yo! so i just got back to chicago from being in tampa since last wed. i drove down there with johnny and we stayed with my sister at her condo. it was cold there, but still waaay warmer than chicago and of course there was no snow. we had a good time! ironically enough, johnny's roommate joe was down there the same time as us visiting a girl he used to see, and we all met up for food one night. my sister laughed because we were always eating or planning all our activities around food! haha!
we got into town on thursday afternoon after a 21 hour drive. we stopped in gainseville at 9am to get food on the way. we went to a beach on thursday afternoon and waded out to our ankels, skipped some rocks. it was pretty chilly but i was glad the the sun was out! i haven't seen the sun in a while!
then thursday night we went to eat at a place called grass root, which was similiar to the soul veg chain of restaurants but it was not affiliated with them. it was delicious! i got the sunshine burger b/c i really wanted some bread/carbs. johnny got the parmesan. it was quite satisfying!
friday we went to st pete which is across the bay and went to the museum of fine arts. we all had student IDs and got in for a good price and saw lots of painting and photos, which is my favorite type of art to see at a museum. i don't much care for sculpture or antiques and such, which there was some of that type of stuff of display.
then we went to a raw veg place called leafy greens. it was also delicious! sally got zuccini spaghetti. i had never even seen/heard about preparing a zuccini or squash like that and am definitely interested in trying it at home. just as we finished eating, johnny got a call from some friends that he knew from school who were living down in tampa, and they invited us out for dinner about two hours later!! so of course we met up. we went to a place called trang vietnamese. they served meat there, but about six pages of the menu was all vegan selections...from appetizers, soups, rolls, entrees, desserts. it was also delicious! i got a soup and curry chick-un to split with sally. it was fun to go to that with a group; there were seven of us.
friday night after dinner my sister, johnny, and me went bowling. the special that night was three games and a drink ticket for $14, so we did that. it was a lot of fun. and johnny was teasing salsauce b/c the guy who was working at the counter signing everyone up and handing out the shoes looked like joakim noah and he kept smiling at her, "hope that wait wasn't too long for ya!" AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
the first game, johnny only scored 78 points, and i had 126 and my sis 123. she told johnny that he couldn't bowl with us if he couldn't score over 100, so he whipped our asses on the next two games and scored like 178 on one game! it was a lot of fun. we had a few pitchers of beer and there was music playing and strobe/black lights. johnny's jam came over the speakers and he bowled a strike. the celebration included lots of pelvic thrusts and lots of the surrounding lanes were laughing at us; it was so funny!
saturday we went to the flea market. it was amazing!! seriously...anything you can think of, was for sale there. i almost bought a knife, like one that would fit in my pocket. but we were there for the produce.
i was excited that florida has fresh fruits and vegetables for sale pretty much right off the farm, and we got bell peppers, beets, strawberries, oranges, and the biggest avacado i have ever seen.
after the flea market we went to an area of tampa calle ybur city. its more of an urban area, large gay population and lots of clubs and independently owned restaurants, bars, and retail shops. heard some cop tell a mom that after dark this was going to be no place for kids. there is also a theater there called the improv. we looked in to going to see a show there, but tix were $20 and we didn't want to pay that much. no big deal, though.
we walked around ybor, met up with some more people for lunch at a greek place and then met up again for dinner with joe and his girl for dinner at grass root again. both my friend johnny and his roommate joe has "VEGAN" tattooed across their right wrist. my sister saw them together and commented that our cousin mike had the same thing. the both immediately sparked up and asked us, "mike luce?" 'yeah. he's our cousin. his mom and our mom our sisters.' they knew mike from a bunch of animal rights stuff they were involved with ten+ years ago, and that is why they all got the same tattoo. small world.
after dinner we tried to find a karaoke bar, but to no avail. went home and chilled at the house and by chill i mean johnny and salsauce drank half a fifth of bacardi and i downed four tall cans of busch. hung out again on sunday, made dinner and left about 630pm tampa time. got home about 1pm chicago time. we had to stop for a nap at a rest stop in indiana b/c both of us were too tired to stay awake to drive.
all in all, a good trip. i really needed a break from chicago. the day we left, a storm was headed in, and there was 8in of snow accumulation. no big whoop, but i was glad to avoid it. also, i've been pretty majorly depressed and i like to run away from problems. but i know geography isn't going to change who i am or make everything suddenly okay when its not. even as i type that, in other open tabs on my mozilla browser, include school information for florida and the ada. my mom told me i should call guiseppe and ask him to meet for a sandwich, so i texted him instead. he said he was working, so that is that. he's going out of town this week, and perhaps we'll meet up when he gets back. not holding my breath. school starts next week. i could potentially be out of here within 17 weeks.
current conditions:
air temp: 27 F
visibility: clear
sunset: 4:40pm
we got into town on thursday afternoon after a 21 hour drive. we stopped in gainseville at 9am to get food on the way. we went to a beach on thursday afternoon and waded out to our ankels, skipped some rocks. it was pretty chilly but i was glad the the sun was out! i haven't seen the sun in a while!
then thursday night we went to eat at a place called grass root, which was similiar to the soul veg chain of restaurants but it was not affiliated with them. it was delicious! i got the sunshine burger b/c i really wanted some bread/carbs. johnny got the parmesan. it was quite satisfying!
friday we went to st pete which is across the bay and went to the museum of fine arts. we all had student IDs and got in for a good price and saw lots of painting and photos, which is my favorite type of art to see at a museum. i don't much care for sculpture or antiques and such, which there was some of that type of stuff of display.
then we went to a raw veg place called leafy greens. it was also delicious! sally got zuccini spaghetti. i had never even seen/heard about preparing a zuccini or squash like that and am definitely interested in trying it at home. just as we finished eating, johnny got a call from some friends that he knew from school who were living down in tampa, and they invited us out for dinner about two hours later!! so of course we met up. we went to a place called trang vietnamese. they served meat there, but about six pages of the menu was all vegan selections...from appetizers, soups, rolls, entrees, desserts. it was also delicious! i got a soup and curry chick-un to split with sally. it was fun to go to that with a group; there were seven of us.
friday night after dinner my sister, johnny, and me went bowling. the special that night was three games and a drink ticket for $14, so we did that. it was a lot of fun. and johnny was teasing salsauce b/c the guy who was working at the counter signing everyone up and handing out the shoes looked like joakim noah and he kept smiling at her, "hope that wait wasn't too long for ya!" AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
the first game, johnny only scored 78 points, and i had 126 and my sis 123. she told johnny that he couldn't bowl with us if he couldn't score over 100, so he whipped our asses on the next two games and scored like 178 on one game! it was a lot of fun. we had a few pitchers of beer and there was music playing and strobe/black lights. johnny's jam came over the speakers and he bowled a strike. the celebration included lots of pelvic thrusts and lots of the surrounding lanes were laughing at us; it was so funny!
saturday we went to the flea market. it was amazing!! seriously...anything you can think of, was for sale there. i almost bought a knife, like one that would fit in my pocket. but we were there for the produce.
i was excited that florida has fresh fruits and vegetables for sale pretty much right off the farm, and we got bell peppers, beets, strawberries, oranges, and the biggest avacado i have ever seen.
after the flea market we went to an area of tampa calle ybur city. its more of an urban area, large gay population and lots of clubs and independently owned restaurants, bars, and retail shops. heard some cop tell a mom that after dark this was going to be no place for kids. there is also a theater there called the improv. we looked in to going to see a show there, but tix were $20 and we didn't want to pay that much. no big deal, though.
we walked around ybor, met up with some more people for lunch at a greek place and then met up again for dinner with joe and his girl for dinner at grass root again. both my friend johnny and his roommate joe has "VEGAN" tattooed across their right wrist. my sister saw them together and commented that our cousin mike had the same thing. the both immediately sparked up and asked us, "mike luce?" 'yeah. he's our cousin. his mom and our mom our sisters.' they knew mike from a bunch of animal rights stuff they were involved with ten+ years ago, and that is why they all got the same tattoo. small world.
after dinner we tried to find a karaoke bar, but to no avail. went home and chilled at the house and by chill i mean johnny and salsauce drank half a fifth of bacardi and i downed four tall cans of busch. hung out again on sunday, made dinner and left about 630pm tampa time. got home about 1pm chicago time. we had to stop for a nap at a rest stop in indiana b/c both of us were too tired to stay awake to drive.
all in all, a good trip. i really needed a break from chicago. the day we left, a storm was headed in, and there was 8in of snow accumulation. no big whoop, but i was glad to avoid it. also, i've been pretty majorly depressed and i like to run away from problems. but i know geography isn't going to change who i am or make everything suddenly okay when its not. even as i type that, in other open tabs on my mozilla browser, include school information for florida and the ada. my mom told me i should call guiseppe and ask him to meet for a sandwich, so i texted him instead. he said he was working, so that is that. he's going out of town this week, and perhaps we'll meet up when he gets back. not holding my breath. school starts next week. i could potentially be out of here within 17 weeks.
current conditions:
air temp: 27 F
visibility: clear
sunset: 4:40pm
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