Tuesday, August 30, 2022

August Get-Away

Ya'll know that last Friday was our 50th wedding anniversary. We decided to take off last Wednesday morning with no destination in mind other than we wanted to be on a beach. Before going we did an Internet search for beachside condos and hotels, but didn't have a destination city locked-in. Turns out that such spontaneity can be fun and cost-effective!

Stopping at several places to check rates, we chose to stay at Bellwether Resort on St. Pete's Beach (Florida). Turns out that walk-ins get a better price than those making an on-line reservation! We figured our four night stay was half what we would have paid with reservations. Also, the beach was quiet. 

We got a balcony room, beachside - on the Gulf of Mexico - and saw a range of skies and sea colors.


Saturday morning the sky was filled with a full rainbow, and a partial double rainbow. This picture doesn't begin to capture what it really looked like. 

I didn't filter or edit this camera photo of a glorious sunset.

Another treat was visiting the Chihuly Museum in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. 

Dale Chihuly's glasswork is simply amazing. If you ever get a chance to see an exhibit, I highly recommend going. 

Like viewing quilts, it's the colors and designs that had me in awe.

It's difficult to sense the scale of this piece, but imagine... it's about 14 feet from top to bottom. 


Each of these bowl-shaped blossoms was two to three feet across. Remarkable!

One long hallway had this installation on the ceiling. 

This "Fiore" exhibit had a room to itself. 


We spent nearly as much time wondering how in the world the glass was moved - intact - from the glass-blowing facility in Seattle, Washington, to St. Petersburg, as we did trying to figure out how the whole structure was constructed!


We had a lovely time away - easy-going and relaxing. Champagne on our 50th anniversary was courtesy of the Bellwether concierge. Dinner was a walk down the street to Crabby Bill's... a far cry from the A&W Root Beer drive-in we stopped at after our wedding, as we were driving to the Black Hills, South Dakota! We ate chili dogs on August 26, 1972. 😀

During this time away, nary a book was read, nor a stitch taken. But now it's back to business fun, as usual. Just the way we like it. Linda

10 comments:

  1. What a fun impromptu trip! As you can imagine, we've seen a lot of Dale Chihuly's glasswork here in the Seattle area, including Chihuly Garden and Glass which I expect is an exhibit much like you saw.

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  2. Such a lovely and peaceful get away to celebrate your anniversary. The glass exhibition looks amazing.

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  3. Many congratulations to you on your wedding anniversary, love the photos you've shared, wonderful shots of the skies and the exhibition looks amazing.

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  4. What a marvelous time. Love the wedding and bridesmaid dresses. Yes, those were the days.

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  5. Sounds like fun �� I’ve seen Chihuly exhibits several places and agree the work is fascinating. I’m imagining the COST to ship it! Happy anniversary!

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  6. So beautiful and memorable, there on the beach! I'm stunned to hear you got a half price deal by not making reservations!?! I'm with you--how in the world do they transport and set-up those beautiful glass displays?!!

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  7. What a fabulous trip! Love the glassworks, they have the curly one at the Corning museum place south of New York State, got to watch their glass blowing demo 🥰. Happy anniversary 🎉!

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  8. Happy Anniversary to both of you!!! 50 is quite an accomplishment these days and such a wonderful example for others. Sounds like you had a lovely time away from daily life. Beautiful skies. Glorious glass. Chihuly had an installation at the Denver Botanic Gardens a few years ago and it was amazing. I've seen a documentary about him on TV. Perhaps it's still available somewhere as it's worth watching.

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  9. Congratulations on your 50th anniversary. We are celebrating our 50th on September 23rd. My parents retired to St. Petersburg and I always found it a lovely place to visit. Taking off and finding a place to stay "on the fly" worked out brilliantly. I didn't get to comment on your last post, but as usual, I really enjoyed your book reviews. Hope your dad is still improving.

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  10. Congratulations! Celebrating in Style too! Those glass sculptures/art are amazing. Some day I want to go to Seattle to see the gardens. I was tickled to read that you honeymooned in the Black Hills. We did too, just 8 years before you did!

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