Our Florida Vacation
2005
May 7th to 14th
Kelli and I flew into Tampa Florida on May 7th, 2005.
Drove the rental car to the beach front condo that we
had reserved for the week.
Holiday Villas III
The condo is located on the sixth floor and has
two bedrooms and two baths.
It was nicely furnished
and has a great view from
the balcony.
After settling in, Kelli and I took a walk down the beach
looking for shells that had washed ashore.
There was an abundance of shells along the beach.
Kelli bought a book about Sea Shells so we would know
what types we were gathering.
Hours later, with pockets full of shells, we headed back
to the condo.
There were a lot of sea birds along the beach as well.
view the Bird Pictures here.
Back at the condo, it's time for some relaxation and
quality time together.
The sunsets are awesome.
On a clear evening, it has the appearance of the sun
sinking into the water.
I never seemed to have my camera with me on the
clear evenings.
Kelli and I spent some time in the local shops.
Johns Pass
A little drinking village with a shopping problem.
At Johns Pass, there is a boardwalk lined with shops.
I found one shop that I became very fond of.
A little winery that served a drink called
Raspberry Wine Freeze.
(it's a raspberry flavored slushy made with wine.)
NOTE: The camera operator drank too much wine
to remember to take some pictures of Johns Pass.
The next day, back at Johns Pass, we rented a wave runner
and headed out into the gulf.
Dolphins began to surface all around us, it was an awesome sight.
I shut off the engine and drifted around amidst them for a while.
Then it was back to jumping waves and flying across the water.
We had a Blast....
After returning the wave runner, we headed back down the Johns Pass
Boardwalk where I was drawn to a particular shop there.
As I entered the shop, the lady behind the counter said
"Hey! It's the Raspberry man"
I did not realize that I had drank enough of the wine freezes,
the day before, to leave a lasting impression on her.
On one of our many shopping trips to Johns Pass,
a para-sailing sign caught my eye.
After several seconds of considering it,
I was making arrangements with Captain Bob.
Taking off
Since Kelli is afraid to climb up a step ladder,
her going up with me was out of the question.
Another passenger on the boat agreed to
go up with me.
That dot is me.
For some reason, they won't let anyone go up solo.
It may have something to do with weight, or
they just want you to have company as you
plummet into the ocean, in case of an accident.
It was awesome, 1000 feet up with nothing below but water...
full of really big and probably hungry fish.
Kelli and I both love spending a day at the zoo.
One of the places that we had planned to visit
while in Tampa, is the Lowry Park Zoo.
Being native to the Tampa area, Kelli has seen
the dramatic changes that have been made
to this zoo over the years.
Click above to view our Zoo pictures.
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