Part 3

The gas station had Paul Bunyon bathrooms. The bottom of the door started at about 24" from the floor, which seemed a little high to me, while the top of the door stopped at about 7' from the floor. Consequently the door handle was level with my upper arm. I had to laugh. What kind of people live in Florida that they needed such tall stalls? Good grief! Talk about feeling like a midget!

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We walked along the Marina on Sunday, eating at Dan Marino's bar & grill (the fire-roasted Mahi Mahi was wonderful!) and then attempted to walk out to The Pier, a building at the end of a long pier housing shops and an observation deck. Unfortunately we misread the map and walked down the wrong pier, ending up staring at our destination across a vast expanse of water. LOL. We had to walk back and then down the correct pier before reaching the building. They did have trolleys available for free rides but we figured we could use the exercise to walk off the calories from lunch. We did some shopping, satisfied our coffee & smoothie fixes, observed some bay activites with photo opps (on a disposable camera...pictures coming after I finish the roll and get it processed), and then spent some time at the Aquarium enjoying the children crying "Look, it's Nemo!" I pointed out that one looked like Dori and started singing "Just keep swimming...just keep swimming..." It was a good time. We played with the bobble heads, picked up some souvenirs and generally were a goofy duo, my sister and I. On our way out, I stopped by the pelican store for some beverages and photo opps of the local (friendly) pelicans awaiting handouts from the tourists.

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For those who might want to know, I've officially dubbed the Tampa airport security personnel as GAP -- Grouchy-Assed People. Maybe those I had to deal with hadn't had their Starbucks yet (which is no excuse since it was just around the corner) but they have no patience for the infrequent traveler who needs more directions (signs would have been nice) than 3 or 4 people calling out "Ma'am...move your bins down...ma'am I need to see your boarding pass (I had just shown it to the woman at the podium!)...ma'am, you don't need to walk through that screening portal....ma'am...." along with the travelers behind me loudly saying "we should have chosen a different line". ROFL. Seriously, I don't think I saw even one person smile....not even when I apologetically said "Thank you, I don't travel very often." Yeah.....GAP. Of course, you can't say anything rude to these people because you could be "detained".

Additionally, I don't know what happened over the weekend but Homeland Security raised our alerts to Orange.....which, as a novice traveler attempting to get home, becomes a pain in the ass. I had taken a small carry-on satchel along with a small purse on the flights to Tampa. On the way back, overhead announcements stated that due to increased Homeland Security alerts, passengers could only carry on ONE bag....TOTAL. Suddenly I was facing having to toss a book or other item in my satchel in order to fit my purse inside it....OR....removing the items from my purse, placing them in my satchel and tossing my purse into the nearest trash bin. Forutnately I was able to reshift items from the main compartment of my satchel to outer pockets in order to free up just enough space to slide my purse inside. I ended up only having to throw away a box holding some Christmas cards that I had taken to work on. The cards were able to slide down behind my purse. Shew! I was willing to sacrifice a box for the good of the nation....

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There are only two things I wished I had purchased but didn't. The first was this crazy looking bag at The Pier that would have been perfect for carrying crap to work. The second was a t-shirt with the Cha-Cha Cocoanuts bar logo on it simply because it was cracking me up. Oh well! I'll just have to go back the next time and get them. ;)