Florida Trip Mini-Photo Journal

Now c'mon - how can you not get excited about a blog post with a title like that?

(After typing my original title, I swear I watched my counter roll backwards. I added "mini" to the title and a few of you poked your heads back out from wherever you'd run off to.)

I mean, don't you just detest love hearing about other people's vacations? Isn't it nauseating mesmerizing to sit, captive, on someone's sofa and watch them haul out 72 albums of vacation photos?

And share them one by godforsaken one?

Don't you just want to cry a little love it when most of the photos are scenery?

Don't you love even more that they took 13 shots of each moment, just in case the first 12 didn't capture it well enough?

Isn't it just the biggest waste of your precious time wonderful to sit back and listen to them recount every friggin' moment of their lovely freakin' trip and hear story after story after g*ddamn story about what they ate and what they saw, and smile with disgust longing each time they laugh among themselves as they recall a had-to-be-there moment?

I don't know about you, but I think it's just a grand time! And not just because I'm going to now subject you to my own vacation photos! (Well ok, maybe that's exactly why.)

So now... Without further bullsh*t ado, I present.... for your viewing pleasure... our Florida trip pictures! (Don't worry - it's the short version of the story.)

Ahhh, the view from Straub Park in St. Petersburg. We couldn't get enough of this place.

Nearby was the Hooker Tea Company where we'd grab something to sip on, a gelato shop whose gravitational pull was just too strong to resist most days, and benches where we'd sit and chat and gaze upon the bay for hours and hours.

Here, Rob chats with Jonathan by cell phone as we walk The Pier. Our 3-night stay in downtown St. Petersburg was wonderful. But I won't bore you with the dozens of photos we took there.

After 3 days it was time to head to the Don... the real reason for the trip. Rob earned another sales incentive trip and this year it was 4 nights at Don CeSar's Resort on St. Pete's Beach.

WooHOO, baby.

Even though it faced away from the bayside, the view from our room was stunning.

Even though it faced away from the bayside, the view from our room was stunning!

After 3 days of downtown walking and sight-seeing, it was time to camp my fat *ss lil-ol'-self here for a while.

Ahhh..... Mmmm....

Inviting, isn't it?

We did manage to take a few walks down the beach. But it was hard work to rustle ourselves up off those beach chairs.

One night I actually talked Rob into playing ping-pong for a while. A short while. Ping-pong qualifies as exercise, and exercise is in the pre-trip plans, not the during-trip plans. You may recall that for this vacation, my pre-trip preparation consisted of two days hunched over the toilet, so wahoo, it was time to celebrate that puke-induced hard-earned weightloss by spending 4 straight days sitting on my bum.

Alas, after a few days beachside we did get a little antsy, so we headed to Busch Gardens for the day. And yes, that's the Sheikra, and yes, we went on it. Right away, before we lost our nerve. Rob screamed like a little grrl. I think I cried a little.

In fact, here's proof:

After the ride was over, the guy to Rob's left leaned over and said, in all seriousness, "First time, huh." Then he rolled his eyes and exited, muttering something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like, "Pansy..."

On the last day, I finally got to do beachside yoga, offered by the hotel. What a lovely concept, and it was just what I needed after a week of sleeping no, actually, that's right, we were always just sleeping in a strange bed, eating way too much food, and lounging around. Beachside yoga was ahhhh-mazing.


It was a lovely, lovely week, and I am pleased to announce that yes, we do still like each other when the kids aren't around, despite my previous doubts.

Oh, and one more photo - the swimsuit shot! After mentioning in another post that I didn't know whether or not to include photos of me in a swimsuit, I've gotten dozens (read: none) of emails - dozens, I tell you! - begging me to do that. Now I'm not normally one to flaunt my junk body like this, but I figured.. maybe just this one time. I mean, I did puke exercise a lot, so I could fit into my bathing suit. And my suit is tasteful enough, what with its plunging neckline tankini style and fishnet floral design. And I really do love getting admiring emails from pervs supportive friends. So... blushing... here's just one...
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Thanks for suffering through our vacation photos! And if you are a total masochist liked what you saw, there are 37 more albums where those came from!

Namaste, my friends, Namaste