Return to Florida

My mom turned 60 this past weekend, so I made a jaunt down south to visit and celebrate this momentous milestone. Thursday arrived with Michelle and Crystal picking me up in Sanford (the ticket was direct and cheaper). We spent the afternoon playing board games and relaxing with Gatsby. Michelle and I began the trip by visiting one of my favorite restaurants, Carabbas, before heading down to Ybor for an evening of music. We had a few misses, like the jazz club with the black light bathroom, Coyote Ugly with its silver walled bathroom, settling on Green Iguana, which had an amazing duo performing on guitar and drums.
The next day we visited Pass-a-Grille and ate lunch at The Hurricane. Can we say fresh shrimp and grouper? Yummy. Our waiter informed us the water was too cool to go swimming and only tourists were out there. Yes, I'm a tourist, I went in the water and collected shells on the seashore. We popped into Gators Bar for some desert so I could soak up the ambiance. I spent the evening with my in-laws and ate dinner at Beef O'Bradys. Yes, I had some fabulous wings. Michelle and I were off to Channelside to visit my favorite bar, Howl-at-the-Moon and met up with Jen and Cheryl. We had a fun night, though I lost the bar to some Georgia Bulldogs.

Mom's birthday happened to fall on a major college football day. Dad and I spent many hours in front of the tv watching the games. We had lunch at Cheesecake Factory, in which C, had a child's portion of pasta (looked like too much food for an adult), which she scarfed down with a fork in each hand. John asked if we could talk privately, so we headed out to his favorite pub and had a drink. Jo arrived later and we headed out to dinner for mom's birthday.

Michelle and I were up early Sunday morning, and headed out to Islands of Adventure with N. I could write a full post on the Harry Potter world. It was very impressive. We rode the rides, bought several gifts, tried ButterBeer, which is delicious, and ate at the Three Broomsticks. All around, it was a lot of fun.

Monday morning dawned early, with Michelle, Crystal, and I heading to Village Inn, my absolute favorite breakfast place. We visited my old library and spent time with some old friends. It was strange to be in the place and visit the people who played such a large part in the beginning of my career. The place has changed in a lot of ways and so have I. We went to lunch in South Tampa at Datz, then headed to the airport.

It was a lengthy weekend with lots of treats thrown in, but also a lot of emotional moments.