Gasparilla - Lots of fun and great weather!

For the past few days leading up to Gasparilla, we were constantly watching the weather. Thursday and Friday were rainy and especially windy. But Saturday was perfect (a little cool), but no wind! We assembled our crew and the other neighborhood boats and shoved off right on time.

Our friends Tom & Raquel from South Carolina ventured south for their first Gasparilla experience. Ray and Lily usually take their boat, but opted to join the Nauti Nole this year.

Victoria and Patty-Patty wait to board the Nauti Gator. (Patty's first time to Gasparilla by boat.)
Ray, Lily, Frank, Raquel and Tom with beads and beverages. Bring on the pirates!
Sully, Brownie and Kevin comprise the Motley Crew aboard the Inland Tide.
Captain Ken, Victoria, Patty-Patty and Bob aboard the Nauti Gator.

Captain Frank and his best mate, Leann. Ray & Lily relaxing after a busy morning of throwing beads and jello shots.

The smiles say it all...I think Tom & Raquel had a good time!Here it comes! The Jose Gaspar en route with a boat load of pirates to invade the city, escorted by plenty of other boats. (We opted to anchor near shore and watch the craziness.)
Yes, those are pirates in the crow's nests! How fun! (But the water was too cold to go swimming.)

We had a perfect day! 45 minute relatively smooth ride over, terrific food, beverages and camaraderie and then a pretty rainbow on the way home. Thank you Captain Frank!

Until next year....

Eclipse coming...

So, last night, my brother called from Portland to ask if we were getting ready for the eclipse. I hopped up from watching TV and went outside to see what I could see. We had perfectly clear skies and a BIG full moon. He said it would happen about 10:00 our time.
Not having heard anything about an eclipse, I did a little internet research. The only thing I could find about the next eclipse in 2008 wasn't supposed to happen until February 21.
I called him back to find out where he got his information as the only thing I could find was to happen in February.
He said, yes, February 21. Well....yesterday was JANUARY 21. Needless to say, Kathy got a big kick out of the mix up. So as not to totally disappoint Chris and Nate, they decided last night would be an 'eclipse drill', like a fire drill.
I felt so bad breaking the news, but it was funny that he was a month ahead of schedule. :)
The cool thing is that we'll be on the cruise and hopefully will be able to see it from the ship.

Catching up with Friends in Tallahassee

It's been a few months since we were in Tallahassee and we returned this week for the FSU-Duke basketball game. It was a great opportunity to get the 'gang' together and get caught up. For some it had been since mid-October that we had seen them. And for some, they got to meet new people. We don't recommend our server give up her day job to become a photographer...unfortunately, you can't see everyone. :(

Oh well, it was still nice to get together with everyone.

Argh Matey!

Getting ready for the nautical adventure in Tampa - Gasparilla!

Some say I'm a little weird for decorating (coconut pirates, beads, flashy wreaths and pirate flags), but so what!

Hey Mr. Pirate, throw me some beads!!

Bucs go to a Playoff game!

Everyone has been so excited about the Bucs making the Playoffs and having a game against the Giants at home. Today's weather was perfect for tailgating and as usual, the menu spectacular or "decadent" as the case may be. Our Bucstailg8 crew was there early and our 4 tent village was set up in no time. Lots of good food, fun activities and camaraderie!

Eric and Kyle.
Dining room's full!
Our culinary choices are always the envy of all the other tailgates nearby!
Another view of the dining room.
Chris gets a round of beer pong started early!

(Dawn, Devon, Bobby and Jessica - spectators or competition?) Joe and RayDrew is so excited about his first game of beer pong with Chris and Jenn! Kobi the Wonderdog
Eric, Dawn and Jay enjoying beverages. Two Gators under a Nole (Bobby and Jessica).

This tailgate definitely raised the bar to new heights. Unfortunately we'll have to wait until next season...the Bucs lost and thus ends the season. But, they got farther than they did last year so maybe we'll get some good games in the fall. Until then...we'll try to get together during the off-season.

Fishing in the back yard

After 2 days of really cold weather and not much water in the canal, the fish were hungry! Ken sneaked over and dropped a line in the water. No waiting and 'fish on'! Well, that inspired Frank to get a line out and sure enough, caught a big snook (below)! Unfortunately, snook season is closed, so back in the water he went. (The fish that is.)

Back and forth they went catching fish and throwing them back.

This one was hooked a little unconventionally - in the tail! One of Captain Ken's catches.
A little bitty fishy. And Victoria's pretty cute too!
Sushi snack!

It was a great day! The weather was perfect and all total, they caught 15 fish! What fun!

Brrr! Icicles in Florida

We awoke to icicles on the plants and crunchy grass! It got pretty chilly in Tampa last night!
And it was as cold in Tampa this morning as it was for the boys in Portland.
And someone must have pulled the drain plug on the canal because it was EMPTY! Sully's boat resting in the muck. Yuck!
Waterfront property today is mud-front, and stinky! Normally we have 5-7 feet of water in the tub. Not today. We looked to see if there were any visible treasures, but nothing glistening.
We won't complain...it may be chilly, but we're not shoveling snow!

Happy New Year!

For the past few years, some of the neighbors have gotten together for dinner at a local restaurant to celebrate the new year. This year, it was different neighbors and a different restaurant. We went Italian this time!

It was so nice to have a small group where we could hear everyone and participate in the various conversations. And by the way, the food was delicious! Ken & Victoria, we missed you!

Leann, Frank, Wendy's mom, Wendy, Becky, Roger standing), Kevin, Robert and Taunya.
And Luigi played "That's Amore" on the accordion for us.

Everyone seemed to have a good time and then we all did something different to ring in the New Year. (Some went to the neighborhood party, some turned in and others of us took out our boats and watched the fireworks from the middle of the bay.)

Happy New Year!

Last Home game for the Division Champs

Out last tailgate for the regular season was great! And as usual, we had a ton of terrific food! Our theme was 'southern comfort' in recognition of playing the Carolina Panthers. It was nice to see some people we haven't seen in a long time and to meet some new people.

Tov, John, Dawn and Jay
Frank, Jenn, Eric and ?? (Tov's friend)
Casey, Paula, Ray, Erin and Michael

Unfortunately, the Bucs lost to the Panthers. Not to worry, we have a playoff game next week against the Giants. Go Bucs!