Sunday with Friends and Family

February 19, 2012 – Sunday with Friends and Family

Sunday morning, and the sun greets, triumphantly announcing a new day.  It’s hard to imagine that next Sunday morning, we’ll be awakening in our own bed for the first time in three weeks.  

I took a little break from being a tourist on Sunday.  Instead, Elliott and I spent the day with friends and family.  We had a chance to visit Bob and Carol at their home in the Old Southeast section of St. Petersburg, a residential area about two miles south of Central Avenue.  Their large industrial building is an enormous space that they’ve divided into a shared studio (1^st floor) and living quarters (2^nd floor).  We also met their two caramel colored dogs.  After a wonderful brunch that Carol prepared (and some goodies we brought from the Cassis bakery), they took us on a driving tour of St. Petersburg’s more interesting neighborhoods.  Not far from Bob and Carol’s, we marveled at the sculptural forms of a sprawling banyan tree.  In nearby Driftwood, we drove slowly past lovely houses hovering under a mystical forest of hulking live oaks.  (Educational note:  live oaks are not the opposite of dead oaks.  They are a particular kind of oak tree found in the Southeast.)  Then we drove north through the downtown area and crossed over to Snell Isle to see the impressive mansions of St. Pete’s upper crust.  The highlight of the day, however, was seeing the collaborative art work that Carol and Bob have created.  Go to their website and check out the latest series on water. 

In the late afternoon, we met up with Elliott’s nephew, Bill, his wife Sharon and their 11- year old daughter Katie.  They drove down from Trinity, a little further north on the Gulf coast.  After a walk down the pier, we watched the pelicans diving for their dinner before we went up inside the inverted pyramid and dined in the Columbia Restaurant.  This is a well-known Spanish restaurant with a history of nearly 100 years in Florida.  We sat at a table overlooking the bay, shared tapas and Gulf seafood, and watched as daylight faded into darkness.