The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves...: Sunshine State of Affairs

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Sunshine State of Affairs

After some great times in the Great Smokies, we continued south for a date with Florida. Rather than the "fastest" route, we took the road less travelled, through western North Carolina and across rural Georgia, before ending late in the day in the Tampa area. Here we would spend a few days in Zephyrhills, to help ready the Cox home in Shady Oaks for sale and gather some belongings.

But it was still a vacation, and we still needed to see some sights. The next morning, we headed to nearby Plant City, where we walked the quaint downtown Historic District, sampled the local cuisine, and patronized a local establishment for some great tunes and real culture.

We also toured the Tampa area, albeit in the rain, as thunderstorms greeted us. Undeterred, we visited another establishment recommended by Triple D - the Tampa Bay Brewing Company. Great food and delicious microbrews all in one place.....sign me up!

Of course, a visit to Zephyrhills requires a meal at Manolo's, for simple yet succulent Italian food and drink, at a great price!

From Tampa we moved on to three days in Orlando, amidst the mouse-eared chaos of International Drive, another Strip of hotels, retail, dining and amusement. Here the state truly earned it's name, as we fair folk were veritably pummeled with three straight days of sunny and hot (30-33 C) weather. Our room at the Rosen Inn was quite lovely.....and easy walking distance to many venues, including Pizzeria Uno and their delicious deep dish pizza.

On our last night in town, we were able to meet up with a resident and friend we made exactly a year ago, during a river cruise in eastern Europe. Last time, she left us a surprise bottle of champagne in Budapest.....the least we could do was buy her a few glasses of wine in return!