I took a vacation day on Thursday to fly down. My sis picked me up at the airport, and we went to a small soup-and-salad operation. I ordered a delicious Armenian lentil soup and fruit salad. The fruits were definitely local and fresh. So satisfying! Then I went to my sister's house to chill and work on some homework (ugh!) until she was off work. We made plans to meet up with Lindsay for happy hour at some Mexican joint. We ordered three pitchers of Margaritas, which I just sucked down no problem...until about three hours later.
OWTH and Slow Death were playing at The Orpheum. My sis dropped me off, and I was feeling fine. The first band was local and pretty good. It was four dudes all dressed like Michael J. Fox a la 'Teen Wolf'. Hilarious.
The Slow Death were next; its always enjoyable seeing them perform. I just love Jesse's songs. OWTH were the headliner. I was down near the front, singing along to every song. I only had two beers at the show, but the liquor from happy hour was soaking in, and it was like some one snapped her fingers and "POOF!" I'm wasted. Seriously, just fine and feeling good, to blacked out and sloppy. I texted my sister when the show was over to come pick me up, and I fell asleep in the back seat of the car within five seconds. We stopped at Taco Bus on the way home, and I stayed in the car.
Next day, I initially woke up at like 7:30, which was 6:30 my time and my usual time to get up for work. I wasn't feeling to bad, really. I was surprised. I fell back asleep until nearly noon and went downstairs to eat some of the burrito. Came back upstairs and worked on the rest of my homework (didn't want to have to worry about it later), and then took another nap for a few hours. I told my sister that I went for a walk around the neighborhood and also basked in the sun at the pool, but I didn't do either of those things. I just stayed inside. I wasn't hungover or physically ill, just tired. It was definitely an "OOPS" kind of drunk. I don't like being drunk.
On Friday night, my sister and I went to the St. Pete with her new boyfriend (who is 49!). We went to The Canopy. It was on a rooftop near the water, and we could see lots of lights. It was pretty. There were also stars in the sky! The Canopy was cold! I had on pants and a sweater and my coat, and I was still freezing! But I'm ALWAYS cold. There were gas heaters, and we sat near one on a couch. The whole vibe of the place was relaxing.
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Then we went to Tryst so I could get a vegan sandwich. We sat indoors and felt much warmer. Then we went to get a cold treat! There were several gelato places. I ordered two scoops....both vegan, one raspberry and one mango. Back home and in bed by 11! And I'm happy about it!
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On Saturday, my sister and I went to Honeymoon Island. It is a state park and was nice! The beach was pretty white sand and was crowded! The water in the Gulf was freezing! So we just basked in the sun. I got a little tan on my shoulders. I missed two areas with the sunscreen....one on my triceps and another behind my knee. It wasn't a bad burn. We were on the beach about two hours, and I worked a lot of crossword puzzles.
There was a hiking trail on Honeymoon Island, too. It was named The Osprey Trail, and it also forked into The Pelican Trail. Easy walking, flat flat flat Florida. It was a piney area, and there were lots of Osprey in big nests. It was awesome to see them soaring, perched on branches, eating. There are also bald eagles and great horned owls in the area, but we didn't see any. We were only on the trail for about 35 minutes. We had to get back home because we had tix to a BINGO event that evening! Neither of us had been to BINGO before. It was at an American Legion Hall, and it was packed with about 400 people easily.
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It was a lot of fun; I'd definitely do it again. It was actually a fundraiser for a local high school, and my sister purchased the tix from her boss's brother, and we knew about ten people from her work who also attended. It was a lot of fun. After BINGO, we met up the her bf again and the three of us went to my favorite Middle Eastern restaurant. Back home and in bed by 11 again! And I'm happy about it!
On Sunday, Sally, her BF TJ, and Lindsay and I went to Ella's for soul food Sunday brunch. It was pretty good. They did have two vegan options; I chose the BBQ tofu with a side of vegan mac n cheese. After brunch, Paul picked me up, and we went to the canoe on the Hillsborough River. Paul grew up in Louisiana then Florida, and he knows a lot about the swamp and the animals/trees that live there. He has his own canoe. We were out on the water for probably three hours, then we hiked around on the boardwalk. There were a lot of people fishing. We did see several other people in boats....kayaks, canoes, and a few small outboard motors. The whole float was scenic and beautiful. I would definitely go again.
At the turn-around point, the river opened up and there were vultures in trees. Seriously, like 200 vultures in trees and on the beach. It was kind of creepy because the birds didn't vocalize. It was dead silent except for the flapping of wings.
It is currently mating season for the gators.
And there were alligators. We saw eight of them! The first one was fucking huge! Probably nine or ten feet long! Paul could sense that I was tense, and we gave the gator a lot of room as we rounded the bend. It was basking on the bank. All the them were. The other ones we saw were smaller....four feet or less. We did see one slip into the water and start to hide in the mud as we passed, which is where the gators feel the safest. On the way back upstream, we passed by the first one again. He was on the other side of the river, basking on the bank since the sun had shifted. We got a little close to it, just drifting in the canoe.
We got a little too close for (his) comfort, and he slowly turned to get into the water, which is where he feels safe. He first just floated in the water, and we drifted closer to him, not making any movement in our canoe. I could have easily stuck my oar out and touched him, we were that close! Suddenly, he dove underwater with a big splash, and I saw his body swim under our boat to the other side of the river where it was darker/deeper and he could hide out in the mud! What a close encounter! It was exciting! Paul complimented me on not freaking out and capsizing our canoe.
Flew home on Monday, satisfied with a nice weekend away, enjoying warm temps.
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