Florida sunshine

  So, Carolyn, watch the weather forecast before coming to Tampa, or you could be stuck here for a while. 

'S okay -- I don't mind being stuck.   Plus I'll have a rental car for week to split between Tampa Bay & Atlanta, GA area.

(Plus I've got commitments in a couple other states too.)

Well good, I am happy for you.  My favorite time in the summer is right after the rain and it is becoming dusk.  The mixture of the heat and the rain with the sun going down is just wonderful (in my humble opinion).  I like the smell too; very weird.

Well good, I am happy for you.  My favorite time in the summer is right after the rain and it is becoming dusk.  The mixture of the heat and the rain with the sun going down is just wonderful (in my humble opinion).  I like the smell too; very weird.

I always liked the Florida smell too...particularly when the orange trees or jasmine & such things are in blossom, the heat/rain thing, etc.  Though not when you stumble upon a swamp that smells manky.  My Florida cat loved the lizards & the palmetto bugs too!

Yeah, my cats love the lizards.  They play with them and bring them into the house, which I hate.   But I've seen some jasmine is in bloom now, but not the oranges.  When are you expected in Tampa?

I always liked the Florida smell too...particularly when the orange trees or jasmine & such things are in blossom, the heat/rain thing, etc.  Though not when you stumble upon a swamp that smells manky.  My Florida cat loved the lizards & the palmetto bugs too!

Isn't the entire state of Florida a swamp that smells manky?  It certainly is IMO!! 

Yeah, my cats love the lizzards.  They play with them and bring them into the house, which I hate.   But I've seen some jasmine is in bloom now, but not the oranges.  When are you expected in Tampa?

Yes my cat would go wild for the lizards!  If there was one high up on the wall or on the ceiling -- he would yowl & carry on until he could somehow get to it.  So funny!

We're going to drive down (from Atlanta) on Sat Jun 4 & stay 4 nights.  Before that, I'm in Kansas & then the Atlanta area, then after - back to Atlanta, on to Maryland & them home to England again.  My family is in Kansas, around Atlanta, and near Baltimore, Maryland...but Tampa Bay got to be 'home' for me during the 6+ years I lived there so my dearest friends (and my cat!) are still there (plus my stuff in storage).  We could have stayed (in Florida) at the homes of one or another friends this time, but since we're doing so much family visiting otherwise -- hubby & I decided to treat ourselves with a B&B stay in Tarpon Springs so that should be nice.  It's a central-ish point to where my friends live, nor far from some of the beaches, and also -- first time ever that Steve came to visit me in Florida -- we spent part of a day in Tarpon around the sponge docks, eating Greek food, etc.  We gotta hit the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City too, of course!   I love the Gulf Coast side -- I find that it's not quite as built up or as expensive as 'theme park America' over there on the Atlantic Coast.   Not to say that it's not overrrun with people too, it is, but I prefer natural attractions (wildlife preserves, beaches, etc) to the manmade ones.

Saf -- I know there's lots of manky swamps & they're kinda cool in their own right.  But still -- you've got two oceans!!  That's a big deal to me -- having grown up & lived in Kansas for 33 years to begin with & there you (obviously) never get to see ANY ocean.   I was never so happy as the day that I moved away from Kansas, escaping to Florida -- so it will always hold special appeal for me, I think.  (Though I could do without its political climate...hee hee...but that's a matter for Pettifog.)

As for the heat -- I find Florida heat bearable as compared, say, to a run of 100 degree F + days spent in a long Kansas (or Texas) summer.   I did not find that Florida had that kind of scorching heat & it always seemed to get a break with the coastal areas & the afternoon rains, etc.  The hottest & most humid places I have been in the south were Savannah GA (in late August), New Orleans LA (in June), and Houston TX (in October!) -- weatherwise, these were much worse than anything Florida ever threw at me.

Interesting to see more than one person who has lived in the Tampa area.  That's where I grew up and still live now, and personally I like the weather here half the time, but the summer is unbearable and that is one reason why I'm looking into moving to the UK after univ.

Anyway, Carolyn, if you have some extra time in Florida, you should check out Caladesi Island, it's very close to Tarpon Springs.  You have to drive south to Dunedin and take a ferry from a place called Honeymoon Island.  Very enjoyable and no condo's or cheap hotels to block your view of the Gulf.   The island is a state park and has many nature trails and all the beaches are beautiful.  you can be assured of finding a secluded place on the beach for an afternoon of sunbathing.  If that's your thing.  Fortunately, it doesn't seem most locals know about the place, which is a good thing.  So if you end up going there, try not to let the secret out.

For those of you who lived, or still live, in Florida...did you ever visit Solomon's Castle? Such a cool place, as the family still lives there, and it looks like a real castle. We went, and the tour was given by the owner, Solomon himself, who built the entire place, out of recycled materials, there's even an old Spanish type ship, that is a restaurant, that he built out of recycled wood, and it sits in a swampy area next to the castle. We had such a ball visiting. It was one of the 'not typical' tourist places to visit there. I highly recommend going.

  Anyway, Carolyn, if you have some extra time in Florida, you should check out Caladesi Island, it's very close to Tarpon Springs.  You have to drive south to Dunedin and take a ferry from a place called Honeymoon Island.  Very enjoyable and no condo's or cheap hotels to block your view of the Gulf.   The island is a state park and has many nature trails and all the beaches are beautiful.  you can be assured of finding a secluded place on the beach for an afternoon of sunbathing.  If that's your thing.  Fortunately, it doesn't seem most locals know about the place, which is a good thing.  So if you end up going there, try not to let the secret out.

Yeah I'm hoping we might get to do that.  It's something I never got around to doing when I lived there!  Go figure.  I did make it down to Ft Desoto Beach which is pretty nice down at the far southern end.  Also liked Pass-a-Grille, and Gulfport on Boca Ciega.  And Steve & I got to snorkel around the manatees up at Crystal River two winters back -- which was nice.

We are home in England again, as of yesterday -- after our latest whirlwind trip around the US.  Today the forecast high in Leeds is 55 degrees F.    In the States, we had warm weather everywhere (of course) -- this time of year.  Spent 4 1/2 days in Kansas visiting my mom (in a nursing home), 2 days just west of Atlanta GA where one brother lives, 3 days in Tampa Bay FL area, then on to Baltimore MD area for 2 days (for my niece's high school graduation).

The family visits (KS, GA & MD) were just that -- family visits, but our time in FL was more like being on a 'real' holiday.   Apart from meeting up with friends there, we managed to fit in three beach days!  Well, more like 2-3 hours at the beach on 3 different days -- with my blondie fair skin, that's about maximum exposure for me (with 30 SPF sunscreen) and I still managed to get a little sunburn.

First day, we went to Clearwater Beach in the evening to watch the sun set & then had dinner at one of the 'grouper special' restaurants there.  

The next morning we spent at Howard Park Beach in Tarpon Springs (near our B&B) -- which was great!  The beach is obviously protected by barrier islands there so the salt water is nearly as placid as some lakes -- it's shallow & the water is crystal clear for a quite a distance out.  We arrived about 9 am so it wasn't at all crowded then -- there were loads of fish swimming near the shore and even a dolphin that swam very far in to the shore!

The third day we hit Caladesi Island (as recommended by Twenty-seventh letter) -- fabulous!!  Incidentally, Caladesi Island is rated as America's 4th BEST natural beach by 'Dr Beach' (www.drbeach.org/) & it lives up to its acclaim.   The Tampa Bay area ALSO has the #1 US beach too:  Fort DeSoto Park - North Beach, St Petersburg, Florida (where I have been previously too).  So Caladesi was just wonderful -- sugar white sands, mangrove trees & natural beach grasses, more surf than Howard Park but very swimmable too (shallow aways out), and not crowded either!  (Look out for diamondback rattlers though as they are indigenous to the island but fortunately they stayed hidden while we were there!)  Riding the ferry (pontoon boat) out & back was fun too -- watching the pelicans flying & clowning around the wooden posts.

Fun family moments:  mom managed to remember throughout my visit that Steve was the guy 'with me' which is doing pretty well for her, watching Steve play cards with my niece & brothers & sister-in-laws as a regular member of the family now, and of course my niece's graduation (the ceremony was excruciatingly long & boring at the same time).

It sounds like you had a great time and got out of Florida just in time.  (It is supposed to feel like 100 degrees in Orlando today.) 

Oh I would take that over this cold, gloomy, rainy stuff we've got -- so depressing!   I am trying to 'embrace the grey' but it is proving difficult.

Carolyn - so glad you had a good visit. My steve was here for a bit during the hot DC weather helping me move stuff to PA. I think he almost melted!! hehe.

I love my summer here, but my time in Leeds the week before wasn't too bad.

Sounds like your time in the states was well worth it, what did Steve think? When do you start the new job? I cannot wait to be done with mine here!