A Beautiful Day
When I booked the holiday and told Laura about it one of the things that I told her we would do was to go on a pirate cruise in the Tampa bay and so I obviously did not want to let her down. Captain Memo's Pirate cruise is a great attraction leaving from Clearwater Marina and offers cruises throughout the day, the one that we opted for was the sunset cruise. Allowing us to watch the sun go down from a boat in the Tampa Bay.
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The Kick is Good
So I finally got to see my team play live and it was a really good experience. There were a large number of Redskins fans who had traveled down to the game and so I didn't feel that I stood out in the crowd. The tailgate was crazy and seemed to go as far as the eye could see in every direction. It was a complete scorcher of a day and the game was really good. Skins rushed off to a strong early lead before some poor kicking allowed the Bucs to close the gap in the second half. The game winning field goal came with just 7 seconds to go.
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Service
This meal was a truly brilliant way for Laura and I to start out holiday. Out into Tampa and to a lovely restaurant with a brilliant atmosphere. If I lived locally I would more than likely be going there all the time and taking along visitors to the area as well. The food and the atmosphere were brilliant and the service was top drawer so he earned himself the 100% tip. You can read a little more about it over here.
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Photography
So I have reached the end of another task, I have to admit that that feels pretty good to be crossing another one off of the list and also to keep up the recent good progress. The one thing that is a little weird is that I don't have to take a photo every day anymore. Some days I would naturally be taking a photo anyway, but on a normal day at work in the week it was sometimes difficult to find the time to snap a photo.
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A Technicality?
I am going to count it and that is all that really matters. Laura and I have bought the new car together and I am going to be getting a car that I have access to use so for me it is as good as having bought a car. Would I have liked a newer larger car? yes I would, however, at the end of the day I am delighted to have Ally back and given our current financial situation it is a much more viable option.
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First Crop
So a very happy day but unfortunately a little less colour will now appear in the bay window. I decided that the day had finally come to take two chillis off one of my Hungarian chilli plants. They were the first ones to come through and raced to ripeness when we got back from Liverpool. I have loved seeing them in the window when I get home from work and they always get comments from visitors to the house.
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Moving on Up
So I am lucky enough to have been offered a position at a dynamic up and coming organisation. I will be supporting software that looks really impressive and I am very eager to get to grips with from the back end. The staff, including my future manager, who I met at interview were really nice and from first impressions I feel that I will fit in with the company well. Just need to get through the final stages in my current role and I start a fresh in a very exciting environment.
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Toasted!
One other really good fun thing that came out of the BBQ was that we managed to get the firebowl up and running and then as part of that we were able to toast some marshmallows. It was nice to be able to get the fire going and Mark and Peachey managed to get a pretty impressive fire straight off the bat. One we had a nice burn going on later in the evening it not only kept the patio nice and warm but toasted the mallows perfectly. More info here.
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New World Record
So the Olympics has now come and gone but Laura and I were lucky enough to get down to the Olympic Park and see everything that it had to offer. It was a just magical day and I will never forget seeing Mo win his second gold or the Jamaican's beating the world record while we were there watching. I guess we didn't quite realise the magnitude of it all at the time, but it was beyond belief. You can read my whole review of the memorable day / evening here.
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The Full Set
Finally I got round to going to Towcester Buddies and so I am able to cross this one off the list. I have always enjoyed Buddies and I am sure that I will keep going there as long as I stay local. I did try and vary up what I was ordering, however, in general I went back to the old favourite of a Fat Boy with coleslaw and onion rings on the side.
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So the final night of our holiday in America and I had thought that it would be good to go out to a restaurant that is nice and close to the hotel. The nicest option that was nearby seemed to be the Rusty Pelican at the bottom of rocky point. In reality the biggest issue was that there was no nice way for us to get there. We had to walk down the road and it was really quite dark with no pavement.
Another very stunning day in Florida and the start of a new week. Laura and I got up and had our morning swim before heading out in the car to neighbouring St Petersburg. It was about half an hours drive from the hotel and it was all easy rolling on the highway. The sun was shining and it was really nice, we came into town past Tropicana Field way the Rays play and eventually made our way to the Salvidore Dali Museum.
It was our third day in Tampa and the Monday of our holiday, in the morning we had traveled to St Petersburg seen the outside of Tropicana field, been to the Salvidore Dali Museum and also been into St Pete and to the pier. We then headed up the coast to Clearwater so that we could get onto a pirate ship and see the sunset from a boat in the Tampa bay.
So I guess I always knew that going to America to see a football game would be pretty cool and I was not wrong. The whole thing was just incredible. The day was a complete scorcher and the sun was relentlessly pounding down on us. We arrived nice and early at the stadium and parked in a nearby high school car park for a nominal fee. We then started to soak up the atmosphere.
So Laura and I had arrived in Tampa the day before and having spent the majority of the day shopping, Laura needed a new swimming costume and I needed a hat. We headed out to a tapas restaurant that I had heard a number of very good things about. The sat nav was in general holding its own and it got us to the restaurant OK, it did, however, fail at directing us to the proper car park and so I ended up parking the mustang up a back street. A little unnerving at first.
So for the first time in quite a while I have left the country and ended up somewhere I have never been before. Laura and I actually travelled to Florida as part of a holiday that we have had planned for a little while. We arranged it around going to see out two NFL teams play but also thought that it would be fun to go and see some of the sights. It was also the firs time that either of us have travelled long haul.
Another trip around to the future in laws this evening and we had sweet and sour chicken for dinner. As per the usual Dave does a brilliant job of keeping a number of different and interesting ciders in. Tonight I had already had a thatchers gold which is a very solid proper cider when I went back ot the fridge and saw the Kingstone Press.