
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| Friendly Shark |
On Saturday we returned to the River Walk area and visited the Florida Aquarium, including a ride on the Dolphin Cruise, and the American Victory cargo ship in the harbor. All of this was right off the River Walk and so was convenient and cost-effective. Park once, and then you can visit a wide array of local attractions. We have been to aquariums many times, and it never ceases to fascinate us to see the local creatures as well as the exotic imported creatures that aquariums present. The sharks and manta rays continue to excite visitors wherever we go, and it's always fun to see them and imagine just how dangerous they can be without that thick sheet of plexiglass.
-- Special Visit to Important Ship
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| Not Her First Time Steering a Ship |
The American Victory ship was a special visit for us. Whenever we travel, we take the time to visit ships in port that represent the history of our country and our military. We have seen submarines in Chicago and New Hampshire, Battleships in Massachusetts, North Carolina and New Jersey, and the Aircraft Carrier, Yorktown, in South Carolina. We always learn something new on these visits and can't but be impressed with the courage and determination of those who sailed on these great ships. But, until this trip, we hadn't seen what could be called the work-horse type of ship that helped our military fight its battles in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam; the workboat. It was designed to be a freight carrier, and lightly armed was not really sent to do battle. It was designed to bring food, ammunition, weapons, medicine, and soldiers to war zones. This particular ship is actually still fit for duty and is one of only four ships left in the country that annually goes out to sea. It was a real treat to go aboard a working war vessel and imagine what it must be like to take this ship into harm's way.
-- Dolphin Spotting in Tampa Bay
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| Cruising for Dolphins |
The real highlight for us at the Aquarium was the opportunity to cruise out into Tampa Bay aboard their 72-foot catamaran and chase after dolphins. The bay is filled with bottlenose dolphins, fish, birds, manatees, and sea turtles, all of which you might see on the trip. We did get to see the dolphins dive under the boat and chase after each other in the open water. The catamaran is an ideal platform as it's wide and steady in the water. The boat has a full bar, and we enjoyed some cocktails during the cruise as it seemed to add elegance to our tour. Surprisingly, the prices so far for things like snacks and drinks seemed reasonable compared to other vacations venues.
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