Something For The Weekend, Sir ?

Last weekend's jaunt across the state to Ft. Pierce wasn't all about sunshine and beaches.  Ok mostly it was but we also managed to do a few more mundane things like shopping at Sam's Club and visiting a Manatee Observation & Education Centre.  Usual run of the mill stuff.

Sadly we saw no manatees but maybe that was due to it being early on Sunday morning and they were probably hung over somewhere out of sight after some Saturday night revelling.

So this is the best I could do.  All these photos were taken using the little compact camera so the quality is only so-so.


This probably constituted "mammal abuse" but there were no other visitors so I'm pretty sure I got away with it.

The Manatee Centre was down by the marina so there were lots of boats moored along the jetty but the sun wasn't co-operating and stayed firmly in front of me. Anyway here is a view looking sunwards and it was only later I remembered the camera has a backlight setting that might have helped.   D'ohhhh !!


I'll just claim I wanted a moody silhouette type shot of the boats and leave it at that.

Then we drove on to Sam's Club which I always like visiting. So much so in fact that I went all touristy and took a self portrait. I know, pretty sad, huh ? Well I went to all the embarrassment of taking it (several times in fact) so it's damn well going to get posted here.


I'm still not 100% comfortable taking photos inside stores as I always think I'm going to be thrown out for breaking some rule or other and so this next photo was taken so fast that it's too blurred to read the description sticker very well. I just wanted a record of how little a 47" HD lcd tv costs over here and yet as prices tumble, it'll seem like a LOT of money in years to come.


The next photo is for all those men out there who like to don the old apron and feel the need to show off how they can burn large hunks of meat on the most impressive bbq on the market. This probably isn't in that category but it can't be far from it. Remember this is all one unit !


I'm not sure I could even get it on my back patio but if I could, I'd have to cook on it from over the neighbour's hedge and I'd be feeding the whole street with what it could produce.

Then we went a few miles up the coast to Vero Beach (see previous posts for beach photos). By now we were a bit peckish so we made good use of a little takeaway sub and pizza place just across the road and bought 2 huge slices of pizza for $5 which were perfect for keeping the hunger pangs at bay. We ate at a lovely little picnic area just at the edge of the beach. Deb wanted me to make sure her diet drink was visible for all to see and I also got my astronaut signed NASA mug in shot.

That's the drinks 'mug' and not my face.


After a few hours on the beach, we headed back to the motel and the place looked quite photogenic at sunset. Here is the view as you approach the motel......


And finally, here is a view of the outdoor pool with a few palm trees for THOSE of you who like that sort of thing. You know who you are !


It was a lovely final weekend for me here in Florida as right now I'm about to start packing for the trip back to England tomorrow. In many cases, photographs are my only memories and so I hope you've enjoyed the ones I've posted on this blog over the last 6 months.

Now I'll be going back to buildings that are more than 30 years old, restaurants that charge for all soft drinks after the first one, spending my monthly pension filling up at a petrol station, stepping around all the litter on the streets and treating an umbrella as a vital accessory every time I step outside the house.

I'm thinking of staying and claiming political asylum.