Trip to Florida: Part ONE

I know by NOW

you must be tired of winter, no matter WHERE you live.

And, I have other winter pictures to still show you.

But not now.

Because we went to Florida for a few weeks

and I want to think sunshine right now

and share those photos with you instead.

So put on your flip flops, grab a Marguerita and lets get dancing, shall we?

In this first series, I am just going to show some random

Florida shots for you.

I have specific places I will show you as time goes on,

but for the first few photos in the blogpost series, I just want to show you random

Florida pictures instead.

These little critters are all about.

They don't scare me or creep me out....I think they are cute.

I think they are called Anoles:

Here is a different shot of another one:

This was taken on the Atlantic side of Florida, on the Lantana beach, near West Palm Beach.

I thought this little toddler looked so cute on the beach.

His mom was just to the left watching him...but he was sooo focused on playing in the beach sand:

Madeira Beach. On the gulf side of Florida, south of Tampa:

Here they are...empty and waiting for YOU:

Or...

you can always go cruising on the water:

We took a car trip down from Madeira Beach to Bradenton.

This is the bridge we had to drive over to get there...

loved the architecture of the bridge!:

This time, his sister joined him in the sand activities!:

I know a lot of people think Seagulls are pests.

I like them!

And the Florida seagulls are different than the ones we see on Lake Superior...

so I had to keep taking their picture!:

I hope it is getting a little sunnier

everyday where you live...

if not outside...

than in your heart.

Florida Vacation Photos: Part THREE

If you haven't read Part One and Part Two of

our Florida VA-Kay photos,

just drop down to the two previous bloposts

and enjoy.

For the rest of us, let's continue, shall we?

We wanted to book in a small hotel, with a kitchenette.

I had gone on line and spotted a 60's feel, quaint little hotel

right on the beach.

St. Pete Beach.

Which is really close to Madeira Beach, where my daughter lives.

I had read all of the reviews that former guests had made regarding the little gem called Plaza Beach Hotel.

They said it was quaint, and clean, and reasonable.

They were right!

Smack in the middle of all the high rises on Gulf Boulevard on St. Pete Beach, we pulled into this little hotel:

Isn't it adorable?

And it was clean!

The room had a full-sized refrigerator, a kitchenette, a nice big room and cute bathroom.

And we could be on the beach in less than 60 seconds!

So we threw our suitcases in the corner, changed clothes and ran straight out to see the view.

Here is looking left down the beach from the hotel:

And, here is looking right from the front of the hotel:

To this northern girl, it was all I needed! Wonderful, bright sand and ocean as far as I could see!



Notice, there wasn't many people?

It is because it was COLD by Florida standards.

The first day, we hit 70F degrees.

It was downhill from there for a few days (which I will talk about later), but still,

it WAS the ocean!

And it was a heck of a lot warmer than Upper Michigan.

We did not mind an empty beach at all. We took many long walks on the beach, admiring the scenary:

And these Cuties:

Don't you just love their black crew-cut hairdo?





And they had THESE.....
Just ready for relaxation and a good book....





Until you spied one of THESE:

An Anole.
They are everywhere.
But don't worry.
The picture makes them look HUGE.
Actually, they are very tiny and very fast.
And more scared of YOU than you are of THEM.
I thought they were kind of cute.



We saw lots of fun flowers and plants to look at and photograph while we were there too.
Like this one, growing wild.
I used to have a houseplant like it:



And one of the FAVORITE things I like about Florida
is its BIRDS.
(There are many blogposts coming with photos of the birds).
(Because I just can't help myself!)

When we took ocean walks, we saw a lot of different kinds of seagulls:

They would chase the waves.

So would I, if I was a bird.

Wait.

Come to think of it,

I DID chase the waves...



And did I mention the Anoles????

Stay tuned for more photos........................

I hope it makes your cold winter day seem warmer.

It is really cold here with minus zero temps. at night this week.

So these can be an escape for a few minutes....

Now, excuse me while I tighten up the Snuggie around me, and go back to my book...