Chihuly and Tapas in St. Pete

A little burned from my day at the beach, I decided to walk around the waterfront and check out the art in St. Petersburg to avoid too much direct sun! They have a pretty good Chihuly collection, with many of his styles on exhibit, but after walking through it I decided it probably wasn't worth the $15 entrance fee. If you have been to the Bellagio you have seen more spectacular installations. The waterfront area in St. Pete is lush and tranquil, with little restaurants and shops lining the main street. The best surprise was discovering that my favorite Tapas restaurant, Ceviche, has a location right on Beach drive!

Siesta Beach, Sarasota FL

I couldn't have picked a better spot for my first trip to the Gulf! I covered it in an earlier post, but the sand is what makes it amazing. The Gulf water is so warm and crystal clear. I could see fish swimming around my legs! Everything, from the water to the sand, was pristine. I didn't see one cigarette butt or piece of trash...makes Waikiki look like a sewer! In fact this beach puts all beaches to shame! Its easy to see why Dr. Beach ranked this place the #1 beach for 2011.

The Best Sand I Have Ever Felt!

100% Quartz sand = the best sand I have ever seen, felt, walked on. Its got to be about 90 degrees here, but the sand is cool on your feet. My towel just melted into a fluffy white cloud of this stuff!

Devil Crabs

One of the best things about finding myself in Tampa again is the food! My coworkers here introduced me to Brocato's Sandwich Shop, home of the Devil Crabs the size of footballs! I wasn't sure what to make of it until I cracked it open to find that its essentially a crab cake...on crack! I drizzled a little Texas Pete's hot sauce on it...perfection! Yay Cuban food!