Florida: Take Two

Despite not finding any great craft beer, we did actually have a great time in Florida.  How could we not?  A week at the beach with 75 degree weather, no work, no school, not doing dishes...it was lovely!

We tried to get out and see some sights but on a few occasions the sights weren't that worth seeing.  Someone had told me to visit Pass-a-Grille Beach.  We dutifully packed a lunch and trotted out only to find the beach rather rocky and unimpressive so we went back to our beach and had a grand afternoon.  Here's a picture of our beach at sunset.

Another day we went to Ft DeSoto Park, touted as one of Florida's best beaches.  We thought we'd ride bikes around the fort.  Well, it wasn't so much Ft. DeSoto as much as it was Ft. Mosquito; we were bitten alive.  Instead, we drove up the coast to Clearwater...where the water is, surprisingly clear.  We rented a Surrrey or 4 Person bike and rode around.  It was a blast.  Oh, except for when my son was driving.  Let's just say people dived off the sidewalk to avoid us; they preferred to take their chances with traffic.  Of course, he thought he was a great driver and wants us to get one of these bikes so he can drive us to work.  I'm going with a no on that one.  Here we are on the surrey:

Of course we visited Busch Gardens where Brian and Clara got stuck on a roller coaster.  I noticed that the Roller Coaster had stopped and that all these people were exiting, except for Brian and Clara.  Immediately I thought the worst but instead the coaster had just stopped.  Apparently, it happens all the time.  Who knew?

The Dali Museum had to be one of my highlights.  The museum houses the largest collection of Salvador Dali paintings in the United States.  They do a great job getting the kids involved in the paintings.  We took a guided tour which was well worth it as the docent pointed out all these interesting aspects in his works.  Here is my favorite painting I saw that day.  It's called the Hallucinogenic Toreador and in it you can the face of a Toreador made up in the repetitions of the Venus de Milos.  I just found it fascinating.

But every vacation must come to an end and here we are back to school, to work, to cleaning....At least the beers good!