St. Petersburg, Tarpon Springs, Dunedin and the COLD weather!

We had a cold front move in from Canada on Saturday.  Damn you Canadians!!!!!  Woke up to temperatures of 1 degree with a WIND CHILL!!!!!!!!  Northerly winds at 30 - 40 km/hr!  It was too cold to run!!!!!!  But don't worry, Casey braved the cold and walked the beach!

4 foot waves!!!!!

Mark and Denise arrived safely from Miami later this afternoon.  Had a very nice visit with them - some wine before dinner.  Headed out to The Pub where we had a great dinner.  Only bad part was that Denise and I got asked for ID!!!!!  Wouldn't be a problem, but Denise didn't have hers so they said they wouldn't give her any wine!  Needless to say, Mark was not happy.  He drove back to the condo to get her ID.  Dinner ended up being very nice.  Had lots of fresh seafood - again!  Mahi mahi, scallops, shrimp etc...

Casey and I got up early on Sunday morning and went to the famous Wagon Wheel Flea Market.  Probably won't do it again!  Lots of junk!  But very neat to see all the food/fruit/seafood vendors selling their wares.  Amazing prices on the fresh food!

We bid farewell to Mark and Denise after a lazy brunch at the condo.  Although it was COLD (high of only about 10 C) we decided to sit by the pool for the rest of the afternoon.  Afterall, what else is there to do on a Sunday afternoon when there is no football!!!!???!!!!  It was surprisingly HOT.  We were able to sit there in our bathing suits for the entire afternoon!  Finally got some real colour on our white Canadian bodies!

Monday - a beautiful run started the day.  So nice to run in cool temps!  Decided to go to St. Petersburg for the afternoon and visit the famous pier.

Shopping here wasn't great, but the views from the top were amazing!

Left the pier and walked around downtown for a while. We found this giant flowering tree on our walk.  Pretty neat!

Also very cool to see beaches in a downtown setting.

After such a long day walking, we decided it would be a good idea to stop for a happy hour on our way home.  Found a place called Sloppy Joes.  They had amazing views of the gulf at sunset!!!!!

Happy Valentines Day!  Getting hotter again.  The humidity was back for my run today:(

Drove out to Tarpon Springs and Dunedin today.  Tarpon Springs is known for its Greek heritage and for the famous Sponge Docks.  We had an amazing lunch at Mama's - flaming cheese, greek salad, souvlaki!  Lots of walking and admiring the scenery here.

Then off to Dunedin!  Dunedin is a Spanish/Irish town that is also home to the Blue Jays for their Spring Training.  No Toronto Blue Jays sightings though:(.  But a great little town.  Stopped by the Dunedin Brewery for a tasting flight to quench our thirst.

After a full day of driving and sightseeing, we decided that the best way to spend our Valentines Night would be to buy some fresh tuna from The Reef.  The Reef is a great seafood place down the road from our condo.  Amazing seafood selection!

before cooking!

 

 

 Simple marinade of black pepper and garlic....that's all we had!  Then a walk on the beach to let things settle.  Tuna got a little sear to go along with a nice salad, and voila!  Dinner!

Well that's it from the sunny south for a while.  Tomorrow's forecast is sunny with a high of 80!  Back to "normal" for the rest of the week!  Planning on sitting by the pool for most of the next few days.  You don't want to see pictures of this so I won't post for a while!  Unless we find some great sunset pics!

Hard to believe we only have 2 weeks left here before we leave for our road trip across the USA!

We miss everyone up north!  But we have to do what we have to do!!!!!!!