Florida Sunshine: Tampa & Naples

For me, Tampa was more than just hope for warmth.  It also meant a chance to see family...LOTS of family.  Most of my father's side of the family live(d) in Tampa as I was growing up.  Consequently I have many memories of making the 12 hours drive down from NC after Christmas to spend the rest of the holiday with the Masseys.  60 or 70 degrees on New Years Eve was always weird though!

I was able to stay with my aunt during the week and see almost all 6 of my cousins and their families.  My oldest cousin is a pastor in a new church.  He asked me to sing on that Sunday and played for me as well.  That marked our first "duet" together :)

While it was warmer than Toronto, it wasn't ALL that warm.  In fact, it was quite windy.  That didn't stop us from enjoying the awesome art fair that was going on right outside the theater downtown.  I liked it so much that I made my first real grown-up art purchase.  I was nervous :)  But I got to meet the artist of the unique piece and can't wait to hang it up in my apartment back home!

*I have to mention that I was surprised at one performance by the older couple that was camping next to us last summer in the Adirondack Mountains (see an earlier post).  Can you believe they remembered us from upstate NY!!  I love those kind of stories :)*

Naples gave us the first chance to hit the beach...and we did as soon as the rain stopped :)  It was SO WONDERFUL to sit in the sun.  I definitely got a little more color than I bargained for...cause I guess I was enjoying it too much :)

I also found this fantastic cafe only a couple of miles from our hotel called the Sunburst Cafe.  The owner is Jerome, a Boston transplant who probably makes the best muffins I have ever laid eyes on.  Unfortunately I couldn't eat them myself because of the gluten, but by the smell and my cast members reactions I could tell he knocked it out of the park.  Plus, he was SO generous, giving more than a plateful as gifts to the cast.  The best part was that he brought his family to see our show on Saturday night.  I feel like I made a friend!  So, if you are ever in the area you will be delighted with the food and welcomed by the owners of the Sunburst down in Naples. I got to borrow Melissa's convertible (shown in the pic above) and it was AWESOME! :)

We also had to say goodbye to the smallest member of our cast, Carly Sonenclar, who played Carrie.  She will be missed!

Soon we'll be back in my home state, North Carolina!