This weekend started with a trip to the beach with the excuse of having dinner somewhere different. I haven't been to Anna Maria Island many times. I forgot how nice the sand is here. The sand is soft, white, and powdery. We didn't get a spectacular sunset because it was a too cloudy. It looks like every time that I take my camera out, is a cloudy day. I was happy to be at the beach watching the seagulls at the end of a long work week.
Anna Maria Island
Can I live in one of those houses?
The sun was gone behind the dark clouds
Seagull foot marks
Andre's turn with the camera...
After taking a lot of pictures, we walked towards the Sandbard Restaurant to have dinner. I found a recommendation for this restaurant in a local beach rentals website.
Sandbar. Anna Maria Island, FL
While we waited for a table, I noticed that the birds were flying in a single line. It lasted for at least 5 minutes. I tried taking a few of pictures, but it was already dark.
Can you see the birds across the water?
Anna Maria Island is located about one hour south of Tampa. After our nice dinner, I am sure that we will be back. If you are looking for a nice place to eat and watch the sunset, the Sandbar restaurant is a great place. We waited at least one hour for the table. There was a live band and the view from the waiting area made it feel short. We were not too hungry so we just ordered a couple of appetizers. Next time I want to have some of their fish dishes after spending a whole day at the beach.
I've been thinking about going to Las Vegas in October to see Madonna in concert. I have to decide quickly since the tickets go on sale soon. Andre and I have never been to Vegas. He does not like Madonna, but he said he would like to see her show. I really wouldn't mind going alone! I saw her in New York City in 2008 for the Sticky and Sweet tour. It was SPECTACULAR! There is no concert scheduled in Florida, not even in Miami. However, this is a good excuse for a long weekend in a new place. I'm hoping that 2 of my friends in the picture below join me. They live in Colombia, but they love a concert excuse for a quick trip. I would love for my friend on the left to join us, but she just moved to India and Vegas is too far away.
Madonna's concert in NYC, 2008
I'm a big Cirque du Soleil fan. Do you know which one is the best out of the 7 shows in Las Vegas? We will probably just go to one show. We don't like gambling and that is why I never cared too much about making a trip to Vegas. I would like to go to the Grand Canyon if it's close enough for a day trip. Any advise for making the most out of Sin City in a few days? At this point I'm just dreaming. We are trying to plan a vacation in the next few months and I don't want to use the funds for a trip that is 10 months away! There are concerts in a lot of Cities in the US. If you like Madonna, get the tickets NOW! some of them went on pre-sale yesterday!
Before I moved to Florida I didn't really care about sunsets. I've not seen many sunrises in my life except when I stayed up all night. I love to sleep, but I am curious if the sky colors are the same. Most of the sunset pictures that I've taken are "accidents". I've been lucky to be at the right place at the right time. I never realized how many people liked them until I started staying later at the beach. A lot of people go to the beach just to wait for the sun to come down. There is even a daily Sunset Festival in Clearwater Beach. I need to go to see what this Festival is about. I always avoid Clearwater because it is too crowded and I think the beach is prettier in St. Petersburg.
Last Saturday afternoon, I went with a friend to Davis Island to take sunset pictures. Sadly, it was a cloudy day. Davis Island is a residential area next to downtown Tampa. Last year, I saw one of the most beautiful sunsets against the Davis Island Yatch Club when I was leaving the dog park. Here are some of my favorite ones from Saturday. If you want to see the ones from last year click here.
Sunset from Davis Island
Are sunsets really prettier by the beach as opposed to a City? I don't remember an spectacular sunset in Cali.
Recently, I've been thinking about what I can do on the weekends around town. Tampa has been my home for 12 years, but I have to confess that the only time that I do touristy things is when I have friends visiting. I usually just go to the same places and eat at the same restaurants. I want to change this and get out more often.
I like living in Tampa. I love the weather and having my family here. I always said it was nice to live in Tampa because I didn't have many distractions while I was in college. That means there isn't much to do. During the week I usually work until 6:30 PM, and after work I've been going to spinning class. After that I'm exhausted and ready for a shower and my bed. However, on the weekends I want to have more options. I wanted to move for a long time to Miami or to the Northeast. After spending many days in Miami, I don't think I could live there. The North East is absolutely beautiful and full of excitement, BUT I can't live in the cold.
I have some ideas of places that I would like to see. I've always been curious about the Ringling Museum in Sarasota. The pictures of the Gardens are gorgeous. I love Sarasota, and I haven't been in a long time. Sometimes we drive to Anna Maria Island for the beach, but there other things to do in there. Thanks to Groupon I always see new places in the area that I've never heard of. I will keep an eye on this to get discount tickets or restaurant coupons.
Most weekends from March to October I go to the beach. My sister and my nephew love the beach. They always call me to pick me up. Andre is not a beach person, but sometimes I convince him to come with us. We always avoid the always crowded Clearwater beach. This beach is actually the closest, but traffic is bad and parking is always hard to find. My favorite beaches are Sunset Beach, Fort de Soto Beach, Tarpon Springs, and St. Pete Beach.
Sunset Beach, Fl
Ft De Soto Beach, Fl
Honeymoon Beach
Last year we got the Disney annual pass. We have been once to each of the theme parks: Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios. My favorite Disney them park is Epcot. We decided to get the pass to have more things to do on the weekend. I hadn't been to Magic Kingdom in over 10 years, and I had never been to Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom. We had fun visiting all of the theme parks. Unfortunately, we don't go often enough to renew it for another year. We haven't been to any of the parks since October and we have to use it before April when it expires. We will probably go to Epcot tomorrow.
Last week, I almost bought a ticket to a concert to go ALONE (again)! This time was to see Juan Luis Guerra. He is the best merengue singer in the world. I learned how to dance when I was a little girl with his songs. I went to Miami to see him in 2005. I never expected a merengue concert to be so good. I love dancing and going to this kind of concert alone is completely different than going to see Luis Miguel by myself. Andre and I have opposite tastes in music and he agreed to come with me if I bought the tickets. The real reason why I gave up on the idea was the price. The tickets are $200 each plus the trip to Miami. I'm crossing my fingers for a concert in Orlando. I could convince my sisters to come with me and just pay for my ticket. There is only one concert scheduled in Miami and one in New York City. I would really rather spend that money going somewhere else. For my amigos who don't know who he is, here is a video of one of his best songs:
Last year, I started doing a post every Sunday with sunset pictures. This was a good way to get me in the habit of writing in my new blog. Also, I was planning my wedding and had no travel plans except our trip to Colombia for the wedding and our honeymoon. We got married, went to Hawaii, and also went to Ecuador. I blogged about all that and one year later and now I'm back with no travel plans. Maybe I will start making "sunset sunday" posts as a way to find new/local places and at the same time learn how to use my camera. I'm getting ready to go to a place in South Tampa where last year I watched one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen. I only had my iphone to take a few pictures. Hopefully today will be one of those memorable sunsets.
Tampa is located in a Bay. The best beaches in the area are in St. Petersburg and Clearwater. These beaches are 30 minutes away except for a few (not so pretty) ones in Tampa. I went to Ben T Davis Beach to take some sunset pictures. I was bored after watching too much TV last Sunday. I took my kindle, a towel, and drove to this beach to wait for the sunset. This is a narrow beach located at the east end of the Courtney Campbell Causeway, the bridge that takes you from Tampa to Clearwater. I was lazy and stayed in my side of town. This is not a beach worth of Doctor Beach list, but it is only a 5 minute drive.
This winter has been warm. The water is cold but it is warm and sunny. Probably the warmest of the 12 years that I've lived in Tampa. I love warm weather and not having a winter. The problem is that a hot winter could mean that it will be a bad hurricane season in the summer.
These are some of my favorite pictures from that day.
Winter in Florida
A rainbow and a sunset
I've heard that this isn't always the case at this Beach
