Last Looks LBK!

Our last photos after packing up to leave for our flight! Don't want to leave! And man my hair is so crazy long!

LBK Trees!

 Here on Longboat Key I also fell in love with the trees! Their trunk systems are so incredible!! Must I really board the plane today?!?

LBK Adventures

 Last night gorgeous sunset, don’t want to leave!! 

Also saw this beautiful swan today on the golf course

We ventured out to Mixon farms today and held an alligator, saw an emu, a Burmese python, a white raccoon, koi pond, a crocodile , oh you know, the normal things you see on a tour of a citrus orchard….they also had delicious homemade fresh orange juice and vanilla swirl ice cream cones. So the reason we came to this place is Henry remembered coming with his grandparents 27 years earlier. When we looked at the website there were two tram tours, one at 11am and one at 1pm. We were late leaving and were in a bit of a rush to try to make the 11am tour. When we got there, there was no one else there and everything was really laid back and we ended up having a private tour on a golf cart through the orchards. Pretty funny, that we thought we would miss it, or there wouldn't be room for us... 

When we got to the Koi pond it started raining pretty hard, but that didn't stop lots of hungry koi and turtles from being fed.

Inside the shop there was a map where visitors could put where they were from. Crazy how many entries there were!

Dinner in LBK

 My favorite dinner we went to was with Christian to the Dry Dock restaurant. We had coconut shrimp there and I had this bourbon glazed salmon that was to die for. The below pics are from a French restaurant we went to late one night that had been recommended by a couple we ran into on a walk on the beach that day. I should have looked more closely at the menu online before going. Priciest meal I think Hen and I have ever had at a single restaurant. I can't imagine what it would have been if we drank! The food was good, but not $260 good in our opinion....

Mini Golfin

 Oh you know, just mini golfing and feeding alligators after you finish 18 holes… because that is a normal thing to do…

Pups at Boarding

 Kids are still hanging in there at the Dog Den!  Anyone venture a guess for Oscars thoughts?!? By that look he is not amused. He is probably thinking. "Good Show, time to go home now..."

Laundry and Bird Watching

 Working on a little laundry this morning and had a visitor. ❤️ Every once in a while we would come across these egrets and they were so graceful and never in a hurry. Just the way it should be on vacation.

Escape Room

 Hen and I’s first escape room experience. Christians second time. We finished both rooms, Cabin in the Woods and the Kings Gambit. It was definitely different and much harder than I thought it would be. Luckily I had Hen and Christian to solve most of the puzzles, ok maybe all of the puzzles. I guess I didn't realize how abstract the clues would be. Also it was nice that there weren't other people there and it was just the three of us. Afterwards we went to Carraba's for dinner. One of my favorite places when we are traveling since there aren't any in Utah. Fun times!

Fishing in Tampa Bay and the Gulf

Super fun fishing day! Between the 4 of us caught atleast 30 different fish. Kept two red snapper that we brought back to our condo and ate. We had an added level of difficulty with the dolphins. On atleast 10 occasions we caught a fish and the dolphin would come and take it before we could fully reel in. So the line went crazy! Henry caught the most catfish, Christian the most blowfish, and I the most Key West Fish. We also caught Grouper.

#sabbaticalweek3

#timeisflyingby

#icaughtadolphin

Funny side note- thought the captains name was Terry and called him that so much that Hen and Christian also called him that. At hour four of fishing the guy says my name is Jim Teeter… whose Terry? Lol 

A Grouper Christian caught.

A Blowfish Christian caught.

To see the dolphin up close, after reeling in a fish, we threw it back in the water and the dolphin came right up and grabbed it. So crazy.

So many catfish...who would have thought?!?

We made it to Long Boat Key Florida!

 Originally this week we were going to be on a cruise to Norway but due to covid we had to come up with a plan B since our cruise was cancelled. Long Boat Key Florida is a place Hen's grandparents visited in the winters along with other spots in the surrounding area like Anna Maria Island. So we decided to find a VRBO on the beach and stay for a week. While the interior decor was not my taste for staying at the beach, the view from the balcony was so perfect it didn't matter what the inside looked like. The inside was clean and it was nice to have two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The master even had a king bed and a sliding door out to the large balcony. Christian was able to come out and stay with us Monday thru Thursday which was super fun.

https://www.vrbo.com/4774721ha?unitId=5759891&childrenCount=0&noDates=true&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=earned:vrbo:sharecopylink:USA&utm_content=4774721ha&oc=6AqZEfF4R74fi6SkmPp1a

On our first night we were welcomed with this gorgeous sunset!

Hen took the below photo of me from our balcony. This is my happy place!

Hen is Snorkling Below and Christian is swimming. I took this photo from our balcony.