the roadies, part 1 (Florida's west coast)

I don't know many twenty-somethings who would road-trip with his parents. We went to Florida for six days and our oldest son David took us on a road trip extraordinaire. We beached. We ate local Cuban food. Picnicked on the beach. Found cool local breakfast spots. Explored the Saturday market in downtown St. Petersburg. Traipsed the Trop!

We then crossed the state to the ocean side to check in with old friends. And ate some more. And drank in the spectacular Atlantic Ocean.

Best of all, we spent several days with our first-born, a treasured time of laughter, eating out and sharing our hearts. In fact, the first night there we spent in a waterfront restaurant in St. Petersburg, talking for two hours. When raising our kids, I never realized how cool it would be to know them as adults.

I shot a whole bunch of photos, and now ... I present them to you.



Soon after arriving, we ate dinner at the waterfront in St. Petersburg. A perfect evening for catching up with David.


Late-night ice cream!

Thursday: off to Fort DeSoto and the beach. The heat index topped 100 degrees, but we persevered!





Birds at the beach ... so peaceful!

David took us to the Banyan on Friday ... a cool little breakfast spot... then on to The Trop (Tropicana Field) for a first-class tour of his workplace.




David and I in the Rays dugout.

The boys check out work down on the field.

David's perch during games: the press box.


We stopped by a gigantic bookstore.


On Saturday, we explored an open-air market in St. Petersburg. We nicknamed it the Hippy Market. Just before leaving, we met two women holding these little guys: Australian Sugar Gliders. They're marsupials, in the kangaroo family. Yep, the brown female had a little pouch. Very cute, but too rodent-like for me.

Tomorrow, part 2, the East coast ...