A Weekend Of Festivals and Fun (37/90)

The weekend is winding down. And it's been a nice one here in Tampa Bay.

I got into town in the late afternoon on Friday. I don't do well on flights, I almost always get a bit of motion sickness, which isn't enough to stop me from flying.  But this time was a little harder than most because I had a connecting flight, with a layover in Atlanta. What is normally just a two hour trip felt like a day full of flying. By the time that we landed I was just ready to lay down for a bit.


After seven years of living here, I am still enchanted by this city. This beautiful sunset on the drive home  fixed my flying woes pretty quickly.

Mom and I ate dinner at one of my favorite restaurants on Friday night. I had plans to go out and meet friends later,  but I fell asleep on the couch instead.

On Saturday, I heard, via Facebook, that there was an art festival downtown. We decided to check it out. It was at the newly unveiled Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park which overlooks the beautiful architecture that is the University of Tampa, and the city's new art museum.


If the venue wasn't enough, the art was breathtaking and awe-inspiring. There was more than we had time to really take in. We spent nearly two hours walking through the the exhibits that were housed in white tents, exploring. We took  time to express our appreciation to the artists for their work and spent too much time talking, especially when they were friendly.


My mom was really drawn to all of the jewelry and glass art, while I was especially intrigued by the sculptures, paintings, fiber, photography---ok, let's be honest, I was intrigued by all of it although the jewelry was the least exciting for me.


When the exhibits closed for the day, we decided to linger downtown for a little while longer. I introduced my Mom to Five Guys, because I was appalled that she had never eaten, or even heard of their burgers. She loved it as evidenced by the “Mmms,” and long silences at the table and the conversation about them again today.

Later that night I shared a fun but simple night in with friends, which ended with me beating them at a wildly entertaining game of “Things”. And I probably won’t let them forget that.

This morning Mom made a delicious brunch including Apple French Toast. After a bit of lounging around the house we headed to The Strawberry Festival. This was another first for us, though we've talked of going down to get our hands on the famous strawberry shortcake for a few years now.

 This festival was overcrowded and the lines for the strawberry shortcake were outrageous, but we found other things to enjoy.  

My Mom, B.J. and I decided to share some kettle korn. I can’t explain how funny this was, and I can only hope that the cell phone picture does it justice.

My mom is a stickler for a bargain, you see, and her explanation for this huge bag of kettle korn was that it was a good deal. We left a trail behind us as we walked back through the festival to the car. And several hours later, we've yet to make a dent in that bag. 

We got home in just enough time to watch the Oscars and I enjoyed some more of Mom's cooking, an indulgent pasta dish this time.


The weekend is over now. But thankfully, we've got the whole week and another weekend still before us.