Memories of Florida 2005/6

Once again we spend time in Florida after Christmas. We left Dec 29 and came back to Brampton on January 6. Our itinerary was that we spend 2-3 days driving down (one night in Pittsburg, one night in Charlotte and then Hilton Head, SC from Dec 30). We then moved to Gainesville Florida for New Years Eve (after a great dinner at the Sunset Grille in St. Augustine) and spend Jan 1/2 evenings in the Sirata Beach Resort in St Pete’s Beach. We headed east to spend a night in St Augustine on Jan 3 and then to Charlotte for Jan 4 and Pittsburg for Jan 5.

Key memories

I think the best moments for me (many during this great trip) were: a) Beach soccer with Spencer on Jan 1. We arrived at the Sirata about 1pm and headed right to the beach. It was a cloudy, but nice afternoon and Spencer and I setup goal posts and played soccer in the sand for almost an hour. What a blast we had. I remember after this thinking that the entire drive was worth it just for that once, special hour together. Sandra and Ryan hung out by the ocean. b) Bike riding in Hilton Head,SC. We rented some bikes on Dec 31 just after lunch and spend a wonderful hour driving on the beach, around the local neighbourhoods, etc. The weather was perfect (72F or so with some sun) and we had a blast. c) On the afternoon at around 4pm on Jan 3 we arrived at the Hampton in at St Augustine Beach and the sun was starting to go down. The skies were a clear blue. The temperature was about 70F and we explored the beach for an hour. It was beautiful. d) The next morning we got up and headed right to the beach at around 8.30am. It was a clear and sunny day and expected to reach 74F or so. We walked for about a mile up and down the beach with the boys collecting seashells. It was fabulous - what a greta memory. Sandra even found a live purple and orange starfish that had been washed ashore. We debated keeping it or throwing it back - and did the latter.

It was a fabulous trip - and one I would be happy to do again !