Eastern Trip - Florida 2

We left the panhandle on Friday and drove to Ocala to spend the night.  On Saturday we drove to Largo and dropped the trailer off at an RV Park about 10 miles from the Gulf.

We got to the condo right at 3 and got all checked in.  Belinda, Bailey and her friend, Alie, arrived from Nashville around 7.  Got them situated in the condo and then went out for supper - JD's of course!  Had our usual grouper sandwiches.  Great as always.

And, when you go to JD's, you have to have your picture taken with the octopus!!

This next picture takes you back to 2005, our first  trip there with family.

The Gulf has had good waves almost all week.

It's always been fun to go out into them and hope you don't get knocked down!  Once you get passed the crashing waves, it gets better.

Here are Belinda and Alie.

Don't know why we didn't a picture of Bailey in the water, but here they are later.

Judy is always looking for something unusual along the beach.

Played alot of '31' and Bailey and Ali won most of the games!

Found this ice cream shop along Gulf Blvd.

Over 100 flavors.  By the time you looked at them all, you had to go back and start over before you could make your choice!

Probably no explanation needed for this one!!

An evening shot of the sun setting from our balacony.

We did have some Red Tide this year.   A few dead fish along the shore but nothing in the water.  Here is the official explanation.

 We did cough some when outside due to the tide but nothing serious for our group.

We had a great time with Belinda and the girls.  We did get up to Tarpon Springs - wanted to take them on a boat ride to see how sponges are harvested.  But, unfortunately, the diver was out on a boat in the Gulf doing some real harvesting.

So, we shopped some, found a great candy store and then went to the bakery for buklava, cakes, and other goodies!

Belinda and the girls left on Friday morning so Judy and I had the day to ourselves.  Made it to JD's one last time, and, then packed up an stayed overnight in the RV so that we would be ready to travel the next day.

Next stop - Savannah.