Day 2!

Day 2 started out a bit slow. We all slept in and we didn't get moving really until around 10am (us first, then Gabe) and even then, we took a lot of time getting out the door. By the time we eventually went to go get "breakfast" it was really lunch time. We tried getting breakfast at a nearby IHOP, but the line was 45 minutes long for some crazy reason so we grabbed a cab and headed up to Pier 60, a few blocks down the road.

Before we left, we decided to check out a local kid-friendly activity, a "pirate cruise" on a rather piratey-looking boat out into the ocean. Gabe had seen these guys the first morning we were here and we were happy to see that they had a 2:00pm tour. I called in a reservation for the 2pm tour and we headed out to go eat just after that.

We ended up at another Crabby Bill's. This one was actually fairly different than the smaller version we'd gone to the day before and we all chowed down on some great seafood. After our excellent meal, we headed down to Captain Memo's. We stood at the dock for a while and they started boarding about 1:30pm or so.

We had a blast on this little cruise! Okay, so first off, we got our picture taken with the Captain and as we were some of the first ones on board, got to sit in the foredeck with a family of 7 from Scotland (only 10 people allowed up there and it was first-come, first-served seating). We had the best view on the ship and took lots of great pictures. From the start of the trip, all the kids and Gabe went down to the main deck of the boat and started playing games. The crew really kept the kids occupied throughout the entire trip with tons of fun games. They all got water pistols and shot all the adults (who were happy to get a little wet in the heat!) and then hunted down one of the guests who dressed up in a pirate outfit. They told pirate stories, studied maps, talked about buried treasure, -hunted- for buried treasure on board the ship (and everybody found some), they all got pirate necklaces, even played musical chairs for prizes. There were free drinks for everyone (sodas, lemonaide, etc. for the kids and free wine and beer for the grown-ups!). Toward the end of the trip, we spotted a pod of bottlenose dolphins swimming out to sea and amazingly, the Captain turned the ship around to follow them! We actually sort of trolled after then for a about 20 minutes or so, watching for them to surface and directing the ship toward them at a slow, non-threatening pace. Eventually, we literally got right up on top of them and Gabe was probably in the best seat in the house to just look right down and watch these amazing dolphins right there in front of the boat. We got some great photos and everyone was happy with their dolphin experience when we finally turned around and headed back to the dock. Overall, the cruise was a total success and we would highly recommend it!

Since the cruise was a bit long (2 hours), and since we had planned to visit Lisa's friends Amy and Matt again later in the evening, we had to hurry to get cleaned up. Their house is about 30-45 minutes away from our hotel, so by the time we got there it was around 6:30pm or so. They had volunteered to watch Gabe for us for a few hours so that we could go out and have a little date while we were here. So after about 30 minutes of hanging out with them, we headed out to find a sunset and a nice dinner.

We went to Madeira Beach, which is just north of Treasure Island. We had to do a little walking, but eventually found a great stretch of beach where we took a stroll and watched the sunset. We went back to a little place along the boardwalk called "Scully's" and had a relaxing dinner.

We ended up picking Gabe up and were back on the road by around 10:30 or 11:00 after a short visit. Gabe had a blast with Amy's kids and they made lots of crafty things for him to take home as souvenirs and mementos. Gabe has definitely made some new friends! :)

After a long drive home, we are turning in to get a good jump start on the day tomorrow. It's going to be busy! We have a late checkout (noon) planned and Gabe wants to get a little bit of time on the beach again before we leave for Orlando. Tomorrow we check into our Disney hotel and start our Walt Disney World adventure!!

Lots to do! Time for sleep! :)