Tampa Day 6 & 7

 We had done such a good job of avoiding the crowds around Memorial Day all week, so we couldn't ruin that on our last two days in Florida. But Bob and Karen treated us to breakfast after sleeping in late and then we just went on a drive in the countryside north of their place. 

We went to the local flea market and then made a stop at a little u-pick farm/winery for a very nice tasting...

Like the Willamette Valley in Oregon, everything grows in this part of Florida. And it surprisingly looked a lot like it, too! But the Valley doesn't have such delicious Cuban food... 😋

Then we got back in the car and on the road to explore some more...

We stumbled upon this lake with a campground and boat launch... I wish we could remember the name of it. 😕

Then we made our way to Bayport Park for a beautiful sunset! 

On Sunday we had to go home. We worshipped at Grace Community in Wesley Chapel, had lunch at Cracker Barrel and then headed to the airport for our trip home. 

It didn't take long to miss Florida and already begin thinking about our next trip there... 😍😎😀

Tampa Day Five

 I had one last thing on my itinerary that we had to do before Memorial Day weekend. Something that combines two things that I love: beaches and big guns (attached to historic military forts)! 😍 And Fort DeSoto County Park had them both! 

The first thing we hit was the museum. It was the perfect size: lots of good information but not so much as to be overwhelming. It was named after Hernando DeSoto, who explored the area in 1539. It would eventually become part of the Spanish Empire. 

It was then surveyed by Robert E Lee in 1849 for the US Army Engineers. They suggested that the area be fortified for coastal defense. Union troops were stationed there as a part of the blockade of Tampa Bay but the actual fort wasn't constructed until 1898 and completed in 1906. Troops were stationed there between 1898 and 1910. Even during WWI, only a caretaking for remained and it was abandoned in 1923.

Then the fort was bought by the county in 1938 for $12,500 and used as a bird sanctuary. Then the US entered WWII. The military bought it back for $18,404 and made it a subpost of McDill Field and used it as a bombing range during the war. 

It was sold back to the county in 1948 and then became a county park in 1963. 

Our next stop was one of the two fishing piers in the park. There were quite a few fisherman and bird conservationists there. 

And we also got to see 3 manatees! I was sure it was too late in the season and was so excited to see some for the first time! 

It was getting pretty hot but we still did the walk from the pier to the Fort and got a nice view of the beach from above... 

Turns out we took the long way around. We could have walked straight from the parking lot right to the fort. But then we wouldn't have seen the view.

Then it was definitely time to head to North Beach for some swimming in the Gulf! 

It was a bit of a walk from the car...

But the white sand and warm water was worth it! 

Since you can't visit too many beautiful beaches in one day, we decided to share the love and do some swimming at West Beach. That was until we saw West Beach... :/ 

Yes, it was so lackluster that I didn't even bother taking a picture. The beach was narrow and the water was gross. So we just got in the car and went for dinner...

Ted Peter's Smoked Fish has been smoking fish in 1947. And it was a darn good thing that we didn't swim at West Beach or we would have missed out. There were only 5 fish dinners left and we got one! 

Our smoked mullet dinner was served with coleslaw, warm German potato salad (the best we've ever had!), lemon, tomato, and onion slices. It was good but so different than any other fish we've had before. 

Swimming makes you hungry so we also had room for dessert on the way home. Chris had ice cream and I had a piece of yellow cake filled with cookie butter, dipped in funnel cake batter and deep fried! 😮😋

Tampa - Day Four

 We went from theme park to state park. And Weeki Wachee Springs State Park is a pretty out of the ordinary state park. The name was given to the springs by the Seminole Indians. In 1947, Newt Perry, a stunt swimmer, started an underwater mermaid show using a breathing tube for air. There have been many famous guests, live and TV shows, and movies filmed there or starred mermaids from the show.  It became a state park in 2008. 

With two shows a day, we started out with the first show: Wonders of Weeki. 

The show was all about the ecology, history, and fun facts about the springs. 

Then we grabbed a quick bite for brunch before our kayaking trip down the Weeki Wachee River. 

The scenery was beautiful and always changing. The white sand made the water look even bluer and easy to see the fish. But at about the halfway point we passed over a very big school of fish and one jumped in front of the kayak. Actually it was more like a breach than a jump. He left the water and jumped quite a few times. Unfortunately it wasn't enough times to get a video. But it was so cool to watch! 

As seen in the pics there wasn't much of a current but we were going down river and it made for a slow lazy float down to the dock and easy to paddle back up stream to see things we missed or wanted to see again. 

Since we signed a form that we couldn't get off the kayak so the cool spring water in the swimming area was pretty refreshing, once you got used to it... 😆

Then it was time for the Little Mermaid show...

We stopped on the way back to Lawsons' for beers at a local brewery. They had some amazing beers that went perfectly with the BBQ dinner Bob and Karen had for us when we got back. 😋