There’s a few posts I’ve been meaning to write, the following one for 3 months now. Since I’ve got some energy tonight, let’s roll:

Our Florida Trip – November 2006

In November the family and I took a trip to Florida to visit my sister and her husband. We went over the Veteran’s Day weekend.

We scheduled the trip pretty far in advance, and took the dates/times because I had gobs of U.S. Airways frequent flyer miles built-up.

It was an absolutely great trip. My sister and her husband rolled out the red carpet. We had no worries, no car to rent, no room to check into, no meals to worry about. Simply the best.

My sister has a beautiful house in a gated community in Land ‘O Lakes (Greater Tampa) right on a golf course. The house has a lanai with a pool. Florida living at its best.

We set up a schedule for the three days we were there. Sunday was Church, swimming, and hanging out. Monday was Busch Gardens, Tuesday hanging out, shopping, and our flight back.

We started off Sunday with a light breakfast and we headed off to Holy Mass at St. Mary’s PNCC in St. Petersburg. It was about a 40 minute drive from my sister’s house. When we arrived we found that the schedule had changed and that Holy Mass wouldn’t be offered until 11am. Since we had about two hours to kill we headed over to a beach on the bay. The kids had a great time beach combing and watching the birds. There was a pelican that was great entertainment.

We headed back to the church after getting a grand tour of the area. The pastor at St. Mary’s is the Rev. Dr. John Sielchan. He greeted us warmly and introduced us to his parish family. On the plus side the parish is practically bay-side. On the down side it’s a bit removed from most parishioners who appear to live toward the Tarpon Springs area. We met a parishioner that travels about two hours every week from Orlando to attend Holy Mass – fantastic dedication.

After Holy Mass we headed over to Frenchy’s Rockaway Grill and Beach Club. The restaurant/bar is right on Clearwater Beach. The place is consistently packed and I can see why. Great food and a great atmosphere. We had a lot of fun and headed down to the beach after lunch.

It was a little cool that afternoon, but the kids, auntie, and I had a change to plant our feet in the bay.

As we headed back to the car we stumbled upon an Evangelical Community Church (you can’t help but trip over them everywhere in Florida) with this out front:

It’s a turtle angel. What a hoot! The very people who accuse Catholics of worshiping Mary and statues have a statue of a turtle angel in their front yard. What’s next, Mary on the half-shell? A kneeler and a few votive candles and they’ll have a shrine.

We headed back to my sister’s house for an afternoon of swimming and relaxing before dinner.

For dinner my sister introduced us to Lee Roy Selmon’s – BBQ and nothing but BBQ. I was in heaven.

Back at my sister’s we enjoyed a bottle or two from her great selection of wine. I’ve never been so relaxed on a vacation. I even slept great.

On Monday we went to Busch Gardens. My sister and I had been there when it was a fairly new park back in the early 1970’s. Whet I remember from that trip was that the park was impeccably clean, there were animals, and beer (I too young at the time :().

The place was amazing. Still tidy and with the perfect mix of entertainment, nature, and fun. Best of all the place was empty. There were no lines and there was no waiting. We were on the three top notch coasters as soon as we reached the cars. Of all the coasters the SheiKra drop coaster was the best. The Montu was ok, but a little rough (don’t try that one if you have back/neck problems). My youngest at 4 years old went on the Gwazi wooden coaster. She was the daredevil, my son was a little more reticent.

Other highlights included the Rhino Rally and of course the BrewMasters Club at the Hospitality House. The Clydesdale’s were a hit for the kids as were the other animals and the kiddy rides.

We were there from opening to closing – an absolutely fantastic time.

My sister took us to a great Cuban restaurant for dinner. I can’t remember the name right now, but it was fantastic. An ultra small place in a plaza – but a favorite of the locals.

On Tuesday we headed over to International Plaza and Bay Street for shopping and lunch before our departure.

In conclusion a big shout out to my sister Andrea and her husband Ken. Thank you, thank you. It was great!