October 13, 2012

Siesta Key September 2012

I never really got around to posting many pictures from the trip that we took to Siesta Key last month, so I’m finally getting around to it. I didn’t end up taking as many pictures as I usually do on a trip and didn’t even manage to get one of Lo and I together. But here are some of the good ones that I did take!

I flew down a couple of days before Lo so that Kelley and I could have “girl time” (his choice) since Chuck had already flown home to work for a week. We stopped on the way from the airport for a drink, but being the off-season and a Wednesday, there wasn’t a lot going on. We headed back to the house to chill out with the pups. I hadn’t seen Nash and Mason for over a month and from the way they acted, I think they thought they were never going to see me again. Nash was actually crying – it was so pathetic! From that point on in the trip, he would jump up on my lap before I could even sit down and wanted to be on me at any given time. Mason even sat on my lap way more than usual – and he’s mostly just his mommy’s dog.

On Thursday Kelley had a cabinet guy coming to the house in the morning and he was there FOREVER! It was bizarre. We were starving and by the time he left, I had a migraine from being so hungry. I could barely eat once we finally did get into town for food and I needed to lay down when we got back. Once I felt better we walked on the beach for a bit and then headed into town for dinner and drinks. We went to the Hub and the margaritas were amazing! There was music on the patio by Andres and he was a lot of fun to watch. He was Mexican and sung such a huge variety of singers in multiple languages. He did Damien Rice in Portuguese, Radiohead, Pearl Jam, Gotye, and a ton of other fun songs. Did I mention I love the margaritas there?!

On Friday we went to yoga on the beach, which was special. It was a little slower of a class than I’d prefer to take and the instructor was, uh, different. She would scream out words randomly throughout the practice, which was quite distracting. We headed for food and supplies and then out to the beach with some Mai Tais. I spotted this little turtle friend in their back yard:

While hanging out on the beach we heard someone say something about manatees and walked down the beach where we could see a group of people gathered. Turns out that is was 11 manatees in what was called a mating herd – one female and the rest males hoping to get with the lady. They were so close to shore and adorable!

Their scars from boat propellers break my heart! The scars heal, but they never turn back to black.

After the beach we went to the Cottage where we had the most amazing oysters….

…while listening to the tunes of Michael Bolton’s brother…

And then on to the Daiquiri Deck…

Lo got in on Saturday and we went to Captain Kirk’s to watch the Buckeyes. There’s an alumni club that watches there so it was filled with OSU fans.

Lo and Nash had a serious conversation

We went back to the beach for as the sun was setting and so Lo could see the manatees. They had moved further from the shore and by the next day had moved on completely

When they were wrestling we thought they were mating but apparently they mate face to face according to the man from the aquarium.

And a beautiful sky…

We went to SCOB for dinner and saw a ton of bachelorette parties, including the saddest bachelorette party ever. They all had frowns on their faces and were having any fun – I can’t even figure out why they were even still out if they were all miserable.

On Sunday we ate breakfast at The Broken Egg and then to Daiquiri Deck to watch football. Luckily we had plastic bags for our bike seats because it rained HARD!
We watched the second half of the Steelers game at Captain Kirk’s Tiki Hut before returning to the beach for the Drum Circle. Since it was rainy and under cover, it wasn’t as big or spectacular as normal. But we did see the bar back from the Daiquiri Deck that morning drumming away.

Monday was glorious so we declared it a beach day and proceeded to get burned. After dinner at a place that serves GF fish and chips, Lo went to pick Chuck up from the airport. The dogs were just as happy to see him as they were when Lo and I got there.

We headed to St. Armand’s Circle on Tuesday for some shopping. It was rainy so they guys sat and had drinks while Kelley and I darted in and out of stores. Later that night we went back into town for dinner and margaritas and more music from Andres at The Hub.

Wednesday was another beach day, so we made up a bunch of mai tais and gathered our supplies for the beach. We played paddleball, read, played in the waves, and had a great afternoon. We decided it had been too long since we had movie night so the guys grilled pizza and we watched Kelley’s pick – Born on the Fourth of July – which was amazing!

On Thursday, Chuck and Kelley had another appointment so Lo and I rode into town to walk around. After a bit I sent him to a bar while I shopping for a while and met him at Daiquiri Deck when I was done. Chuck and Kelley met us there after a while for 2 for 1 Happy Hour and then we headed to the Cottage for dinner. We ended up hanging out at the Cottage for hours with a friend of C&K’s who met us there and our bartender, Half Full Hanna. Half Full Hanna was an awesome bartender. Before we decided we were going to be there for hours, Kelley and I decided to split a margarita because we didn’t know if we wanted a whole one each. Instead of realizing that we were drinking for the long haul, we kept asking her to split our margaritas – for which she filled each glass well over half full (hence her nickname). We split about 10 more margaritas and decided it would be a great idea to go back to the Hub for another. We looked a mess.

Needless to say, we didn’t feel spectacular the next day, our anniversary, but eventually ended up back at the beach. While Lo and I were sitting there, I was holding a piece of cheese in my hand that I was about to eat for a snack and a bird swooped down and stole the cheese! It was hilarious and I had no idea what happened for about 3 seconds. I felt something hit my left shoulder and then something bit my right finger and my cheese was gone.

As it got towards sunset, Chuck and Kelley brought champagne down to the beach for sunset. We could see it raining out over the water and were hoping the clouds wouldn’t make their way across the horizon and obscure the sunset.

But the clouds won. The rain is approaching from the left just as the sun is almost below the clouds.

We were leaving on Saturday morning so we were getting packed up and relaxing once we returned from the beach. We rode home with them in the RV and aside from a 1.5 delay from a blown tire within the first few hours, it was smooth sailing for the 18 or so hour drive, plus overnight sleeping time. I read and slept pretty much the entire trip. I wasn’t the only one. Nash slept way more than me.