Kelleys visit here in Bradenton

Capt Chappy at the "helm" of the Whaler

Enjoying our friends on the Manatee River

Chillin' at the beach

Darn, that ice is cold!

Rusty Bellies in Tarpon Springs

Tarpon Springs - Sponge Docks area

Just a little window shopping.....

Main Street in the Sponge Docks area

Wow, what a catch!

Sponges drying out

Wondering if we could snag a couple of sponges...

Pam and Bill enjoying the sights

Cervasas por favor!

Dinner at the ballpark

Another beautiful sunset

We’ve had a very busy month since we’ve been here in Bradenton.  First Todd and his family came for a visit, then Mike and grandbaby Allie, then our good friends Pam and Bill Kelley.  It was so good to see them all and to catch up on everything going on back in our home town.

Pam and Bill drove down here and arrived Saturday (Aug 3) just about dinner time.  After chillin’ a little we walked to the downtown area and had dinner at FAVS.   A great little Italian place.  We visited and had a great time.

Sunday morning we decided to drive around and do some sightseeing.  We checked out the beach area in Anna Maria Island and drove over to Sarasota.  There are several beaches and local hangouts along the way.  We stopped at a local bar called the Drift-In.  Definitely local color here!  We met a guy who had a punk hairdo of sort – said he was a retired cop from New Jersey.  When he retired he wanted to dress as far different from a cop as possible.  He definitely succeeded.  Said he often got mistaken for a circus act.  LOL!  No kidding!  We did made it back in time for Happy Hour at the Pier 22 – the restaurant at the Marina. 

We spent the day at the beach on Monday  - kicked back with lunch on the beach.  What a nice relaxing day.  The beaches here are beautiful with white sand but very few shells.  In honor of Shark Week, we had dinner at the Anna Maria Oyster Bar where their special was shark.  Wow!  Was that good! 

                                                                                 Tuesday we took a car ride to Tarpon Springs.  It’s about an hour away.  Tarpon Springs is the sponge capital of the world (among other things….).  We had visited there before when we were on the Great Loop.  There is a lot of Greek heritage there.  Very interesting place to visit – and of course, to buy some sponges.  Lunch was at Rusty Bellies - great place on the water.   After that we drove over to Dunedin to find Skips Bar another local hangout.  We had visited Skips before and liked it.  Not much had changed – a local hangout with good cold beer. 

Oh, and dinner was at the Mexicali Grill here in Bradenton.  Yes, we did more than just eat while the Kelleys were here – but not much more!  So many restaurants – so little time…….

Pam and I went shopping on Wednesday and the guys took the whaler out for a spin.  They ended up taking it over to the beach where they could turn it over and clean the bottom.  Mike appreciated Bill’s help – he makes a pretty good first mate! 

We all went out for a dinghy ride on Thursday over to Tarpon Grille for lunch.  We later hung out at the pool and then headed out to the ballgame – the Bradenton Marauders were playing the St Lucie Mets.  It was really fun hanging out at the ballpark watching everyone.  I think we all really enjoyed it.  Oh and the food was good too.  Pizza and Nachos – cold dollar beer – can’t beat it!

Friday morning found us saying our goodbyes. How did the week go by so fast!  We really did enjoy them being here.  Hopefully they enjoyed it too.

Now Mike and I are all by ourselves.  We’ve spent the last two days just cleaning the boat, laundry and all the other drudgery of things that need to be done.  It’s very quiet around here now!

Think I’ll go to the pool – before the afternoon showers come in.

Till next time!

Admiral “C”