Days Inn Tropicana Field North Saint Petersburg

... The international activation takes 48 hours so we’re still waiting on that.
We’ve been eating on board enjoying the new bar-b-q very much. Tonight with the rain threat I think we’ll bake a pizza in the oven. Although I’m not a big fan of electric ovens on boats - I’d rather have propane - I must say this oven is so much nicer than the one we had on “Purrfect Passage”. It’s clean and elements don’t ...

Awoke to thick fog this morning but it burned off quickly and they’re forecasting a high in the low 80s. We’re very thankful we had the carpets cleaned and were able to stow our gear last week as the weather has deteriorated this week. Still it’s not as bad as what we’re seeing forecast everywhere - and I mean everywhere - else.
Yesterday I managed to remove the old name and port of registry from ...

We’re living on board! We moved in on Friday when it started raining and I think in the past 48 hours we made up for the drought we experienced in the two months of February and March. There were flood warnings and certainly the car has had to negotiate some ‘lakes” on the road. I heard somewhere that we’d received 2 inches of rain - at least it’s not snow!! I’ve been very thankful for my outlet mall $11 ...

... to work but we discovered that we needed three new batteries as they didn't have a charge today after being charged all day yesterday. Richard and I are giving each other batteries for Christmas! It was neat to hear the noises on the hull of being in the water. We saw, and heard the snorting of, our Cortez Cove Manatee today as well as lots of mullet. Apparently they're migrating up rivers to spawn ...

... sitting for four plus months. This morning a local lady who is experienced with canvas came to give us a quote on new windows in the fly bridge cover and a couple of extra awnings. The boatyard staff have just been fabulous and so helpful. The bottom has a fresh coat of paint and Richard buffed the waterline yesterday with colour restorer and wax. I've started to remove "The Baron" name and port of registry from the transom so we can put ...

Woo-hoo - we made it to the boat today and she looks great! Today was warm and sunny with a light breeze -perfect for offloading the U-Haul and trying to find spots for everything on the boat. There was a little mildew inside but the boat smelled good and I’m sure the Bounce sheets and buckets of Damp Rid did the trick in controlling humidity through the summer ...

... a Trun and Chad's friend Lynn's place, a club, and finally taco bell-during the same experience doing karaoke with Trun and Chad singing "Unchained Melody"-meeting Trun's crazy drugee aunt-sneaking into the fanciest hotel in St. Pete to enjoy their pool and hot tub (the Don CeSar)-not feeling fat-eating delicious gelato-doing it on the hotel balcony-playing yahtzee-making nest eggs for everyone-Crazy ...

... TV coverage: one of the last Obama rallies, Springsteen the "opening act," and onstage Bruce's 3 teenage kids got to meet the next president of the United States, and Obama's kids got to meet ... Bruce Springsteen! Okay, maybe ya hadda be there. Another one was Ellen Degeneres in her Halloween costume: a vest made entirely of coins, a hat and pants fringed with quarters and dimes, shiny jingling shoes ... see, she dressed up as "Change." LOVE THAT. How 'bout ...

... when the guest is right, but a bad taste is left in our mouths when we are presumed to not know any better. We have learned over these past 2 decades, that our customers are well-informed, often well-travelled and it is important to respect their intelligence and preferences. Service is tantamount and value is the paradigm of a good restaurant operation. That said and done, during the past 10 months we have eaten at 115 restaurants, but not wanting to submit ourselves to ...

... Mama D's  Bread pudding, and the shear size of the portion was overwhelming enough, leaving us enough to take home as a side for our late evening cup of tea. We know that St. Pete's dinner and bar crowd  has started making its way West out of the comfort zone of Central between 1st and 5th Street, and more restaurants will pop up to encourage them, with Bella Brava leading the way, and the discovery of Savannah Cafe, Chiang Mai, Ferqs, Roman Garden, Beak's and Craftman House, not too far behind