Down South...Day Sixty-Five...Tuesday, February 2, 2010

By the time that wake up at 8:00AM, Vickie has left for work. So...I fix myself a cup of coffee and check emails.
By 9:30AM, I'm out and back on the road to Charleston. It's a pleasant drive...under four hours...partly Interstate and partly multi-lane State highways. By 1:30PM, I'm in the historic section of Charleston and heading for lunch at Hyman's Seafood...one of my favorite places. A Bloody Mary, a glass or two of Sauvignon Blanc and a big plate of fried oysers...ah...a great lunch. Soon, I'm down the street at the Days Inn...unpacking, showering and planning the night's schedule. Magnolia's is my favorite place for dinner, so that's definitely on the schedule. Several weeks before I left home, I saw a segment on the Food Channel about what many call the "perfect" Coconut Cake, and...best of all...it's sered right here in Charleston at the Peninsula Grill. So...that is definitely on the list as well.
A few hours later, I'm ready to go...well, sort of. Magnolia's is closed for renovations...damn!...so, instead, I opt for her sister restaurant, Blossum. A Stoli Martini, a glass or two of Alsatian Pnot Blanc...and...more fried oysters, these served "Rockefeller-style", with spinach and a splash of Pernod...very good. It's just an appetizer, but I'm still full from dinner...besides, I've got to save room for "the cake". Arriving at the Peninsula Grill, I sit a the bar and place my order..."the cake" and a White Russian.
"The cake", I must admit, is every bit as good as advertised...light and airy layers of white cake and an intensely coconut frosting...yum. They give you a huge slice...I can barely finish, but I struggle through.
Then...it's on for a little bar-hopping. A place called T-Bonz seems friendly, and they have a great local lager on tap. The bartender is friendly (and cute, and I also strike up a conversation with a local attorney and one of his corporate clients.
I don't mind talking business...so long as it's retrospective as opposed to prospective. Despite that huge dessert, the lagers are going down pretty easy. Before I know it, it's after midnight...time for a well-deserved rest.

Down South...Day Sixy-Four...Monday, February 1, 2010

I've got stuff scattered all over Ed and Molly's...bedroom, bathroom, garage, kitchen, patio, etc. So...packing up to leave takes a lot longer than I expected. Plus, I've had such a good time here that I'm subconsciously "lingering" because I hate to leave.
Shortly before noon, I'm finally packed up and ready to go. A final farewell to Ed, and I'm on the road. It's a pleasant drive...a little time north on I-75, then East across the state on smaller local roads. I stop for gas...stop for lunch...and...around 4:00PM or so, I'm at Vickie's. She's in a relatively new condo community, and it's really nice...pretty landscaping, fountains, a big clubhouse...very comfortable. Soon, Vickie and I are retelling all of our favorite football stories...all of the UM games, the trip to Dallas to see Doug Flutie in his last college game at the Cotton Bowl. We've had such great times over the years.
For dinner, Vickie treats me to a great meal at Capital Grill...coffee-rubbed prime strip steak, asparagus with Hollandaise, and a bottle of Carena Malbec. But wait!...they're out of the Catena...instead, the Manager agrees to substitute a Rothschild Malbec (worth twice as much as the Catena) for the same price...bonus time!
After dinner, it's back to Vickie's place for a little TV and Internet time. Vickie has work tomorrow, so it's an early nigh.

Down South...Day Sixty-Three...Sunday, January 31, 2010

We were all pretty beat last night, so everybody's sleeping in this morning. One by one, we stumble "bleary-eyed" into the kitchen for coffee. Molly whips up a welcome breakfast...eggs, bacon, toast...ah...soon I'm feeling normal again.
Not much going on today. I run Genie back to Clearwater and stop by Barnes & Noble to post a few blog updates. But the day goes by fast and, by the time that I'm heading back to Ed and Molly's, it's after 6:00PM. Astrid stops by, and we drink a few glasses of champagne sangria using the little "mix" that I made up earlier in the day.
This will be my last dinner in Tampa, so I wanted to go out with a "bang". I've picked up a pound and a half of Key West "Brown" Shrimp and marinated those in some Mojo Criollo...and...I got four and a half pounds of "Jumbo" Stone Crab Claws with mustard sauce. The four of us polish all of that off (along with the last of the Publix potato salad) over the course of an hour or so. It's a great meal...a fitting finish to my stay in Tampa.
In the evening, we catch the next to last football game of the season...the Pro Bowl. It's not exactly exciting football, but it's all we've got until the Super Bowl...and then...nothing until late August or so.
Tomorrow, I'll be rolling out of Tampa to Jacksonville to visit my friend, Vickie. It's been years (15?) since I've seen her, so I'm looking forward to my visit. It's just a short hop to Jacksonville, so I can stay up late and sleep in tomorrow.

Down South...Day Sixty-Two...Saturday, January 30, 2010...Gasparilla!

Molly's got cool reserved seating for the Gasparilla Parade, and she's long gone before I even wake up.
Still...I'm up around 8:00AM, and Ed has suggested that we leave by 10:00AM or so. There's a big crackdown on alcohol this year, so we opt not to take a cooler full of beers with us.
By 11:00AM, we're downtown and parked...for free! Our friend, Bud Levell, is a major player in the "Roughriders Crewe", and we find him way back at the very start of the parade where all of the floats are massed. Gasparilla is a great opportunity to wear a cool costume, drink a lot and ride in a parade...and we see plenty of participants.
The weather is cool and windy...plus, they're predicting rain later. So...around 12:30 or so, we head over to the Colonnade Restaurant (a Tampa tradition) for lunch. A few beers and a great lunch later, we're ready to head outside again. The rain has come, but it's pretty light when we get back to the Parade route. We watch float after float roll by...then...a police officer directs us off of the parade route and over to the other side of Bayshore Boulevard. By now, it's raining pretty hard again, so we head back to the Colonnade to wait for Molly who is en route from the "VIP Stand" a few miles down the parade route. Soon, Molly joins us for a few final cocktails before we head home...wet, but happy.
Back at home, we're cooking up the leftover skirt steak with some onions to make a great batch of tacos...with more fries! And, of course, the obligatory giant bowl of strawberries and vanilla ice cream.
It's been a long day. and...one by one...we sputter out and head off to bed. A long day, but a great day.

Down South...Day Sixty-One...Friday, January 29, 2010

I'm up early and slip downstairs for a quick smoke just after sunup. Genie's still asleep downstairs surrounded by a few cats...that's a great way to sleep!
Today, we're meeting Ed for lunch at one of my absolute favorite places...Frenchy's Rockaway Beach Restaurant on Clearwater Beach. The weather is warm enough to sit out on their deck...so...soon we're enjoying a few cocktails (several of Frenchy's famous Rumrunners for me). I order my two favorite appetizers, Buffalo Shrimp and Coconut Shrimp, and they are (as always) excellent.
After lunch, we head back to Genie's for a few beers out on the patio...nice. Ed invites Genie to come back to Tampa and join us all for tomorrow's Gasparilla Parade. So...soon...we're all heading back to Ed's house. Molly gets home from work around 6:00PM, and we've got a cold glass of Chardonnay waiting for her. Dinner is the Mojo-marinated steak left over from last night along with several batched of OreIda "Fast Food" fries cooked in peanut oil...a stupendous dinner enjoyed with several bottles of red wine from my "vacation stash".
It's going to be an early morning tomorrow...need to get to the parade before the traffic. I've barely got enough time to scarf down a huge bowl of vanilla ice cream with strawberries before bedtime.

Down South...Day 60 (Two Months!!!)...Thursday, January 28, 2010

I made contact with my friend Genie yesterday, and she invited me to come visit her in Clearwater today. I met her last year on one of my cruises down here. The day that I remember most is the day that I met Genie and several of her friends at the famous bar in Key West, The Bull, during a cruise stop in Key West. One of her friends, who shall remain nameless, asked our waitress at The Bull if it was true that Key West had recently enacted some very relaxed substance control laws. Thinking that this was a joke, our waitress said..."Sure, do whatever you want". So...Genie's friend proceeded to take full (and I mean full in the fullest sense) advantage of these "relaxed" laws. The management of The Bull was, to say the least, horrified...and proceeded to chase us into the street. I was left feeling most "disjointed".
So, now I'm heading from Ed and Molly's to Clearwater via the Courtney Campbell Causeway...a narrow strip of highway across the Bay connecting Tampa and Clearwater.
Genie's got a cold beer waiting before we head out for some grocery shopping...stone crab claws and sushi-grade tuna at a seafood market...then a stop at Publix for Potato Salad (of course!) and a skirt steak with that great Mojo marinade.
We have, of course, WAY too much food...we barely make it through the crab claws and tuna before we are stuffed.
Genie has some very friendly cats, including Calvin (age eighteen!!!!) and Digit (see photos)...they're great cats, but they make me lonely for Jonesy and Cleo.
After dinner, we sit outside on Genie's patio enjoying the evening...and a few glasses of wine before bed.

Down South...Day Fifty-Nine...Wednesday, January 27, 2010

I'm heading back over to Tampa today, but it's a short drive...so I can take my time.
I sleep in until 9:00AM or so (getting plenty of rest on this trip!), then up for Mom's coffee.
Mom needs me to run a few errands, so I spend part of the morning driving to the Bank, Post Office, etc. By 11:00AM or so, I'm on the road to Tampa...up the Turnpike, then over Route 60, up I-75, then over to Northdale. After a stop at my favorite strawberry farm in Plant City, I roll into Ed and Molly's around 4:00PM or so.
Ed has cold beers waiting (excellent), so I relax with a few of those until Molly gets home from work around 6:00PM. Ed runs out to take a test to work on the 2010 Census, so I have a little time to myself.
Molly and I had planned to make Beef Picadillo (Cuban), but we're both kind of tired, so we opt for tacos...delicious. Along the way, we polish off a bottle or two of Portuguese wine.
Molly's tird fom work, Ed's tired from his test, and I'm tired fom the drive...so...by 10:30PM or so, we're off to bed.