Tampa Bay Hotel

1891

Pasco Winter Quarters: Slept good last night. Mike not feeling too swift though. Made a smoothie and sat down with the computer to balance my check book, take care of e-mail, etc. Then around 1:00 we headed to downtown Tampa to see the old Tampa Bay Hotel which was built in 1891. This is a wonderful historic hotel built on the Hillsboro River by Henry Plant as a railroad hotel. In 1898 Teddy Roosevelt and his roughriders were billeted here during the Spanish American war. The Moorish architecture is so different. An amazing place. After walking around there we headed over to Indian Rocks Beach to have an early dinner at Keegans Sea Food Grill. It was featured on the show, “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives”, and Mike has wanted to eat there ever since. He had octopus and I had blackened grouper. Very good. Indian Rocks Beach is a cute little community—not very touristy. Just north of there is Belleaire Beach which is even nicer but a lot more expensive. Drove back along the Gulf and got home around 7:00. A sunny day with a high of 69.

Sun, 11/16/08

Pasco Winter Quarters: Had a hard time sleeping last night since the people next to us have a wind chime outside near our bedroom window. Dinged all night long. Finally got going and tried to find an Office Depot to get some copies made. Finally got that done and headed over to Sandy and Dan’s. We went to a cute little restaurant for brunch and then back to play spades. Played all afternoon. We left in time to get home and watch Desperate Housewives. A beautiful, sunny day—but cool.

Sat, 11/15/08

Pasco Winter Quarters: Should have slept in this morning but couldn’t get back to sleep. Walked around this cute little community a little bit and then showered and got dressed. Back to Sandy and Dan’s and we played spades for a while (Sandy and I won for a change) until the Mizzou game started and we ate pizza while watching the game that Dan and Mike picked up. Danny and Lorell joined us a little later and we sat around talking until around midnight and then we headed home.

Fri, 11/14/08

Hillsboro River SP to Pasco Winter Quarters (Land-O-Lakes, FL): Only took about 45 minutes to drive over here from Hillsboro River. Got set up and headed over to Sandy and Dan’s. Actually went into the pool this time. Felt good. Still warm and humid. Dan had bought a bunch of luncheon meat and salads and we pigged out on that. Got a glimpse of the shuttle launch which will be the last night launch for a while. Played spades until it got too late. Only takes us 15 minutes to drive to Winter Quarters vs. 45 minutes to an hour to get to Hillsboro River. And we’re in the exact same site we were in last year.

Hillsboro River SP: Really warm and humid. Had a hard time sleeping last night—I guess because I’m not used to the humidity. Drove over to the parking area for the rapids trail and hiked around a little bit—about 3 miles is all, but boy did we sweat! Saw a couple of gators, a red shouldered hawk with a fresh kill, and lots of turtles. Such a pretty hike. Back to our site and sat around reading and cooling off. Cleaned up and went to dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant. Great meal. Leave tomorrow for Pasco Winter Quarters—a campground near Sandy and Dan.

Wed, 11/12/08

Manatee Springs SP to Hillsboro River SP: Warmer and more humid this morning. Kind of a cluster this morning. Mike tried to hook up the truck to the camper but he hadn’t yet unlocked and opened the king pin to receive the hook-up. Then we almost got stuck in the sand. Finally got out of there around 10:30 after stopping at the dump station. Arrived at Hillsboro River SP just outside of Zepherhills at 1:30. Rained on us once but cleared off right away. After getting set up and getting something to eat, we walked down and did the laundry. Had left-overs for dinner. Still warm and humid. 86 today.

Big spider we encountered on our hike...

Manatee Spring

Tue, 11/11/08

Manatee Springs SP, FL: Another beautiful morning after a chilly night. Mike laid a fire this morning and we sat around reading and enjoying the warmth. Early afternoon we hiked the sink hole trail. We’ve been coming here for over 4 years now and didn’t even know there are a whole network of aquatic tunnels and caves about 80 feet below the surface of the park. Scuba divers have explored about 8 miles of caves and tunnels. A pretty hike and then we walked down to the Suwannee River. No manatees but we saw an otter in the spring run. Had steaks, mashed potatoes and southwest corn for dinner tonight. Sunny and low 70s today. Tomorrow we leave for Hillsboro River State Park.