I graduated from the University of Florida in May 2000 and I was going off to grad school the following fall, so no plans to actually get a job or anything boring like that. Oh no, that summer Kevin and I planned to do a 6 week cross country road trip stopping mostly at National Parks. (It was incredible.) But... the weeks before that trip we were apart. He was home in Tampa working with his uncle doing AC installations. Meanwhile I was off for two weeks in Greece with my Mom and then back home in West Palm doing... who knows. I probably went to the beach a lot. I grew up spoiled. Don't hate.
I'm not sure how many times Kevin made it over to West Palm or I to Tampa before our road trip but I do know we planned two big let's-be-tourists-in-our-own-backyards dates. In my part of the world we spent a day at the Miami Metro Zoo. Not the most romantic of dates as my best friend, Michelle and her younger cousin came with. Also, this will forever be remembered as the day we watched a giraffe drink another giraffe's pee. AS IT WAS PEEING. True story.
Don't get me wrong, we had a lot of fun, but our Tampa date was bit more of a traditional, romantic date. We spent the day at the Dali museum in St. Pete and that evening we had dinner and dessert at Bern's, a landmark restaurant in Tampa founded in 1956. According to Wikipedia George W. Bush ate there twice during his presidency and Rachel Ray dubbed it the best restaurant period in 2009. So yeah, it's got a good reputation.
I got it in my head recently that we should we recreate this date. A dozen years later... we were overdue, huh?
We were supposed to have this date in August for our anniversary, but then our church scheduled VBS and we decided to help out with that. It took till now for our reschedule.
But today! We had our date! Yay culture! Yay good food! Yay kid-free anything!
The Dali Museum moved last year. The collection now has a beautiful new home built and designed just for it.
Me on the spiral staircase.
On the staircase, looking up at the dome.
Maybe you've got cooler fall temps, but it's so hot in Florida clocks and park benches are melting away. Also, my legs are very shiny.
A little wind blown.
Nice 'stache, Kevin.
First we did a one hour tour with a docent, then we went back through with our little audio devices, then we played around outside. I think we were inside looking at the art for almost three hours and then oustide playing and walking around for at least another half hour.
Such an amazing place.
Then we walked on Central (downtown St. Pete's main drag), grabbed a snack, and bought some vinegar at Kalamazoo Olive Company iInfused with ginger and honey - so yummy, can't wait to cook with it! (Which is so not a thought I would have had 12 years ago.)
We came back to Kevin's parents till dinner time. We ended up not going to Bern's for dinner, just dessert. Instead we went to Ceviches', a tapas place I'd been to in downtown Orlando and loved, so we gave the Tampa location a try. Afterwards it was off to the Bern's dessert room (upstairs from where dinner is served).
Before dinner. No worries, Kevin did put on shoes. (Real shoes too, not flip flops.)
12 years later and the same things make us happy - art, food, and, believe it or not, each other.
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