Going coastal!

Yesterday I got to experience a personal 'first' - I can now say I have seen (and set foot in) the Gulf of Mexico.

It all started last week when I got a call from a meandering friend who is moving to Florida, and wanted to know if she could get together with myself and K, a stitching friend who I met online but who lives in my same town. From there, plans pretty much took off, and yesterday K and I drove across the state to the Tampa area.

It was a beautiful day for a visit, and the drive there went pretty quickly. We all had a great time. We inspected M's new house, and talked while showing off current projects. We had lunch at a nice Cuban restaurant called Columbia, and afterward walked across the street to the beach.

Now, I'm not much of a beachgoer in general - red hair and extreme sun don't mix particularly well - but I did want to see the Gulf and do the requisite ankle-deep wade. I also picked up a few shells for DD.

Afterward, K and I drove back to our coast. Traffic was a bit worse than in the morning - we must have hit Bucs stadium traffic - but we made it back safely. A great time was had by all.

Next time, we need to lure M to the east coast!