Beautiful day!  We headed over to Honeymoon Island State Park. They have a dog beach. Others at the campground said it is not bad. Was not too crowded around dog area. Unfortunately, Thumper is not a water dog. She spent most of the time laying in the sand and digging holes. Water was on the cold side. The following day Skip and I went to Busch Gardens. Definitely overpriced. First you pay $20.00 just to park. The fee was $105.00 per person for he day. Not happy. I was ready to leave, but the manager came over and told us about the City Pass for $99.00 each but lets you into 5 attractions in the Tampa area. We got the pass.
  Not impressed with this attraction. We took the Serengetti Train

which lets you stop off at different areas of the park. A rhino was right next to us as we rode through.  In the wild beast area, we saw tigers (beautiful), hyenas, lions and cheetah among other animals.

There is a large plate glass between you and the lions. It was like you were next to them. At least I got a good walk today.
  Using our City Pass, the following day we went to the Florida Aquarium

in the Channelside area of Tampa. This is where cruise ships dock. This was a great little aquarium. Saw seahorses, sharks, alligators, boa constrictor and other animals indigenous to Florida. We enjoyed this museum.

Afterwards we took a walk around the area. More pics are on facebook.

Drove over to Ybor City (known as Tampa's Latin Quarter) including Cuban cigars and Cuban coffee along with a variety of cuisines. Founded by Vicente Martinez-Ybor as a cigar manufacturing center , Ybor City is a National Historic District in Florida.

Shops to browse through. Many events going on throughout the year per their information guide.  Had lunch at Columbia Restaurant.

Black bean soup one of the best I have had.

  Over the weekend, we drove down to St. Petersburg for the annual Kite festival. It was about a 45 minute drive from our campsite. Parking is difficult. Found a spot behind the Publix's grocery store. We saw a Transformer kite, a scuba diver kite, a large bug kite and many more.

Stopped at Sloppy Joe's on the beach for lunch. Could not get seating outside, so we ate inside.

  On the way back, we stopped at Verizon. Skip was having trouble with his phone. Ended up getting a new phone.
  The following day we were invited over to Chris and Virginia's for dinner. It was nice to get to meet Virginia. Enjoyed our meal and lots of laughs.

Hello everyone - It has been awhile since the last blag - our arrival in Tampa, Florida. First grateful for USC winning Rose Bowl. Granddaughter,Sabrina, goes to USC. An old childhood friend, Chris Maillefert, lives in Tampa and came over for a visit. It has been over 58 years since we had seen each other. His dad went into the foreign service when Chris was 12 and they moved oversees. It was fun to see him and remember our childhood and old friends.

   Few days temps were cool. Once started warming up, we took a ride over to Tarpon Springs (will remind you of a Greek fishing village).

Tarpon Springs is known for their sponges. Our neighbor, Doreen, came with us. Walked around and had lunch at Yanni's

Skip had peel and eat shrimp and I had pasta (still have to be careful because of sore teeth). Doreen had a salad. All was good. On return, Skip decided it was nap time

  The following day, Skip and I took a ride over to Lazy Days RV Center re: getting the motor looked at and fixed. Have an appointment the end of February to bring it in for servicing. On the way back we stopped at Village Inn for lunch (recommended by  Chris and Virginia). Skip had liver and I had spinach salad. Lots of food and good. Since it is Wednesday, everyone is entitled to a free slice of pie. We took ours to go