Kim’s parents, Ron and Joan, picked us up from Kim’s grandma’s on Saturday and we went to stay at a time share in Indian Rocks Beach west of Tampa. Over the next few days we were very busy sight seeing and having fun around Florida.
Sunday we went to an auction, saw the sponge docks, and bought some stuff at a gigantic flea market. The auction was fun though none of us bid on anything. It’s probably a good thing that Kim didn’t have a number or I think she might have started using it just for fun.
The only unfortunate part about doing all this is that we had to drive everywhere, and as everyone in Florida told us many times, traffic is terrible. The main problems are that lights are 3-5 minutes long and they’re everywhere, and too many drivers are either over 60 and pay no attention while driving along at 40 mph or they’re crazy and drive along at 70-100 mph (not a good combination). Thankfully, Ron did all the driving so Kim and I were spared dealing with all the traffic. He even managed to avoid a fender bender accident that happened right in front of us.
Monday Kim and I gave her parents their Christmas present, a kayak trip to see the manatees! Read more about that in my other post. Kim and I also opened gifts in the stockings that her parents had brought for us.
Tuesday we went to Myakka River State Park. We saw an amazing amount of birds including the roseated spoonbill, vultures, and many varieties of herons and egrets. We did a boat cruise of the lake and also saw alligators! They were basking on the river banks to soak up the sun and some of them are huge. We saw some swimming in the water and some walking on the land. I can’t get over how much they look like dinosaurs. After the chilly boat cruise we did a canopy walk where we climbed up a tower so that we could get a nice view over all the palm trees. On the way home we stopped at an injured bird sanctuary so we got to see most all the birds we had been looking at in the wild up close and then some.
Tuesday night Chip, a friend of ours from California, had flown into Florida to be with his family for Christmas so he met up with us and we went out with him and his brother Ray. We went to a cool Irish pub with a thatched roof in downtown Tampa. It was fun to catch up with Chip and meet Ray. On the way home Chip avoided an accident with a crazy driver who decided to change 3 lanes of traffic going 40 mph on the freeway with no warning and without looking to see that there were cars behind. Crazy people.
Wednesday we went to Ybor City, the old Cuban district in Tampa. We saw part of the museum and then went to find Cuban food for lunch but had a hard time finding it and settled for Italian.
Finally we said our goodbyes and Kim and I got on the plane to go home.