Our Florida Vacation

Well, we're back! (Did ya miss us?) Anyway...to sum up our trip....

We arrived in Tampa Friday about 11:30 am. Headed to the hotel hotel was on St. Pete Beach) to check in and lucked out that they had a room ready for us (check in wasn't until 4:00)!

The hotel was a very nice place and we were pleased with our selection. We had a nice room with a mini kitchen (microwave, sink and mini fridge). Only downside, was that buying anything to drink or eat there was pricey, about the same as you'd spend at the ball park. The first after noon we bought drinks at the hotel, but the next day we bought a small cooler, beer and soda.










We grabbed a bite to eat and hit the beach. Amanda really enjoyed the beach. Beach was nice, but not as pretty as it is in Mexico. Mike and I really enjoyed sitting there and doing nothing but relaxing (and people watching). After some time at the beach, we went and sat at poolside. Very nice pool area. The portion of the hotel/resort that we were on, had 3 pools- 1 kiddie pool, regular pool and adult only pool.




That evening we went to The Pier, looked around and had dinner. Apparently, the big local event for St. Petersburg is the Festival of States and was being held that weekend. So we were in the middle of that trying to get down to the Pier. As we were walking, we realized that they were getting to have a huge parade of some sort since everyone was lined along the main street in lawnchairs etc. But we didn't stick around, we headed to The Pier. It had several shops and restaurants and a great view. We ate dinner, looked around and headed back to our car. By the time we got half way back to where the parade route was, we saw the tail end of it from a distance: it was a night time parade and all the floats were lit up. Looked very cool. Then the firework show started and we stood and watched a little bit. The parade gave out tons of beads, cause there were people all over covered in beads. Looked like a well-behaved, family Mardi Gras event.

So, Saturday morning we went to Busch Gardens in Tampa. It was fun and they had a lot of cool roller coaters, but Amanda was too scared to ride them. SO Mike and I got to ride one (Amanda stood in line with us then stepped aside when it was time to get on). I really, really wanted to ride the SheiKra, but the line was LONG. The SheiKra is America's only dive coaster the takes you up 200 feet, then hurtles you 90 degrees straight down. It had lots of twists and loops to! Mike and I rode the Kumba- it had 100 foot plummets and lots of loops and 360 degree spirals. It was a blast!

SheiKra- Looking up at the 90 degree plummet

Amanda did ride two coasters- the Scorpion and the Cheetah Chase. She didn't want to ride any others because they went upside down more than once. Anyway, the animals were great. We saw the Clydesdales and got to have two free samples (about 8-10 oz size) of beer (Mike liked that part). All in all it was fun day, we were all very worn out from all the walking.

(Mike wants one of these for our front or back yard, LOL!)

So, onto the next day- Sunday (Mother's Day). This was our hang out on the beach- drink beer- do nothing-let Amanda have some fun swimming, etc.- day. One of the highlights of the hotel/resort was this HUGE, HUGE inflatable water slide! (Makes the Red-neck slide look like nothing!) However, of cousre, the slide was not included in the hotel price. You could pay $3.00 to go down once (which Amanda did on Friday) or $30.00 for unlimited times for the entire day. So, Amanda paid $15.00 and we paid $15.00 for her to have the unlimited pass. She had a blast! She must have gone down it at least 40 times (would have been more if there hadn't been other people in line). Tried to get Mike to do it, but he didn't want to. Anyway......

The big blue thing is the water slide.

So now all we need to do is get Donny to buy one to rent out! LOL!

We played around in the pool too. By the end of the day, we were somewhat pinkish/red. I burnt the top of my feet and knees. Mike got a little pink, but has turned his normal brown (he's WAY ahead of us all on our summer tans). That night we went to Carrabba's for dinner, then went back to the hotel. We were worn out from a long day in the sun.

We had a great time, but I wish we could have stayed longer.

Here's a few more pictures (of many):

Mike taking a little cat nap.

Cute little homes on the water, entering the St. Pete Beach area

"Crabby Bill's" down the street from our hotel

Tropicana Field

Mike and Amanda at The Pier