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- you made it once again! The end is getting closer!
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Rainy day / baseball trip - Day 24 is here
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Welcome to DAY 25
Saturday 17th August
After a whole day of rain yesterday we opened the curtains this morning to find find weather more akin to Cleethorpes than to Clearwater, it was raining again!
Nothing for it but to put the TV on and watch the Premier League football. With a choice of 3 o’clock games plus live updates of the Everton and Scarborough games it was a worthwhile chill out Saturday morning!
The boys enjoyed the last of the doughnuts whilst Alison and I braved the elements to visit the Starbucks just down the road- lovely little bacon and egg toasted sandwich. No pics though! It was warm outside and yet still raining.
We also popped into the 'Floridian tat' Shop next door finding such things as this
We did use the opportunity to experience the indoor entertainment offered by the hotel - free popcorn and the opportunity to play cornhole, so expertly watched and observed on the TV at Orange Lake, it proved to be a whole lot more difficult when playing in real life! It was great fun though and plans for a purchase of beansbags and some wood at home to make a UK version for when this becomes an Olympic Sport
Once back at the hotel room, we took stock of the recent purchases and acknowledged that the extra bag would now be needed, no point in denying the obvious nor indeed on ditching all the other stuff that you seem to accumulate on holiday over here!
Bags reorganised and some semblance of organisation later we turned the football off and made for the beach, it was still warm with cloud cover but the sun was certainly desperately trying to get out.
So, body boards borrowed from the hotel and sun loungers occupied- we once again made the best of the conditions. Even the birds were hopping in and out of the raindrops!
Now you possibly know what happens next, we did!
Gentle sea breeze, cloud cover and a gentle sprinkle of rain drops every now and again= red nose and a top up of the tan that you never get under a lanai at a villa.
We retreated to the pool and hot tub and I then went to Subway with Josh to get a quick sandwich for him and Joe.
I’m not a great fan of subway and I have to admit the miserable girl behind the counter made me even more determined I was not buying more than I needed to.
We were the only ones in the place too.
We topped up the sandwiches with crisps we had in the room and water that was in the fridge.
The boys enjoyed their food top up as we sat poolside- Joe had got changed when we were gone and had spotted that there was a wedding in the hotel today with the beach set up for the ceremony.
We all just hoped that the weather would hold for them.
You could not wish to get married in a more beautiful place than this, the hotel is beautiful and the beach would be an incredible place to share that special moment.
Today, it just required more sunshine to really top it all off.
As the wind got up again, we decided to go and explore Clearwater by foot.
After getting changed, we headed out, with a courtesy umbrella from the hotel and once again the offer of a poncho turned down once more!
We were determined not to succumb!
We had met the father of the groom on the lift on the way out, he had been to collect his own brolly!
Ours was not needed for too long, as we dropped into the bar across the road which we had visited by chance last year, when we came to Clearwater to see The Alarm.
Our welcome in there today was 100% different than a year ago, interesting to see, but frustrating all the same.
Last year we had great things to say about the place and the staff, tonight the staff were the worst advert for the place.
Rude, ignorant and without an ounce of customer care but with a huge dose of arrogance.
We did not linger and did not even get a response from a gaggle of 3 ‘servers ‘ at the exit (only one of whom had rolled her eyes when we declined the food menu, and none of whom bothered to come and ask if we actually needed anything!)
We all rolled our eyes as we exited, even the miserable so and so in Subway had wished us a good day earlier- these three said nothing!
It was perhaps the UK weather that was getting to them, but certainly don’t expect it over here though.
We walked down to the Pier and had a look at our favourite boat trip that had not been running for the past two days and also noted that Little Toot had received an upgrade and was now Little Toot 2, the weather and sea conditions were such, that none of the tourist boats were leaving the harbour. The new boat looked pristine and we really did miss not getting a trip this year.
Pier 60 hotel – we were booked to stay here last year, but cancelled to go to St Augustine instead.
The rooftop here is amazing and whilst I got the drinks in, something else was happening unbeknown to Alison and I.
Josh had spotted that whilst heading to the lift to travel the 10 floors down to the street, a lady had dropped her purse from her handbag. Josh headed after her and quickly reunited purse and owner.
She was so thankful, so much so, she returned to say thank you again and to give him $5 for his quick thinking.
The gratitude shown was heartfelt and her lovely words meant rather a lot to an unsuspecting mum who turned up at the right moment.
I missed the whole thing.
He was already making plans as to what he could buy with his windfall but I insisted that he keeps the $5 bill at home and never to spend it, keep it as a reminder of what being instinctively honest and for that we remain very proud of how he dealt with the whole situation.
As we enjoyed the view from up here, despite the lack of a fading sun and with no sunset to be viewed tonight.
Time then for a beautiful reminder of our stay in Anna Maria Island in 2014 and possibly one of my most favourite photos of all time – this is what a West Coast Floridian sunset should look like!
We decided to walk a bit further and head for food at a reasonable time.
With a range of good choices we decided on Gondoliers once again- we had enjoyed our meal there so much on Thursday.
Tonight was the same, a different server who was excellent. He food was fantastic too.
Can’t speak highly enough of this place.
We walked back to the hotel, stopping at Kilwin’s for ice cream on the way back.
The boys settled in for a game of chess in the foyer and we made for the room.
We enjoyed sitting on the balcony watching the world pass by and enjoy the heat that could be felt now. It was a great way to end the day with the tingle of the sun on forehead, nose and body!
Time to crack open the After sun after a day of rain and cloud!
Whilst we never seem to get much luck with the weather when coming to Clearwater, yet we have loved being here, the hotel has certainly been a huge help in making it memorable.
The baseball tonight would have been a very late one with Tampa winning in the 13th inningsand at an hour that would have seriously messed up our final night.
Sleep was upon us all, after we had finished watching the MLS game between LA Galaxy and Portland- for no other reason to watch the shocking refereeing of the same ref we had at the Orlando game the other night. Robert Sibiga proving he was consistently rubbish!
As we went to sleep , there was an unspoken awareness that we turned for home tomorrow, we don't like talking about things like that!
DAY 26 is coming real soon -
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