I'm sorry, but I have to interrupt this Disney Trip Report for a day that is un-Disney. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
The plan was for Grandpa & I to get 9 holes in at a local course, then fore everyone to head over the gulf coast for lunch and a little playtime at the beach.
The nice course we golfed at in October was full, but there was another just a few miles away. Grandpa had golfed it before, and called it "pasture land". It was our only option, so we headed out first thing in the morning.
The place is called Bramble Ridge, at for 9 holes with a cart was $17. Calling this place pasture land is an insult to grass-grazing livestock everywhere. I swear some of the greens were spray painted, and I almost twisted an ankle walking through some of the fairways. It was actually quite funny, and we ended up having good time. The golf was good enough, especially at that price. I was pretty worried, though. After the Lake Buena Vista course had stolen most of my balls, I started today with only 5 in my bag. I played pretty good, though and ended the round with only one.
After golfing, we headed back to meet the rest of the family.
Grandma & Grandpa had some coupons for a place called Jimmy Guana's over in Indian Shores. We packed up our stuff for the day and headed out on I-4 towards Tampa. We cruising along just fine until we hit absolute deadlock in Tampa. It was around 10:30 in the morning and it looked like the middle of rush hour. I soon learned why the intersection of I-4 and I-275 was called "Malfunction Junction"
After a few minutes of bumper to bumper, we were clear of the city of Tampa and driving out over Tampa Bay.
I'd like to say that we were soon pulling into the parking lot of the restaurant, but we weren't. It's still quite a drive once you get over the bay to the coast. Including one gas station bathroom stop for Evan where I encouraged him not to wash his hands. Whatever he would pick up from touching that sink would be far worse than what he would be washing off.
Jimmy Guana's is a dock-side restaurant in the Holiday Inn in Indian Shores. They feature fresh caught seafood:
...and a bit of local wildlife in every kid's drink:
It was of course fake, the kids both loved playing with them. It came sitting across the top of the cups, but the kids had more fun drowning them.
The weather was fantastic. Mid 70's, with a nice breeze coming off the channel next to us. The food was out of this world, too. I had a Grouper Sandwich, Bambi had some kind of steak or chicken pasta, I don't recall which.
Bellies full, we pulled out of there looking for a spot to park along the beach. We passed several tiny lots that were full, but eventually found one that was almost empty. I think it was in Reddington Beach, but I'm not positive. The weather was fine, but the water was still pretty cold that time of year.
A family portrait around the caste compound that we built
Madison and Grandma were having fun racing up and down the beach. They would go about 50-100 feet, turn around and run back. Evan wanted to get in on the racing too, so he took off. And didn't stop. After he ran a few hundred yards, he stopped, looked back at us, turned around kept running. Not sure if/when/where he would stop, I took off after him. He looked back a few times, but kept running. I finally caught up to him after what had to be close to 1/4 mile. We started walking back, but he was totally pooped out and only made it about 30 feet before I carried him the rest of the way.
We packed up the van and continued heading south. We were going to avoid Tampa on the way back as it would have been right in the middle of rush hour. We planned to take our time on the way back and see some more of the coast. We ended up crossing the Sunshine Skyway Bridge at the mouth of Tampa Bay. Woooooo, is that thing a sight at over 190 feet above the water.
We made our way back to Lakeland where we had dinner at a place called Red Elephant Pizza. They're a small chain in Florida. We ordered two pizzas, and both were cooked wrong. One was supposed to be half pineapple, and it came out with pineapple on the entire thing. The other was supposed to be a large, but came out as a medium. The manager came over to the table and apologized up a storm. 8 minutes later, she personally delivered the correct pizzas, along with a $10 gift certificate. So even on a non-Disney day, we got Disney-level service!
Up next: Hollywood Studios and a very unexpected character meeting.
I think it means I need to buy more stuff next time.
Or book more vacations. I think I will go with that one. The kids don't need school do they?
I actually did read your update during my lunch break Friday, but didn't have time to post a response, since I had to get back to work. That's why you see a Saturday response. Way more than you wanted to know, huh? Looking forward to more!
That should give us enough vacations for the year. 
I just like the pirate smiley.
