Thrifting at the Beach

Here I am on Anna Maria Island, where the water is clear and the beach morning glories grow in profusion. Surely it's one of the prettiest places on the planet, at least when there are no hurricanes.

I left my family's house north of Tampa bright and early yesterday morning and had a pleasant drive down. Visiting at this time of year is ideal because the winter tourist season hasn't started yet and the roads are still passable.

I had a happy rendezvous with my college friend Sue, who was out on her routine morning walk -- Sue walks miles for exercise -- and we explored a waterfront wildlife preserve, watching fiddler crabs scurry in the mud below the boardwalk. It's great to see Sue, one of my oldest friends, and one of those people who I can pick up with right away as if I last saw her the day before. We went to breakfast on Manatee Beach, where this was our view:

Not too shabby, right?!

Then we headed out on some errands that included adventures in thrift stores. We discovered a really nice Goodwill used-book store on Longboat Key (where I bought nothing because I don't need to be schlepping around more books, but Sue got some great finds).

Then we went to the big Goodwill store in Bradenton, possibly my favorite Goodwill on the planet, where I found this fantastic rooster. If I were closer to Lloyd I'd have bought it for Mary Moon (who is probably relieved I didn't). I wish I'd put something next to it for scale because it was quite large. I did buy myself a little ceramic bowl, a slightly lumpy and misshapen handmade project with goldfish painted on it and signed "Izzy R." I love it.

Then we headed to another thrift store -- a bust -- and then up into central Bradenton where we had a drink at a fantastic bar and pizza restaurant on the roof of a downtown hotel.

As we were leaving, we got into an elevator with two young guys, one of whom was saying to his friend, "It was a choice between..." and then trailed off, waiting for a more private moment. Sue said half-jokingly, "I want to know what the choice was!" and I said, "Me too!" So the guy proceeded to tell us a remarkably sordid ten-minute story involving an encounter with a stripper, the choice being whether to get involved with her or not -- which was not at all what we expected! Be careful what you ask in elevators.

I never knew this restaurant existed, so it was a nice find, the elevator conversation notwithstanding. Maybe I'll take Dave and his parents there one of these days. It overlooks the marina and the three bridges that carry US 41 and the railroad across the Manatee River.

The Sunshine Skyway (which I'd driven over that morning) and even downtown St. Petersburg (not in the photo above) were visible on the horizon, beyond the waterfront houses of Palmetto.

Last night we had a light dinner at Sue's and this morning we're going to head out for a long walk. I know I am way behind on my comment-answering, but I swear I am reading and appreciating them all!