Well we made it to Annapolis. Bill and I left on Tuesday around 1:00 after my dentist appointment. We defrosted the freezer and refrigerator, turned everything off on ME, packed the car and left. ME will stay in her slip in Sarasota (above) until we return to FL in October.

The trip was uneventful. We drove on Tuesday until around 9:00, stayed in a hotel and got up on Wednesday (09/09/09) and drove the remainder of the trip to MD. Bill ate his birthday lunch at Taco Bell! We will celebrate tonight with Joe and Nancy here in Annapolis.

We got to the place we are renting around 6:00 (we made good time) and were not disappointed. It is a cute little place, very clean, great view from the porch (see below) right near downtown. We can walk across the bridge from Eastport to downtown in about 10 minutes. There is a pool and we overlook a marina. The weather is spectacular (OK, it is raining right now, but it is cool and feels like fall!)

Our first meal in Annapolis was nothing other than corn and tomatoes. I went to the farm stand yesterday morning and they said we have about a week left for good corn.

Bill went and saw Juan yesterday and we stayed in and watched the first football game of the year cozy on the couch. It is strange to be in a house! We bought some essentials (toilet paper, paper towels, etc.) but are still adjusting. For example, we bought bagged ice.... even though we have a full sized refrigerator and freezer (with an ice maker). Old habits.... Oh, and we have a dishwasher!!! And we can have candles (I bought two!). And everything can stay plugged in. And we can take long showers and not worry about running out of water.

The house is pretty much fully stocked (although I cannot make the coffee pot work; guess I'll be making a trip to Target since that is an essential!)

Bill and I are looking forward to a few weeks here.... although we do miss the boat. Falling asleep without the rocking is strange.

Atlantic City

Bill and I had fun with my parents and two sisters in Atlantic City this week. We flew out of Tampa on Monday and got back late Thursday night. We went to the beach, saw a Cirque show, enjoyed the boardwalk and nice weather, and of course gambled. Andrea and Amy treated me to a massage at Tropicana for my birthday. Afterwards, Andrea and I put $20 each into side by side machines while we waited for Amy who was on the phone. I was down to $4 without hitting anything when the bells and whistles started going off. I hit for $4500.00! Yeah. All of us were very excited to say the least.

We stayed at Caesar's, which was nice. We enjoyed the pool and the new Pier, which is shops and restaurants. There is also a really cool light and water show set to music at the Pier which we saw a few times. We tried our luck at Caesar's, Bally's, Trump and Tropicana and had a lot of fun. It was nice for everyone to be on vacation together.

I'll post more pictures later. Here is a link to a few for now.

Trip to DC

We are back in Sarasota after five days in Washington DC seeing friends, going to (three) Red Sox games, and having a bunch of fun.

We flew out of Tampa on Tuesday direct into Washington National.... which is about 2 miles from the condo where we used to live in Alexandria.

(waterfront in Old Town Alexandria)

We stayed at Katie's house and finally met Jackson Hurley Vaca, who is now 3 months old and absolutely beautiful. He is a great baby and both Bill and I really enjoyed spending time with the newest edition to the Vaca family. He is one happy little boy. And of course we loved seeing Alex, who is almost 4 and is just the best.

So we got to DC on Tuesday afternoon and, after dropping our stuff off at Katies, met Mark at Nationals Park for the Red Sox vs. Nationals game. It was a lot of fun and there was a new attendance record set (thanks Boston!) The new stadium is truly awesome and we had a ton of fun all three nights. Our seats were on the first base line on Tuesday and the third base line Wednesday and Thursday nights. We went to all three games early to walk around and explore the new stadium and watch batting practice. We went with Mark and Fred on Tuesday, Mark and Sara on Wednesday. Katie, Rico, Alex, and Jackson went to the Thursday night game and Alex joined us for a bit. Thank you Sara and Mark for getting us tickets!!!!!!

(Loving the new ball park)

We really enjoyed ourselves in DC. In addition to the Red Sox games I enjoyed long walks with Katie around Old Town and Bill and I caught up with friends at Bugsys. We also did a tour of the new Capital Visitors Center, which was awesome. We went to the Library of Congress and explored a few DC neighborhoods around the new stadium. I met Sara for coffee at Foggy Bottom and went in to the State Department to see everyone one day. It was really nice to be there.

(Capital)

(Library of Congress)

And on Friday we spent the day in Annapolis and went to Amy and Juan's new house. After catching up with the Watsons we met Joe and Nancy at their new boat before dinner at Tsunami. We had such a nice night with our dear friends. The new boat is amazing, and at 11:00 pm when we looked at the clock and realized it was time to drive back to Alexandria, Bill and I just didn't want to leave! We both realized how much we love Back Creek and we are so happy for Joe and Nancy and their new boat. Hopefully we will be able to spend more time in Annapolis in the (near!) future.

(Flowers at the farmers market in Alexandria)

Saturday Katie, Alex, Jackson and I went to the Farmers Market in Alexandria early before we met the Sullivans. There were 11 of us for brunch and we had a blast. It was so great to see Fuzzy and Mary and their three amazingly beautiful children who have grown since the last time we saw them when they visited Mary Elizabeth in Annapolis 3+ years ago! Afterwards we went back to Katie and Rico's house so the kids could swim in the pool.

(Enjoying the pool)

Bill and I really had a great time in DC. The weather was beautiful. We are so thankful to be able to see our great friends; we loved seeing everyone and catching up. DC (ie Alexandria and Annapolis) simply feels like home to us.

Enough said.

St. Pete

Had a great time in St. Pete. We drove up from Marathon on Thursday afternoon. It took about 6 hours and we made it in time for the first of four Red Sox games that we saw at Tropicana stadium over the weekend. The Sox lost the series (they won Saturday night, lost on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday) but we had a great time.  Tropicana stadium is a really nice ballpark -- and Mary Alice lives literally 7 minutes away (with traffic!), which was a bonus. 

Naturally Mary Alice is a Rays fan. As are her friends. There is a friendly rivalry going on. Bill had noticed that each time he went for a cigarette, one of the Rays would score a home run. Mary Alice passed this story along to a friend and neighbor Mr. Bell -- who is a Rays fan. The next night as we were leaving Mary Alice's house for the game, there was a package for Bill at the gate. It was a pack of cigarettes and a note from Mr. Bell saying "...Please accept these cigarettes and feel free to go out OFTEN tonight so we can continue our scoring...." TOO FUNNY. Bill, Mary Alice and I got a good chuckle. 

 

So our weekend was FULL of baseball, eating, a few games of Skip-Bo. Bill and I walked around downtown St. Pete on Saturday and saw lots of old buggies at a Volkswagen convention -- there is always something going on in St. Pete!!!

After three of the four games, we went to the Vinoy (the hotel next door to Bill's mom's house and where the Red Sox were staying) to see if we could catch the team returning to the hotel. I guess they went in the back way since we never saw them. There were a ton of Red Sox fans in St. Pete though. 

The other really cool thing is that Mary Alice gave us memberships to the Museum of Fine Arts in downtown St. Pete, which we will certainly make good use of this summer. We'll be in the Sarasota/St. Pete area in about a month for at least a few months. 

 

Visitors

Bill and I have had the pleasure of having my father and sister here in Ft. Lauderdale for a few days. We had a great time golfing (Bill and my father) going to the beach (Andrea and me), visiting the casino (both my father and Andrea hit jackpots on the slots!) and going to Oviedo, FL (near Orlando) to visit my uncle and his family. Here are some pictures of the visit.

Andrea relaxing with my uncle's dog.

Andrea, Juan, Bill, my father, Ken, and me at dinner out on the town.

My father and uncle with their two dogs.

Andrea, my father, uncle, aunt, cousin, Bill and I had a delicious dinner in Oviedo.

Dad cooking a sauce on the boat!!!!

My father flew home on Monday, Andrea on Tuesday. Bill left Tuesday for Lake Wales with Dave so I have the boat to myself for a few days.

To see the rest of the pictures from the visit, click here.

Road Trip to Ft. Myers and St. Petersburg

On Thursday morning Bill and I left Ft. Lauderdale and took our first "road trip" in the new car -- destination FT. MYERS. We saw the opening Red Sox Spring Training game against the Pirates. The field at Ft. Myers is great - small and not a bad seat in the house (even the bleacher seats and they didn't cost an arm and a leg like they do at Fenway.) It was a sold out game - lots of people visiting from New England. The Red Sox lost, but we got to see Ortiz, Pedroia, Lester, and the other Red Sox stars.

Ft. Myer is about 4 hours from Ft. Lauderdale and only two hours from St. Petersburg. So after the game we kept driving north to see Bill's mom. The weather in St. Pete is amazing - it is sunny and much cooler than Ft. Lauderdale. We are going to stay for the weekend and drive back on Sunday.