Michael has been out of town (out of the country) for the last couple of weeks so when he mentioned that his last stop was in sunny Tampa Fl. he decided to extend his stay into the weekend and fly me down for a nice romantic weekend.
I hate missing work and I especially hate being away from my kids too long but it was a weekend away with the my best friend and soul mate. Adult conversation would be nice and alone time with my husband would be great since we share our bed with a large Golden Doodle and a two and half year old ( and our almost 12 year old who will pretend he has fallen asleep, so that he too can occasionally end up in our ever shrinking king size bed). I would not change it for the world- I LOVE my family and those extended cuddles are welcome anytime. I think Michael and I make time for each other and the rest of it belongs to developing long lasting relationships with our kids.
Making the most of our weekend:
Friday, I was exhausted (recovering from a work week). Flying by myself for the first time was not as bad as I had it made out to be, and I sat next to a retired teacher which made the time "fly" by quickly. Michael and I headed straight to Crabby Bills where we had our favorite "Chicago Style Oysters" and my new favorite a Margarita up with three olives.
Next we drove down to the beach just to soak in the view and smell the salt in the air. It gave us a chance to talk about Michael's work and recap what had been happening at home while he was away.
That night ,we went to the mall where we bought Christian a few shirts for Christmas, Michael a new pair of Buckle jeans (his favorite), and I purchased a cute new phone case for my I-phone 4 . After sampling a piece of peanut butter fudge (there goes my 500 calorie diet from last week) from this amazing chocolate vendor in the mall, we decided to call it a night.
Saturday I woke early ready to begin our day--making the most of our short time together without the kids. I looked up directions for the Marine Aquarium where Winter, the dolphin had made her home and we spent the morning there- learning about injured dolphins. It was very informative and getting to see these guys up close and personal was amazing. Next time we have already planned to pay for Christian to swim with the dolphins (always thinking about the kids). We bought the kids the picture book and left (well until I had to come back and retrieve my purse that was left upstairs by Winter's tank----which is SO ME).
LUNCH- Our favorite place is Post Corners Restaurant and Pizza. We have been coming to Clearwater for about 17 years now and this is a place we always eat. While in the parking lot we had a security guard ask if we were attending the wine festival-we knew then what we would be doing that afternoon.
After lunch we decided to go ahead and purchase our tickets. It was about $55 dollars per person which for the amount of food and wine that was ingested during the course of two hours it was well worth it!! We would have stayed longer but I had already scheduled us a couple's massage for late afternoon.
The Wine and Food festival was wonderful. The food was from all the local upscale restaurants. My favorite was the Lobster Pot's roasted pork over cheesy polenta. I have never tasted so many unique cuisines within a few minutes a part ever before. I will say I said no to the escargot --Michael of course indulged.
Michael had to pry me away from the wonderful event so that we could have enough time to shower before heading to our massage appt.
The massage was my first and Michael's 100th. This is one of his guilty pleasures. I enjoyed the massage but at the same time felt very uncomfortable and insecure ( not sure it is my thing).
After the massage, we headed down to the pier and found a great beach-side restaurant where we laughed, talked, and listened to an 80's band ( yes, we are that old) and it was a great ending to a very nice eventful day.
Sunday was breakfast at another one of our favorites Frog Pond restaurant. The portion of food is ridiculous, tasty, and just a treat to the taste buds. Always seeing the same familiar faces-it is like going to breakfast with family.
This was the ONLY day we laid by the pool ( got a little too much sun on my chest). I was glad to get a little sun-kissed before heading back home. To go to Florida without laying out would be a sin--although we were having so much fun it was hard to find time to just stop.
Michael and I finished up our last meal together by splitting a lobster tail at PJ's Oyster bar and then I took him to the airport to catch his flight. I then came back and got ready for my 5 o'clock mild micro-dermabrasion facial at the same salon we visited yesterday. Some parts of the scraping off of the dead skin was a little uncomfortable but she made up for it with a hydrating face and hand massage. Now this was my thing!! LOVED it-the girl is now my new best friend.
Flew back between two guys that never spoke (which I prefer), so I could actually enjoy my book!
Chloe -Beth was there to greet me at the baggage claim where she kissed me and acted all giddy-I loved it! Then when Christian returned home from school, I got another big hug! Love my kids, love my hubby, and count my blessings each day that our life is finally starting to turn around again.
 |
| Crabby BIl's where we ate the best oysters ( small but good). |
 |
| A little pic. of us in front of the menu board. |
 |
| The fudge counter at the mall! |
 |
| So GOOD! |
 |
| Marine Aquarium |
 |
| Petting a sting-ray (slimy) |
 |
| One of the oldest dolphins there-taking a break ( she was older than me) |
 |
| Winter, over in the corner of the tank. |
 |
| Holding Winter's prothetic tail. |
 |
| The movie poster hangs close by. |
 |
| Michael enjoying the view of the beach from Post Corner's Pizza. One of our local favorites! |
 |
| The Greek Salad is SO BIG AND SO GOOD- this is the medium that we split. |
 |
| ....Before the rest of our food came out. |
 |
| Pizza is incredible! |
 |
| Our Wine And Food Event. |
 |
| A fruity display. |
 |
| My favorite place where they served roasted pork over polenta-crazy good! |
 |
| This was a great soup from the Oyster Catcher ( I think). |
 |
| One of the Italian Vendors. |
 |
| Nice little drink with or without the view. |
 |
| The tent that housed all the great food and drink! |
 |
| Michael enjoying the liquor taste test (inside the Hyatt). |
 |
| I enjoyed a chocolate mini-margarita. |
 |
| Cleaning the sand off my feet by crushing a bunch of grapes. I created a t-shirt with my foot prints. |
 |
| Rolling my feet with purple paint. |
 |
| Amazing cakes made to look like a sand castle and wine bottle. |
 |
| Michael giving me a taste of his key lime pie ice-cream sandwich. |
 |
My new car - if I could have anything I want ( Infiniti SUV).
The black mercedes beside it is Michael's favorite! A HIS AND HERS. |
 |
| Our massage room- soft music, soft light, and total relaxation. |
 |
| May I present the nice sunset we watched. |
 |
The beach front restaurant, The Palm Pavillion, was a nice place to sit
back have an appetizer and drink and listen to a band. |
 |
| Frog Pond breakfast-yum |
 |
| I could only eat half the waffle. |
 |
| PJ's has the best Main Lobster tail. |
 |
| Last Day at PJ's before taking Michael to the airport. |
 |
| Forgot to take a picture of the actual meat-- we ate it too fast! |
 |
| My nice little facial station. |
 |
| I wonder if she used all these products on my face - it sure needed it! |
 |
| This is the little device that helps to scrape away dead skin- Pretty Gross I know! |
 |
| Waiting to board. |
Pictures from our weekend:
