Oh well, at least I was able to enjoy some time off and help recharge my internal batteries for the last month or so of winter. Not to mention I’d only taken a week’s holidays in the last 12 months so I was feeling quite lethargic to say the least and needed to change things up for a bit.
As it turned out the vacation went very well and I was able to relax. Everyone asks me, “What did you do on vacation” and when I tell them I went to Florida and spent a lot of time doing nothing they can’t figure out why I wasn’t going non-stop all the time.
I was quite content to sit outside in a lawn chair with a magazine, a beverage, my iPod and the warm Florida sunshine shinning down on me. I didn’t need to be on the road every day going all over the State.
That’s not to say I didn’t do a little travelling around or have some fun days away from my lawn chair.
First off I was able to spend some quality time with not only my brother and his wife but I had a chance to see my nephew for the very first time. It’s hard to believe anyone could be cuter than me but this kid might just take away my title.
But we did get to spend some time together. We drove up to Tampa one night, ate too much Italian food at Buca di Beppo restaurant. Then it was off to the NHL game at the St. Pete Times Forum with the Tampa Bay Lightning hosting the Montreal Canadiens. Unfortunately the Habs played horrible and lost but the seats were great and the game was entertaining. I always enjoy going to a hockey game in my shorts.
The one thing I always do when I go to Florida is buy clothing. As a big guy, the selection of clothing around home is less than spectacular and I always make it a point to stop by Casual Male in Sarasota where I can drop $200 in no time at all.
Aside from shopping, relaxing and making a couple of visits to the beach, the only other real excursion was to Sea World in Orland. I’d never been there before and I enjoyed it. The admission price was a little steep but I figure it’s something I likely won’t ever do again so why not spend the cash.
I enjoyed the water shows. In particular the Killer Whale (Shamu) and the Dolphin shows were very impressive. I enjoyed getting up close to some of the sharks, stingrays, dolphins and turtles that I normally wouldn’t get a chance to see. It was quite interesting and different from going to Disney or Universal Studios.
Of course the photographer in me had to get out to take some photos so we went down to Myakka River State Park one day. This is my favourite spot to find alligators in the wild. As it turned out it was a good day for them as we saw eight gators in one location and two more in another. They are scary looking creatures. I managed to get pretty close to some of them...probably closer than I should have been. But I managed to get a few good photos.
In the end the vacation was a success. I spent time with family, tanned my gelatinous body and was able to unwind and relax for three weeks. I just hope my next vacation gets here a bit sooner next time.
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