St. Petersburg Florida ~ The Sunshine City

While visiting my parents in Florida last week Mr. Rosemary Lane, myself and the kids took a day trip down to St. Petersburg, also known as the Sunshine City for its reported average of 361 days of sunshine each year. That's a lot of sunshine aye!

(LOL...no I am not Canadian...just like the word "aye"!)

The first place I wanted to see with the kids was the St. Petersburg Pier. I was there several years ago and loved the entire experience. The St. Petersburg pier also known as "The Pier" was constructed in 1973 and it features a 5 story inverted pyramid shape building.

Pretty cool right? 

It was extremely disappointing to find that the pier had closed. From 1973 to May 31, 2013 the pier offered activities including shopping, dining, nightlife, fishing boat rentals and The Pier Aquarium. 

The plan was to demolish the existing pier and replace it with a newly designed pier, however in August of 2013 the residents of St. Petersburg voted to cancel the contract with the architectural firm which was to construct the new pier.

So there she sits...empty...

Loved this St. Petersburg landmark...Loews don Cesar Hotel or the "Pink Lady". 

Ooops scratch that...the hotel is actually the Vinoy Renaissance Hotel as pointed out by one of my readers who lived in the area for many years. Thank you Shari!!!

Downtown St. Petersburg is the home of dozens of galleries and cultural venues.

Michael even found a new friend!

There are also a multitude of places to dine in the downtown district as well. I had a fabulous fish taco for lunch at 400 Beach Seafood and Tap House.

We then took a little drive over to Snell Isle to take a gander at some of it's luxury homes.

I love Banyan trees and there were two huge ones located in North Straub Park.

Now I ask you what kid can say "no" to climbing a Banyan tree???

Not mine that's for sure!!!

We even carved out a little bit of time to spend exploring the beach.

It was a wonderful day in St. Pete!

XO

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Timber Pines ~ Golf Resort Living in Central Florida

For the past 19 years my parents have been living in an over 55 active adult community in central Florida known as Timber Pines.

The development here was established in 1982 and is lovely as well as large, over 3400 homes fill this beautiful gated oasis.

There is a clubhouse and a lodge where residents can swim, play tennis, boccie ball, pick up a card game, have a drink and just simply relax. 

Here Chris and Michael are taking a dip in the fabulously warm waters the clubhouse's geo-thermally heated resort like swimming pool.

And did I mention golf??? Yes there is plenty of opportunity to golf for the golf enthusiast. Four golf courses exist within the community of Timber Pines. There are two luxurious 18 hole courses called executive courses, one championship course and one chip and put course. Not forgetting to mention a driving range and a practice putting green.

There is also some interesting wild life indigenous to the region. Would you believe this guy below is a member of the squirrel family? He is the size of an average house cat and likes to forage by the golf course greens

Most homes have back patios and or screened in in-ground swimming pools.

And there are some mighty beautiful homes and landscaping to ohh and ahh over.

My dad always referred to Timber Pines as Heaven's waiting room...

...and you know what...I think he is right!

We are headed home in a couple days and then it is back to welcoming the beauty of spring in our own neck of the woods.

Wishing you all a wonderful last weekend of April.

XO

Tarpon Springs, Florida

Since my parents moved down here to Florida in 1995, one of my favorite destinations to spend an afternoon has been Tarpon Springs. First off the reason why I love it isn't because of all the touristy shops and what not...it is the beautiful docks, the history of this place...but mostly it's the FOOD I adore the most!

And there are countless spectacular places to experience Greek cuisine!

My favorite Greek dish here...Dolmades in a creamy lemon sauce.

These are "air plants". I found out about air plants just recently when I took the Mansion in May tour up in Morristown New Jersey last month. These plants have no root system, so there is no need for them to be in soil or for constant watering. A once a week bath will be enough for them to simply thrive. They are quite beautiful as well as interesting in appearance.

 

Gotta love all the sites here in Tarpon Springs...check out this early 1960's Volkswagen Van.

And my mother's favorite spot in Tarpon...the ice cream shop!

Grace was the first one done her cone...no surprise here!!!

But aside from the food and the sites...Tarpon Springs is truly all about diving for sponges!

Have a great day!!!

Opa!!!

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