Monday, April 23, 2012

It's our anniversary

Today I've been married to my wonderful husband, Scott, for one year! Though we have had a little disappointment this year, we also had a lot of fun.

This weekend we went to St. Petersburg, FL, to celebrate a year of marriage. We wanted to go somewhere a little bit away from Fort Myers, but not too far. And we didn't really need to go to the beach since we just got back from Puerto Rico. St. Pete turned out to be the perfect choice. Bad weather was in the forecast for the weekend, but we dodged the rain perfectly. Saturday was perfectly overcast for this time of year because it kept the heat away so we could enjoy being outside.


We got in on Friday evening and walked around the city after checking in to the Hotel Indigo downtown. On Saturday, we got some breakfast before discovering the Farmer's Market just a few blocks away. Though the breakfast was good, I was wishing we'd eaten our way through the market instead. Everything looked so good.

We continued on to the Dali Museum, which was a first for both of us. Scott had never even been to downtown St. Pete even though he grew up in Florida, and it was my first trip for fun since we met. (I was there briefly for one night to cover Gov. Charlie Crist's election party for the newspaper in 2006.) The museum was a little pricey, but it was cool. Dali has quite a bit of art with depth. You could look at some of the paintings for hours and still see new things. The museum was right on the waterfront with a view of the many sailboats in the marinas.


Scott always likes to look for fish in the water wherever we go.


The Dali museum had some really cool architecture.



And a nice view of the bay....






I illegally took a photo of this painting because we thought it was really cool. It's Abraham Lincoln from faraway, but a woman closeup. It's called Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea which at Twenty Meters Becomes the Portrait of Abraham Lincoln (Homage to Rothko) by Salvador Dali, 1976.


 Here's what the painting looks like up close.......I found this image here.


This is the wish tree outside.


And this is an accidental video of Scott with Dali's mustache. I meant to take a photo with my phone, but it was on the video setting. oh well.




After leaving The Dali, we walked over to Vinoy Park to check out the artfest. It was total serendipity that we ended up there because I love an art festival. Of course, we picked up some pottery from North Carolina.

That evening we went to dinner at Cassis on Beach Street downtown. I forgot to take a photo, but it was really good. Then we hopped on the shuttle to the Rays game from Second and Central downtown.

We've been trying to get up there for a Rays game for a while. One of my journalism professors, Jay Anthony, met us at the game and took these photos for us. He's such an awesome guy - definitely one of my favorite professors from college. Of course I forgot to get a photo with him, too.



The game was great. The pitchers were pitching fast (which makes for a shorter and less boring game) and the Rays won 4-1. The only problem was that the kids who were sitting next to us kept going in and out of the aisle past us the whole game.  It made it hard to pay attention to the game. It also didn't help that the girl in front of us didn't shut up the whole game. Trust me, she was seriously annoying.


 Here's the view from our seats....


It was a great trip!

Monday, April 2, 2012

Puerto Rico, Part II

We had to come off the beach eventually because we got sunburned, especially Scott's feet. So we drove a few miles over to Luquillo and Fajardo to check out the towns. Here is Luquillo Beach.






And here is us in Fajardo.....




On the way back to the hotel, we stopped to eat at Los Kioskos in Luquillo. We had some fried dough with meat in it for a little snack and then headed back to the hotel for dinner - room service. Yeah, we're high rollers. 
 

 One last view from the hotel overlooking El Yunque.



The next morning we headed back toward San Juan to spend more time with Emily and Eric.
The took us to La Cueva de la Ventana or "the window cave," but I think the Spanish version sounds grander. You walk though a smaller opening and turn the corner and it opens up to this perfect frame with a river running through. Mind you, this is a place where you hike up from the parking lot of a Texaco station. Not exactly well-known. If this was in mainland America, there would probably be an entrance fee and hotels all around.




Here's the four of us in the window.


The next day we went back to Old San Juan to see El Morro, the other fort in town. It was a beautiful day. The clouds were unreal.


  



















 Loved the blue cobblestone streets in Old San Juan.





We loved Puerto Rico. Hopefully we can go back soon!