Wow, what the past 12 months have been! Our business doubled making it exceedingly difficult to make time to travel. And we also had the restrictions not allowing you to go anywhere.
We decided it was baby time again. We have been with them in the past, but we drove each time. When you drive that long distance, you lose days of quality time. We decided it was time to take a flight to Florida. We made the arrangements a month in advance.
Within 10 days before it was time to leave, Miss Elsa popped up in the Atlantic. Because this is our busy season, we are booked two to three weeks out. Changing flight days would have been hell changing our customer’s dates, so we decided to make the trip anyway. After all, this trip was mainly grandbaby time.
We arrived at the airport three hours ahead of departure time, recommended by the news media. From the time we dropped off our vehicle in the parking lot, check in, and went through security, we had two hours to spare. Boring!
First thing I noticed at the airport, about half of the businesses were not open. We got there in the afternoon, more than half of the restaurants closed their gates. I am assuming it is the lack of employees. Most of the companies stay open just past lunch time. Since we were hungry, we went on an adventure and walked most of the airport. Finally stopped at a BBQ place we have eaten before. Unfortunately, the quality was not there like before. And they messed up our order.
Flight was noneventful. I slept most of the way. It is boring to fly! So I sleep.
We arrived at our friend’s house just past midnight. We stay with them because there is no room with the grandbabies.
A reminder, Elsa is heading our way.
Our friend is a retired police officer who volunteered for hurricane awareness for many years. When hurricanes are about, he is fixed on that sucker until it goes away. We spent Sunday and Monday preparing for this little girl. Food was not the issue; it was making sure everything was secured outside to keep from being missiles. All that preparation to the two homes and she fizzles out as she reaches us. Better to be prepared verses not being prepared.
Every day we had rain, lots of rain. Unfortunately, our baby time was not spent at the beach or any other place. But we had a bunch of quality time. Playing hide and go seek with a four- and two-year-old is priceless.
Florida changed their fireworks laws. We kind of blew stuff up for 4th of July. We have a video of all the huge fireworks, need to figure out how to upload without it taking days. Half of the neighborhood sat in the street watching everything. Only took four hours the next morning to clean up the street.
Our ventures outside the house were to restaurants. Our trips:
Most of our mornings breakfast was at Toast in New Port Richey They serve breakfast and lunch. Not fancy, small place, great food. Smiling faces, and the coffee flows. There are two locations, the other is towards Oldsmar. I met the owners a while back. Great people. A great suggestion to visit if you are in the area.
Yes I consumed Greek food, lots of Greek food
Louis Pappas Fresh Greek in my opinion has the BEST Greek salad. Suggestion, one order feeds two people. We mainly went there for lunch, ordered a salad and gyro. Left full and happy.
Hellas Bakery is located in the Sponge Docks. We have been going to this place since high school. If you enjoy lamb shank, you will be singing a happy tune. When it arrives, grab the bone, and the meat just slides off. Large portions and I have tried just about everything on the menu. Never disappointed. Order the flaming cheese for the appetizer. They are famous for their bakery. When you leave you need to venture to that side of the property. You will not be disappointed.
Mr Souvlaki is just outside the Sponge Docks on Tarpon Avenue. They have the best pickled octopus according to our friends. Got to order the flaming cheese here as well! This restaurant is the original Greek Chow Mein. Order the small portion unless you want lunch tomorrow.
Both Greek restaurants are family owned. If you order the same dich as each restaurant, they will be different. Delicious, but different.
Palm Harbor has made great effort in revitalizing their downtown. One evening we went there for Mexican food. Salted Lime Cantina was recommended. A definite do over. It is more like an island Mexican place. We ordered multiple appetizers for everyone. Plantains were out of this world. Tracy had pork belly tacos and I had the Tango enchiladas. Sadly, they don’t open until 3 because we would have gone there for lunch the next day. After dinner Tracy and I went for a walk to see what else was there. Our next trip will be investigating all the other restaurants downtown. And dummy me, I forgot to take pictures.
Off to Saint Petersburg to celebrate a friend’s birthday. O’Maddys was the place to go! It faces the bay in the gulf. Excellent entertainment and the food were fantastic. It is extremely popular compared to the other bars on the street. When we left, I noticed the other bars barely had half the population inside. Again, great atmosphere with great prices.
You saw our great experiences, unfortunately we did have one lousy experience.
One night it was decided on Italian, and we made reservations for 8 hours in advance. When we arrived at Carrabba’s in Lutz, it was recommended. We arrived on time and the staff walked around like they were lost. We were one of three reservations of eight people for six o clock. It took the staff 20 minutes to figure out how to set up three tables to fit eight people. Trust me, there was plenty of room with empty tables. The service was adequate, not great. The food at best was mediocre. Mine was cold or room temp. The premade chicken was ice cold. Extraordinarily little flavor. I wrote a review, and their management did a standard reply with no apology and requested I fill out a survey form. Did not waste my time.
All in all, had a fantastic time. The only complaint, too much rain. But you smile, enjoy the liquid sunshine, and have fun anyway.