Warning. Long.
We took a long weekend to Paradise Lakes to belatedly celebrate our 20th Anniversary. We rented a 1 bedroom vacation condo. It was a nice size for a long weekend, with a living room, very small kitchenette and bedroom with king-size bed. We were amused to find that there was a large mirror on the bedroom ceiling!
We relaxed at the pool Saturday afternoon, which was the busiest time at the resort during our stay. We played some ping pong and had lunch at the poolside bar.
There's a new SuperTarget near PL, so we ran over there for groceries. Getting dressed was a burden. We ate breakfast and sometimes lunch on an outdoor patio across from the condo. It was really pleasant to simultaneously eat al fresco and au naturel. Wow, Italian and French in the same sentence.
Saturday evening we had dinner at the restaurant at PL. Food was pretty good. After dinner we tried out the hot tub and shot a round of billiards. We peeked into the night club, L'attitudes, but we aren't night club people so we didn't stay. Maybe next time.
On Sunday we hit the tennis ball around, and then Steve got invited to join in on some doubles with other tennis players, which he enjoyed. There's still the question of where to put the second ball. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />
Steve played some water volleyball in the afternoon on Sunday, but found it a little difficult to adjust from regular volleyball, particularly the narrowness of the pool.
Sunday afternoon Becky got a massage from Joyelle. She said it was very good.
Sunday afternoon, during the bubble party in the conversation pool, which is an elongated semi-hot tub, we encountered a drunken swinger. She spilled her life story to us in about 4 minutes or so. Since we weren't interested she eventually left us alone.
Sunday night we went out for dinner. Our intended restaurant was closed in an out-of-business sort of way. Not being familiar with Tampa area we settled on a nearby Friday's.
Monday morning Steve played more tennis and Becky did water aerobics at the pool. One of the fellows at aerobics said that Becky was not a real nudist. Odd since she wasn't wearing a swimsuit. We suppose he was merely awkwardly commenting on her tan lines.
Monday afternoon we hit Under the Sun, the boutique by the entrance to PL that specializes in clothes for nudists. That's an interesting contradiction, don't you think? Becky got some flowing pants and three pretty tops. Steve got a new pareo with a pocket and a silk shirt. We avoided the sheer items, since we were leaving the next day.
After shopping, we drove to Honeymoon Island State Park, which is between Clearwater and Tarpon Springs. Not a bad drive and we found a better route coming back to PL that avoided a lot of traffic lights. We lucked out at the beach as it was sunny there, but there were lots of thunderstorms inland. We hit a Mamma Maria's Greek restaurant in Tarpon Springs for dinner. The stuffed grouper was delicious.
Monday night we visited with some newly made friends from Minnesota who helped us consume our food and beverages.
Tuesday was more tennis and water volleyball and relaxing by the pool between intermittent rain showers. Since PL wasn't busy, they let us have a late checkout.
All in all we had a very nice time and hope we can make it back soon.
