Renewal Leave - Part Twelve - Family Reunion

Russ and Karen came down from Georgia to spend time on Treasure Island for the week. They invited us up to visit with them. While we were there, their daughter Sydney came over and also another cousin Faith and her son Will. So good to spend time with everyone. 

 

Beach Time

Last week, Lydia's family was able to come to Siesta Key beach for a few days and Wesley was able to spend a lot of time with them. They got some great pictures one evening on the beach together. 

 

Renewal Leave - Part Eleven - Tour of Tampa Day

I also had a Tampa day last week. I started out on Wallace Circle (off Manhattan and Gandy) visiting our hold house there. It used to have a car port where the window and chairs are but it looks so nice now. 

Then I popped over to the Catholic church off Manhattan where I attended preschool, St. Patrick's Catholic Church. 

From there I drove up Bayshore Boulevard and over to University of Tampa. There's a wonderful bookstore/restaurant/coffee bar across from campus called the Oxford Exchange that I wanted to check out. You could get lost in here for hours. 

Then it was time to visit the Henry B Plant Museum in the old Tampa Bay Hotel, now part of the University of Tampa. The museum is in the part of the first floor. This is the hotel that Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders stayed at before they deployed to Cuba. And then I wandered through the gardens outside a bit. 

I finished up the day at Channelside downtown at the Tampa Bay History Center along the Riverwalk. This is a fabulous history of our area spread over three floors. It included a lot of history about the Seminole Indian tribes and also the cigar industry history in Ybor City. I took the stairs and came across the original sign from the old Maas Brothers store in downtown Tampa. 

On the top floor there was an observation deck where you had views of Harbour Island and the Port. 

 

Rays Game

Wesley went to a Rays game with a friend last week and they caught 4 balls during batting practice! 

That sort of made up for the fact that the Rays lost the game. 

 

Worship and Labyrinths

Over the past few weeks I've visited a few different non UMC churches on the weekends, all with labyrinths. There were all good visits, but I definitely missed our Wesleyan theology. 

First up was St. Boniface Episcopal Church on Siesta Key. 

Then I visited Church of the Palms in Sarasota, which is PCUSA, and where I have sung the Messiah at Christmas. They were worshipping in their family life center during a sanctuary renovation. 

And finally this past weekend, I visited the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Sarasota. 

 

Renewal Leave - Part Ten - Pinellas County Day

This week I took a Pinellas County day. I drove to Boca Ciega Millennium Park 

in Seminole to walk along the boardwalks and I went up the observation deck. 

Beautiful views of the Boca Ciega Bay. 

Then I drove a short ways up the road to Largo to visit my good friend Latricia at her new church Anona UMC. We went out to lunch and had so much fun laughing together. 

From there I drove over to downtown St. Pete to walk along the pier and visit the St. Pete History Museum. 

I finished up the day a few blocks away from Tropicana Field at the Woodson Museum of African American History, which has exhibits connected to local history as well as some connected to the Smithsonian. It was very informative and I loved the statue of Harriet Tubman in the garden.