God Bless Saint Pete, Family & Friends

For the month of January we spent it in St. Pete...that's St. Petersburg, Fla. This is our third stay at Robert's RV Resort and Mobile Home there. Not because it's wonderful, but because it's convenient. This visit was different than our previous others. On our prior visits we were primarily here to visit Brad's Mom, Kathy's Mother-In-Law. So, it was different since she passed a year ago. The bonus plan whenever we come to St. Pete is that we we get to spend quality time with Brad's Sister Marci and our Brother-In-Law J who also live in St. Pete. We get to spend quality time with them...and we did. Plus, we also got to visit with Brad's other sister and with some Florida and Connecticut friends too!

Sister Marci welcomed us to St Pete and invited us for Philly steak sandwiches and hoagies at Colonial Corner Hoagie Shop. The sandwich shop was cool, it wasn't Pat's but nevertheless it was heartfelt and a very thoughtful gesture. The sandwiches didn't matter. they were hugely secondary to being able to say hello to Marci and to get a chance to hug and hangout with her.

After, we went to our favorite Italian Market. Marci and J turned us on to Mazzaro’s years ago. We absolutley love it there! They have a deli to die for. They sell homemade exotic pastas, raviolis and manicotti. Their assorted gourmet cheeses fill four full refrigerator display cases and their wine shoppe is exquisite. Also,.Mazzaro's butcher shoppe has anything from homemade sausage to rib eyes and their homemade soups, sauces and prepared foods are rocking..

We usually have a plan of what we want to do when we get into a town. Not this visit because for more than a month in advance to our arrival Marci had been preparing us a list of her recommended things to-do. We got close to three quarters of her eighteen recommendations. She's the best! One of Marci's to-do's was the Saturday Farmers Market. We went and bought three cacti there and then stopped at a couple places on the way back to the RV to pick up clay pots and some soil. Brad potted them as soon as we got back. We learned that cactus get watered from the bottom up so we put them in a pan of water and we let them soak it up. They spruced up the RV.

While there we joined the brand-spanking new Ymca which was conveniently only ten minutes from our RV Park. It was the best damn Ymca on the planet. Thank you silver sneakers!

It was beach weather the first couple days here but then for the next two weeks it was rainy and cool. We hit Madeira Beach on one of those nice days and on the first rainy day we went to the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum which was also conveniently located mere minutes away.

This privately-family owned car museum was unique in that they not only did it have awesome vintage cars but specialized in the history and engineering of each. They had on display the first electric car, the first self propelled steam driven vehicle along with the first ever front-wheel drive automobile. The place was so empty the curator gave us the inside scoop and history of a half dozen vehicles. It was a nice addition to the visit.

When we left the museum we had to take a picture of this wood stork above. Weird looking bird, aye?

We had a tornado watch on the 9th of the month which later turned into a tornado warning. We left the RV and went to the RV park Clubhouse until the storm passed for safekeeping. The storm provided torrential rain and 40-50mph winds. Luckily, it only lasted about forty minutes or so and no damage was done. We did get to have a few of our many good hangs with our RV friends Karen and Bernie Tillaart form Canada.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/b79b56_0168dc04d3b24508862b804fc52b7d48/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Marci volunteers once a week at the Sunken Gardens so her walking the gardens with us is like having your own private tour guide. Before we hit the botanical garden we all went to the Florida Craft Art Gallery to check out the Tibetan Monk's Sacred Art Tour. In the rear of this magnificent art gallery there is event space where artists get to put on private and public displays of their work. These Tibetan artists were creating a magnificent and detailed sand art that was so intricate and precise it looked like a mosaic. They sat there for hours with there legs crossed and after three days of working on this elaborate piece of art work they take it to the Bay and dump it in the water. Tradition!

After, we all went to the Sunken Gardens which was exceptional and not just because Marci got us complimentary tickets but because it's simply beautiful. As we toured the gardens Marci, and J too, provided us with additional insight and detail that enhanced the visit. Besides their wonderful company. the pride that Marci took to our visit was tangible. To be able to spend time with them both here was just fantastic in many ways.

We already have a new Super Bowl Champion so the Eagles losing to the Tampa Bay Bucs is old news. What might not be old news to some, is that we went to the game. No, not the Super Bowl but the Bucs-Eagles playoff game. We had an awesome time in spite of the $hitty results. Our seats were up in nosebleed territory but right around the fifty yard line. Eagle fans usually travel well but them losing five of their last six games was a definite deterrent to the usual. We would say it was probably a 70% to 30% split between Bucs and Birds fans. Brad of course was wearing his Eagles jersey and enjoyed befriending our surrounding Bucs fans. We stayed for the entire game with exception to the last two and a half minutes. Their fans were much more passionate then we expected and even for a die-hard Eagles fan it was kind of cool to experience a new stadium in a playoff atmosphere. We were staying only twenty minutes away from the stadium and tickets weren't Super Bowl priced so even after losing we had fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6dV3romBRo

We went to John's Pass Village and Boardwalk even though it has a reputation for being a bit touristy. We had a great snack at Sculley's on the boardwalk. We split a seafood boil with scallops and shrimp. It was awesome! After we finished it Brad drank the boil juice with a straw. A little untraditional but since they didn't give us a straw it was too tasty to let go. It was only one sip though. Powerful! After, we moseyed down to the village and got ripped off for $18 for two ice cream cones. Brad takes great pride in his street smarts. Not this time! Who would have thought you'd have to be on your toes buying ice cream?

We went back to John's Pass a second time later in our stay. They had a Seafood Festival there that was awesome. We stopped at Crabby's on the Pass and Caddy's for a beer before going back to Sculley's for another straw sucking seafood boil.

Marci and J took us to the Florida Conservation Center and Manatee Museum. It's across a channel that houses a huge utility factory, Tampa Electric. Manatees like to hang here during the winter cause the water is so warm due to the Electric Company. There were hundreds of these manatee lumps hanging out in the water viewing area. It was quite the sight. Not a whole bunch of action but seeing these huge water species in such a large group together was a pretty cool sight to see. We hit the museum after gawking at the massive aquatic mammals which was enlightening, engaging, and interesting. Good times!

Later we went to Home Depot to get a 3/8th of an inch socket so Brad could drain our hot water heater. This dude wearing a Phillies hat helped us. Brad and him had a wonderful bonding moment. That night we went out to dinner with Kathy's step-sister Debbie and her daughter Amy. We met at the Pier and then walked down to Beach Dr. and decided to eat at the Stillwater Tavern. We had a wonderful dinner, quality conversation, and, it was great catching up with both of them.

Up next we went to Fort DeSoto Park...twice. Once, Kathy and I went on an e-bike ride and on the second visit Brad went on a kayak venture with Marci, J and a couple of their friends. Kathy opted to hang out on the beach and get in a little sunbathing for the latter visit.

Our bike ride covered the entire 7-mile length of the park. It was a paved path with water views. The highlights of the e-bike ride were the beautiful North Beach, a cute little museum, and some lovely piers and cool wood walkouts to the beach.

Brad's first kayaking experience was wonderful. He rented his kayak while everyone else had their own. The dude that rented him the kayak said the life preserver is best used as additional back support to the seat. Ha! You don't need to wear it in three feet of water...Perfect!

It was serene paddling through the mangroves and marsh. Brad shared wonderful conversation during his maiden kayak voyage while enjoying the manatee and dolphin sightings, bird-watching, and paddle. It was wonderful to have been invited. Brad didn't take his phone so thanks Marci for sharing the pics below. After a picnic lunch with everyone the two of us hung out on the beach.

Our friends John and Jeanne Goroff made the hour and twenty minute drive from Port Saint Lucy to visit with us. We had a wonderful day and night hanging with them. After chatting it up at the RV our first stop was Mazzaro's. We bought deli sandwiches (among other delectable culinary delights) that were out of this world. We ate them in the Mazzaro's food court. Then, we took them to Gulfport which is a cool, funky, artsy part of St. Pete. We made stops at an eclectic coffee shoppe and Gulfport Brewery after walking the Gulfcoast.

We ended our evening at a Marci recommended restaurant called Mangosteen. it is an Asian inspired restaurant in the heart of downtown St Pete. It was a wonderful way to finish off a wonderful visit with the Goroffs. Thanks for hanging with us!

The last part of our St Pete trip had nothing to do with St.Pete. We took a four hour drive to visit Brad's sister Donna and Brother-in-law Bob in Boca Raton. Kathy did the first of her drive back and then forth too. We cut clear across the state from east to west to check out their new condo. Brad's sister is known for making fun plans for visitors and our visit with them was well orchestrated.

We went to the Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Del Ray which was a cornucopia of beautiful ponds, shrubs, wildlife, birds, alligators and reptiles. This 50 acre park was viewed by a neat boardwalk in the middle of all this natural splendor.

For dinner we went to the Two Georges and after we went back to the Moskowitz condo where Donna won a couple games of newly learned card game Rack-O. Fun times! The next day we all went to the Gumba Limbo Nature Center. We were very grateful for the 24 hours of quality time we got to spend with them.

Before we sign off two quick things. For those of you that utilize our blog as a travel tool, here is a short list of other cool places we ate, drank at, or visited but didn't mention. First restaurants...Bodega on Central, Sonny's BBQ, Green Pegoda, Skyway Cafe and Rumba (all recommended by sister Marci). For drinks...Bayboro Brewery and 3 Daughters Brewery along with the Tampa RV Show.

Last but not least, a very special and heartfelt thanks to Brad's sister Marci Kolb for being an outstanding tour director for our St Petersburg stay. Between all the restaurant recommendations and all the places that you recommended you are just an unbelievably wonderful women and we THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts. We love you! We hope Marci reads all the down to here and we also thank you for reading down this far. Next stop... Sarasota! Hope you enjoyed our sharing! Kathy and Brad