Bradenton Florida

3/17/08

Sam, Heather and Mike were hosts to me when I stayed in Bradenton. They live in a pretty nice house with a pond in the back yard in a quiet neighborhood on the west side of town.

After lunch Mike showed me around town. He took me to the beach and we dipped into the water. Later Sam took me to the pool hall (where most of the kids hang out around here). We played best 3 of 5 and Sam won. It was also St. Patricks day and Sam isn't 21 so we just grabbed a couple of beers and took them to his place and bbq'ed. Late night we went for a walk around the winding neighborhoods. The whole time I was thinking of my cold friends in Missouri as I flopped around in my sandals and shorts. It was a good night.

3/18/08

Today I borrowed Sam's bike and took the 17 mile loop to Anna Maria Island to go swimming. It was a beautiful day and the beach was packed. I saw an Iguana in a tree nearby and they are apparently not indigenous to the area. I spent most of the day taking pictures and appreciating my climate.

3/19/08

I woke up kind of late today but when I got up I rode my bike to Desoto National Memorial just North of Bradenton. On the way an 18 wheeler wasn't paying attention to the road and took a sharp turn into a parking lot and almost hit me. I had to bail out to avoid getting hit; I missed the truck by a foot. I got to watch a lady fire a rifle from the 1500's and I watched a film on the history of the area. I went on a nice walk along the Manatee River/Tampa Bay. I biked back to the house against the wind which was blowing hard... it was horrible. I was on the lowest gear and it hurt to pedal. When I got home I picked a grapefruit from the back yard and it tasted so wonderful.

At night Sam and I had planned on seeing the Pirates and Yankees play at the spring training camp but Sam got a call. It was from his boss (he cleans boats for a living). Sam had to dive to the bottom of the bay to retrieve a man's wheelchair that had fallen in. It gave Sam a bundle of spending money before the game. The Pirates lost 12-9 but it was still a fun game. We got back to the house and Mike insisted we go out to the local bars, so naturally I joined him.

3-20-08

In the afternoon I joined Sam and his Grandma on a trip to St. Petersburg to buy Sam's new truck. I loved Sam's grandma, she was really cool. She seemed to have lots of traveling stories and was a creative writing student in college! We clicked. For dinner she took us out to BJ's Brewery; great beer and the best pizza I have ever had.

3-21-08

Mike, Cheryl (Mike's girlfriend) and I went to Emerson Point on Snead Island. It was an ancient Indian mound. They had built mounds with see shells along the shore. We hiked a bunch before Mike had to work. So we headed back but Mike ran out of gas. At night Sam, Heather and I went out to eat and we all shared our personal ghost stories.

3-22-08

Today we got up early for the world famous all you can eat sausage and pancakes on the beach. I could only eat two plates but it was amazing. While we were eating some dolphins came up to the pier. It started raining so it looked like we wouldn't be able to go kayaking. Mike came through anyways and we went kayaking in the rain! The rain was coming down hard but we didn't care, we were having a blast. We found a bunch of horseshoe crab shells and Sam is going to mail me one. On the way back I saw a school of fish jumping across the water. About 50, 8 inch fish. At the car Sam realized we were locked out so we had to wait for a towing guy to break us in.