Well Friday was a great day with lots of activity, good eatin' and perfect weather for being outside. Temps in the middle 70's NO humidity and bright sunshine, Wow!! One couldn't ask for a better weather day.
We started the morning with sleeping in until nearly 7'ish. I was meeting with some A players in pickle ball at a different facility at 9 so there was no need to hurry. We did our morning routines, a few quiet moments and then I had some cereal for a change for breakfast as I was playing later and longer with little or no breaks so I needed the fuel for energy besides just an apple. Nancy was heading out to her Friday morning Bible study and then we planned on meeting back here for a quick snack for lunch before heading up to Oldsmar and the Tampa Bay Downs Racetrack.
I pedaled out to the Rec. where I met up with another player who drove us and I left my bike there. We got to the Rec. in Pinellas Park and while its not as nice or as large as our complex the gym was set up strictly for us players. We had 10 players 9 guys and 1 female. I had played with some of these guys and gal and against in tournaments over the years. Needless to say these were all top ranked players in this pickle ball region. Well we teamed up much like at our place with winners splitting up to take on new opponents and I only lost with the gal in the first match with just 2 points separating the score. (you have to win by 2). From then on I was with the winning team through out the morning and I left after 2 hours with a soaked shirt. We plan on doing this every Friday and this facility only charges 2 bucks a head to play on this day. It was great to play again with the best players in the area.
Nancy got home shortly after me and we had chicken salad roll ups before getting ready to drive up to Oldsmar. We got there after about a 45 minute drive and just after the first race. Most of the horses were new and had very little experience. We won two races betting on long shots but the pay outs were slim but enough we were entertained for 6 or 7 races to where we spent fifteen bucks for the whole afternoon while betting on each of those races. We saw one horse rear and throw his jockey and eventually that horse was the one we bet one and he was scratched from the race. There were some close photo finishes and we had a grand time picking and choosing while learning from seasoned players around us. It was a fun time and our yearly contribution to the upkeep of the horses.
We had met up with the Tracy's and his sister Meg and Jim. We sat together and should have listened to Kathryn as she picked the right winners in couple of races and made some big payouts compared to our paltry winnings. We had such a fun time and left in the 8th race around 4 PM. We drove down through Safety Harbor and ate at a small restaurant called Southern Fresh which the Tracy's recommended and is unlike most eatery's. It's in a house and has plenty of outside seating and as we learned you needed reservations for the evening meal. We got there in between the lunch and dinner crowd but we saw the evening groups filled in quickly. It has a small menu but all of what we had and saw served were exciting and delicious. We had a great server who was alone when we got there but by the time we left at 6 there were 6-7 servers and several cooks we could see through the back half door. They had a smoker in the back loaded with chicken wings and also a one man band on the patio on weekends. This is a neat small city with most of the clientele from the art and croissant crowd which line the streets with their boutiques. However there were many in the older crowd as well. We both had the chicken; mine was fried the old fashion way and Nancy had the rotisserie. The smashed taters with gravy were the best ever along with southern style green beans and her roasted veggie medley was the best ever. We started with sharing a bowl of BLT soup which was very flavorful and delicious and ended with a chocolate tuxedo bomb for dessert. That was so decadent and we literally scraped the dish clean. All of this at about 20 bucks per person.
Well it was close to dark by the time we got back home and then Nancy tried for two hours to down load the pictures she took, but after speaking with a Cannon rep he thinks the problem is the USB cord. So I will post pictures later on this days events. It wasn't long after a shower and some Gold Rush Show I was quickly falling asleep in the middle of the show. What a busy fun filled day as we had a date day celebrating Nancy's birthday just the two of us, LATER
