GEEZERS ANNUAL FLORIDA TRIP                              2015
Geezers R. B., S. B., and J.Bo hopped a plane and headed for Tampa, Florida to meet up with Snowbirds Spike, and Fergie along with current Floridian, Jimbo Fish. It is an Annual thing with which we work in watching the Super Bowl together. This is a picture of my tray table on the plane.This is a shot of R. B.'s tray table. The next couple of pics are those I took from my cramped window seat on the plane as we were approaching the airport in Tampa.Another picture from plane approaching Tampa.Driving on the Tampa Causeway in our rented KIA Sportage.We didn't make it too far down the causeway before we stopped at the Bahama Breeze to meet up with Swish and Fish.When we pulled into the Bahama Breeze parking lot Swish and Fish were waiting for us. The first thing most of us did was order a Bloody Mary and then have lunch.Maybe we had more than ONE Bloody Mary.Nothing like an after dinner cigar courtesy of Swish. This was the view from our room.This is a "Birds-Eye" view of the Gulf.Here is our Entertainment Director, R. B., planning out our day.A shot of the inside of our room after we checked in. We were getting ready to head down to the Tiki Bar for our first day. Here we are on the deck of the Tiki Bar having a few drinks while listening to a solo act perform on the Tiki Bar stage.R. B., and Spike checking their cell phones. The excitement is buidling. This is what you call "heaven"! An exclusive Padron cigar, and a Shephard's Pina Colada.That evening we ate dinner at a Greek Pizza place near our hotel. They are noted for NOT having very good Gyros. S. B. (Dougie) ordered a side of Anchoves and was scarfing them down one by one. Yuck!The next morning we headed out to Pasedena (Florida) to drive S. B. to see his cousin for the day. She lives in a high rise condo similar to the one in this photo.Once we dropped S. B. off we had to slow down on our way out to make sure we didn't go over the speed limit. How do you go 1/2 MPH?This is the mode of transportaion in Florida. The trolley. We stayed in the area as we were close to Treasure Island, Florida where a Sloppy Joe's is located. Here is the deck at Sloppy Joe's right on the Gulf.R. B. and I became disoriented. I know that it is hard to believe. We didn't recognize the place from the deck. This is the entrance way from the front of the place where we came in the last time we were there. We ended up ordering the Triple Sliders. They serve them with 1 Sloppy Joe, 1 Pulled Pork sandwich, and 1 Cheeseburger. Or you can order any combo that you want. For dessert, I had a Pina Colada. They can become habit forming. Before we left Treasure Island, R. B. and I stopped at Jons Pass where we found a Hooters. Go to our MEDIA page to see pics from there. Evenings at the Tiki Bar at Shephard's is Entertaiment City. Weather permitting they have some kind of entertainment during the aternoon, and Live Bands in the evening. This was a great band called Frequency. Go to our MEDIA page to see a couple of short videos of them performing.Here was a Pirate. Well some guy dressed as a pirate, who stopped by our table for a short time. Why? We never asked! Here are the Geezers at one of our fave stops. Tommy's Tiki Hut outside of the Hilton in Clearwater Beach. We had just come from Hooters in Clearwater. Go to our MEDIA page on the website for pics at Clearwater Hooters. There are a ton of Goodyear Snowbirds in Florida during the winter. We ran into a fellow associates at Tommy's Tiki Hut, Jerry Gorbach. We all go back a long way with him and his wife who was also a Goodyear Associate.Here is Spike sitting at Tommy's Tiki Hut with a beach game called something like Hang The Ring On The Hook. This is a game on a surf board That we play at Dusty's Yacht Club on Portage Lakes. However, there the hook is on the wall. Here is a larger version of the game on a real surf board.As in years past we found the giant chess board that is played on the sand.This is what happens when you are in a room that sleeps 3 but with 5 guys sharing it. R. B. normally sleeps on the pull-out couch. But he gave it up for Spike (Swish). He was on the floor.This not Aquaman. It's Spike. This is why he needed to sleep here so he could plug in his CPAP Machine for sleeping. This WAS Jimbo sleeping on one side of my bed. When I woke up to go to the potty he was standing by the refrigerator. We later found out that he was sleep walking OUTSIDE in his stocking feet. And then there was S. B. (Dougie). He didn't want any part of the goings on. He was hiding under the sheets. But did he offer half of his bed up to Jimbo! NOOOOOOOOOO!When we were all awake. most of us headed to Frenchy's On The Beach for a bite to eat before the Shephard's Super Bowl Party. This is a shot of the bar area or The Beach Bar, they call it. We got separated but four of us ended up here. We had two cars.Once we were all together we secured a table out on the beach deck. Here are Spike (L) and R. B. taking in the great weather that we had.S. B. sipping on a Bloody Mary out on the deck on the beach.I (J.Bo) was there too!This is the view we had from our table out on the beach. After Frenchy's we hitailed it over to Shephard's to meet all of the other Geezers including The Candyman, and his wife Mary Ann who were in the area, and decided to join us for the game. This is a picture of the whole group taken by one of the waitresses. We applaud her effort, but she cut out Spike! Go back to the last photo to see him with the group.OH OH.....Looks like I put on a picture from last year at Shephard's. This is our waitress Melissa.......Or Is It?And here, in person, is our long lost Geezer, The Candyman (Verg Gipson). He and his wife Mary Ann were in the area and joined us for the Super Bowl. We haven't seen him much the last couple of years. This is an anomaly, I think. Here is Little Bob Coastas on a Big Screen TV.Here is another picture of the presentation of the game outside.Idina Menzel sang the National Anthem for the Super Bowl. And believe it or not John Travolta was in attendance. The cameras panned him during her performance. What was great was everyone stood up and took off their hats (Except for a couple of weirdos) for the National Anthem.Play on the field.Katy Perry! What else can I say?Katy Perry Up Up And Away!After the game was over a couple of young ladies were walking by us, and they saw my Ohio State gear. I think they were from Youngstown. I was trying to make an "O" in this picture.This is a Pirate Ship that goes up and down the gulf near Shephard's. I guess the ship just sailed out into the sunset in the next picture!Nice sunset in Clearwater Beach.
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This page was last updated: February 9, 2015