Florida July 2012

 

Ft. Desoto

Our first night in St. Petersburg, Michael, Grandma, Dad and I all walked to the central downtown area full of different restaurants and bars. We had dinner at an Irish pub that Michael really liked, and all our food was quite good. Afterward we got gelato and sat outside talking as we watched people (several of them drunk already) walk by.  Michael said St. Pete is known for having a fair number of drunks walking around at any given time.

We went back to our hotel afterward and chatted for a while, then Michael and I went back to his place a few blocks away.  (I decided to sleep on his couch so Grandma had more room in the double bed at the hotel).  Unfortunately, Michael inhabits the attic of these people's house, and the only AC is a window unit in his room.  He left the door open to try and get the air wafting into the living room, but it wasn't overly successful and I was quite hot all night.

The next morning, Dad and Grandma picked me up from Michael's (he was at work) and we went to get breakfast, then went to Ft. De Soto State Park.  The beach there was voted at one point as "America's Best" and it really is lovely.  I'd been there once before with Patrick in May of 2011, so it had been just about a year.  We enjoyed the perfect water and white sand, then walked around the old fort and the pier.  On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a Barns and Noble where, unable to help myself, I bought two books.  (Even though I'd just gotten a book at the Goodwill Bookstore in Tallahassee).

with Michael outside the restaurant

I was really excited about one in particular: The Sisterhood Everlasting.  This is the continuation (10 years later) from one of my favorite series, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.  Those books made such an impact on me as a college student.  I felt like the characters were right where I was in every sense.  They "got" me at that phase of my life - empathized with me as I did with them.  They were truly like friends.  Those books inspired me to start my own book (still not quite finished).  So this book, written so much later, when the girls are all 29 (close to my age), was very exciting for me to pick up.  More about that later...

So that evening, after relaxing from the beach, Michael came over and we all drove to Fourth Street Shrimp Store where we had delicious seafood.  Thereafter, we played cards in the lobby of our hotel until it was time for Michael to leave.  I decided to try and share the bed with grandma that night in the cool air conditioned room.

with Dad at the Shrimp Store

When I walked Michael out, we started talking about my future job prospects and how I should go about looking for a job.  There is just so much I could do, it is very overwhelming for me to decide what direction to focus my energies into.  But chatting with him about it did make me feel better and he had some good tips.

On Friday, Dad, Grandma and I had a yummy breakfast at this cool bakery/restaurant and then drove home.  It was a nice drive back and a beautiful day.  We picked up Lily from her mom's house on the way and she came over until we met her mom, Dad and some family friends out to dinner at T.G.I. Fridays.

sunset over St. Pete

On Saturday, I spent a good chunk of the day hanging out with my cousin Brian (Michael's brother who lives in Tally).  I helped him go shopping for a bunch of stuff he needed and it was good catching up with him (though every conversation we have, I lose a little more faith in the male race).

Sunday, Gma, Dad, U. Andy, Lily and I all went to Wakulla Springs.  The water was as cold as ever, but the day was lovely and I enjoyed reading my Sisterhood book on the "beach." I also started to realize how moody teenage girls can be (namely, my cousin Lily), who sulked every time her father so much as looked at her, and has perfected the scowl to an art.

with cousin Lily at TGI Fridays

On Monday morning, Dad and I left about 9:30.  He drove while I finished the Sisterhood book, which I'd started only the day before. It was that good. In this book, the girls were all at points in their lives that I feel like either I or my friends are in.  It was about discovering yourself as an adult, figuring out how to maintain and change old friendships into adult friendships, dealing with loss and love and jobs and lack of jobs - it was just so perfect in so many ways. Though, like its predecessors, it did make me cry.  Bittersweet tears of recognizing the loss of the past, the struggle of the present, and the hope of the future.

in the water at Wakulla Springs - SO cold

I finished my book around 12:30, and then Dad and I stopped for lunch.  I offered to drive for a while, and after only 30 minutes, I got stuck in a speed trap and pulled over.  The speed limit had been 55, so I was going 61.  Then it had apparently dropped to 45, but I missed the sign, and then didn't start slowing down until I saw a sign for 35 mph.  At that same point, the cop saw me and turned his lights on.  Luckily, when he clocked me I was still in the 45 mph zone, but still, 61 in a 45 is not good.  He dropped it to 59 and insisted that it would not affect my license or insurance, but he's obviously an idiot, because any ticket affects your insurance.  I found out the next day that it's $175 ticket, which is just great.  Dad drove the rest of the way home, as I was all teary after being pulled over.  As we drove off, we saw someone else pulled over right where the first cop had seen us from.  Georgia, I am not happy with you.