Our trip to Tampa

We had a great time visiting with Scott and Melissa in Tampa this weekend.  On the way there, I spotted Mickey in the power lines near Orlando:

Just a reminder: you can click on any of these photos to see larger versions in a new window!

Yesterday, someone had the brilliant idea to take Sandy to Tampa's only "dog beach" in Fort De Soto.  Okay, fine, the someone was me.  Worst idea ever!  The whole beach smelled like the livestock area of a county fair.  Sandy doesn't even like going into the water and she was not inspired by all of the dogs she saw out there.  The only positive is that I finally got to try paddle boarding for the first time!

Why did they take me to this stinky nasty place?

There I go!

 Last night, we went to Ybor, the Cuban historic district in Tampa.  We went to Carmine's for cuban sandwiches, of course!

The birthday girl waving hello in the background :)

The Italian Association of Ybor building - not only do they have Cuban influences, but a lot of Italian as well.  The Italians were having a party over there last night and it was disco themed.  I really wanted to be invited!!!
Carmine's, where we went for dinner, had Peroni on tap :)  

Waiting out the rain - love those Florida afternoon thunderstorms!

Two little chickens in Ybor

 We ended the night with a trip to IKEA.  Justin has been reading (and loving) Michael Crichton's Eaters of the Dead.  He thought it was appropriate to put on this calfskin rug and intimidate Scott, viking style.  We didn't buy the calfskin rug, although we did find an area rug for the living room to bring home.

Justin left this afternoon for his first business trip - 2 days in Rochester, New York.  I have been doing some cleaning and Sandy and I are going to have a movie night!

Here are some pictures of our living room, finally put together.

Finally coming together!