Another weekend in St Pete...

I received a call from my daughter who said she and her friend were going to fly down from their home up north to visit me. As part of the trip, they said they wanted to spend some time on the beach, so I booked us a couple of nights in St Pete. I picked the Sirata Resort again this time. What can I say, I like the place…

Being unemployed, or temporarily “retired” for the past few months, I sometimes wonder if I should be at home watching television instead of traveling, but the world could end tomorrow and look at all the life and laughs I would have missed out on had I been sitting there on the sofa all that time. 2012 is just next year you know… What if the world really does end? I can’t sit still that long anyways, I get antsy. I have to be out and about. I have to be around people. The way I view it; I prefer to live for today and have faith in tomorrow.

The four of us rolled into town on Friday morning.  It was my daughter Wendy, her friend Jen and a buddy of mine Bill and myself. We did the usual stop at the grocery store for drinks and snacks, then it was on to the hotel for check in. Sometimes rooms are available earlier in the day and this was one of those times, so we were able to get settled early on. Afterwards, we wandered over to Crabby Bill’s for an early lunch. Crabby‘s is only a few doors down from the Sirata.

The opportunity to have a nice view of the beach overtook any sense of wisdom we each had and it led us to sit outside in the heat and sun. After telling each other “it’s hot out here” a number of times over and over, we finally got over it and shut up. There were umbrellas to help block out some of the sun shining on us, but it’s was still warm. We had a nice lunch and I enjoyed my blackened Mahi sandwich while gazing over at the beach.

After lunch, we went back to the hotel and stopped at Harry’s Beach bar to get a drink. The bartender named Paris was there once again and she was her usual efficient and funny self.  Bill enjoyed giving her a hard time.

That evening, we made the short jaunt up the road to Sea Hags. I think I’ve mentioned this place in previous posts. They have great food and that’s the main reason I like going there. They are also right on the water overlooking a small marina and if you get the right table, you have a nice little view of the boats, the water and the setting sun while you enjoy dinner.

That evening, we went for a walk up the beach to Jimmy B’s beach bar, which was not too far. It’s a popular place. They had a live band playing and the four of us hung out, chatted and enjoyed the music. I have yet to stop there during the day to see what it‘s like, but at night it’s usually a hopping place.

It was funny that no matter where we went over the weekend, people couldn’t help but look at us. The four of us were just looking to have a nice relaxing weekend at the beach with some sun, some drinks and some laughs, but by the look on some of their faces, I don’t think that’s what our voyeurs had going on inside their minds. What they saw was these two older guys dressed like beach bums walking around with these two good looking girls who were half our age and dressed like they were ready to go out. It got old after awhile, but it would have been interesting to hear some of the conversations.

After walking into a few places and seeing  reactions by some individuals, we decided to have some fun with it. As we interacted with people, we told stories of meeting the girls at 7-11, or on Internet dating sites or even Craig‘s list. The girls joined right in to help elaborate on our stories. After we got the reaction we were looking for, we would give in and tell the truth. It was good for some laughs, but as soon as the younger guys heard I was her dad and there was nothing funny going on here, they were like flies on a cow pie.  We left at least one time because the flies were getting bad.  There‘s a lesson here; “don’t judge a book by it’s cover“.

The next morning it was out to the beach for some sun. We signed up for a couple of beach cabanas and enjoyed laying around in the sun. The Gulf water is warm this time of year, so it’s very easy to walk out into it and stand shoulder deep and just gaze back toward the beach and people watch. It’s like bath water.

After a few hours in the water and the sun, it was back down the beach to Crabby Bill’s for lunch. Three of us had burgers. I’ve since come to the conclusion that Crabby Bill’s specialty is not burgers, so in the future, I’ll be going back to the Mahi sandwich and fries. Not knocking, just saying…

Jen was the only one who didn’t order a burger. She went with the crawfish. It was a plateful of orange, creepy looking little things with legs and they had these dark, beady little eyes that seemed to be staring up at us. My daughter was a little grossed out and I tried not to watch, but Jen relentlessly tore the little guys apart and ate their insides. I guess some people like that sort of thing and she said it was good. We were completely happy to take her word for it.

All in all, we all had a nice weekend together and as always, it was way too short for our liking. Unfortunately it was time to check out and make the journey back home and the next morning the girls boarded their flight and made their way back north. It’s sad that life goes by so quick and that our time with some of the people in our lives is so fleeting. It’s so easy to take both time and the people around us for granted. Unfortunately, as much as we wish, we can never get those moments back…