Knowing that I would be in Tampa on July 5th for The Caregiver Hour radio show, I had been looking forward to TWO WHOLE DAYS of vacation time over the weekend. Sun, sand, surf, and slacking off were in my desirous daydreams for weeks. I even enlisted my friend Angela to come along for the ride, promising fun and sun with a respite from work demands.
Alas, my daydreams were dashed by the enemy of all beach vacationers . . . RAIN. Yes, two practically solid days of rain and thunderstorms changed our plans dramatically.
Holding back the tears, we headed out on Saturday morning to visit The Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg (which houses the largest collection of works by Spanish artist Salvadore Dalí, outside of Spain). We had fun viewing the pieces, learning about his influences and themes, and making up back stories about our sweet little tour guide (most definitely a cat lady) who looked like she was sent straight out of 1982.
When we came out of the museum, there were a few taunting moments of sunshine — giving us false hope that we might stop for a quick lunch and then head to the beach for the afternoon. Here we are (below) optimistically feeling beachy keen.
On the way back toward the hotel, looking for a nice lunch spot, we came across something we’d never seen before — a Walmart Fresh Market. Including, not the usual blue, but green logo, and words like “Fresh, Whole, Produce” in their green signage (that is suspiciously similar to the look of Whole Foods Market). In shock at such a foreign site, Angela wanted to explore further. So we stopped to look inside (to see if it really was like Whole Foods). It was already raining again at this point, so what did we have to lose? After seeing that it definitely looked like it was trying to be green and fresh on the inside too, we left (humus and popcorn in hand) and resumed our search for a lunch spot.
Since we had Thai food on Friday night (my first time trying Thai), we thought we’d keep with the international theme and have a French lunch at a spot called Moulin Rouge. It was empty (except one other table), which we weren’t sure how to take (just because we’re late for lunch/early for dinner or because this is going to be baaad?). Happy to say, it was all good. We had a yummy French buffet (I recommend the salmon quiche…creamy!) for about $10 ea. Angela, having been to France more than once, says it was very authentic.
Still raining, we were open to anything that came our way. So when we saw a spot called Frida’s Cafe & Bakery, we decided to stop in for a coffee. But, then, we were met with this . . .
Three cases filled with beautiful, yummy-looking, sweets! Angela knew what she wanted right away, but I was torn in many directions. It all looked so pretty. It all looked so tasty. There were so many choices. How can I choose? What if I choose wrong and then regret not getting one of the other options? I was torn, but ultimately “bracketed” with Angela’s help and made my decision. Angela got the chocolate mousse and I got the chocolate suicide (yep, that’s what it’s called). We were both very satisfied with our choices (so much so, that we went back on Monday morning before the radio show to get something else for the road).
Feeling very full and – yet again – optimistic over the possibility of the sun lasting “this time,” we headed back to the hotel to change and head to the beach. Then, waiting at a light, just one block from our hotel, we got rear ended. Deep sigh. We spent the next hour exchanging info, taking pics, and visiting with guys (cute ones) who arrived in an ambulance, a firetruck, and two police cars. No fatal injuries, but backs and necks are still in question and my car now has what I’m affectionately calling “dimples” in its backside. It began to downpour.
After a very helpful massage at a nearby spa, we gave up on Saturday at the beach and went back to the hotel, spending the rest of the evening watching movies and eating humus and popcorn.
Dreams for Sunday: Yoga at the little beach nearby, lunch and sunning at Clearwater beach, fireworks in Tampa w/friends.
Sunday’s reality: Gray, drizzly rain – ALL day. Lunch in the mist at a Greek restaurant at Clearwater beach. Sitting in the mist on the beach for a short time (boring and lame and wet and gray). Taking a short walk to Starbucks (delusionally thinking it wouldn’t rain and we’d walk back). Stranded at Starbucks in a storm. Expensive cab back to hotel. But, then the day looks up – we had a yummy dinner at Bonefish Grill (Angela was excited to see crisp white jackets) and then right when we got back to our hotel (we decided to skip the Tampa fireworks due to the rain), we got – what felt like – a personal fireworks display right outside of our window. We were facing Largo Central Park and they were shooting off their display right near us. So, we kicked back on the floor with our feet up and watched the light show.
Those “TWO WHOLE days off” were, in fact, two days off. (Some of you know there was a work-talk embargo and we stuck to it.) They were not exactly the two days I had planned, but all things considered we both had a good time and enjoyed our little vacation, even if the sunshine was illusive.
On Monday (after stopping by Frida’s, of course), we had lots of fun at the radio station with The Caregiver Hour guests and crew and had a really lovely lunch afterward with team Linder (Kim, Lisa, and Jack). (If you missed the show or didn’t see my post about it, click here for details.)
Just goes to show, that even if things don’t go the way you plan, if you roll with the punches (or down-pours, or fender-benders) you can have a great time with lovely experiences and happy memories (and quite possibly, a much more interesting story)!
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