Not Done Eatin' Either

We are so happy to have Claire and Brenden join us for a few days. We picked them up at the Tampa airport Friday night and took them to dinner at one of our new favorite restaurants Aqua Prime. It just opened in April, and is less than a mile from our rental house, so Bill and I have walked there a few times. Besides being very tastefully decorated, it has an outside eating area and really, really good food. Everything we have had was delicious, from the Berkshire pork shortribs, to the pasta with shrimp and mussels. I also highly recommend the gulf grouper sandwich and the burgers.

Saturday's excursion was to Dunedin, Florida, which has, in my opinion, the best quilt shop in the country. It's called Rainbow's End Quilt Shoppe, and it has over 20,000 bolts of fabric! Claire, I'm thrilled to report, is learning how to quilt, so she and I had a great time choosing fabric to buy. Don't feel sorry for the guys, though...we found them at the local brewery having a fine time. When Claire and I joined them at the bar, they were chatting with a guy from Churchville (small world!). On the way to Dunedin, we wondered how to pronounce the name of the town. Well, we will never forget how to say "Dunedin" now, because when I asked the bartender what the correct pronunciation was, he quipped, "It's Dunedin, like, I'm done eatin, but I'm not done drinkin'!" Too funny.

Sunday started with a bargain breakfast at JD's Restaurant. For $6.50, I had two eggs, three slices of bacon, home fries, and two pancakes! JD's is another restaurant we can walk to...love the location of our house! We ended the night back in Dunedin (alas, the quilt shop was closed) to have dinner at Bon Appetit, which has first class service and gorgeous water views. Bill really enjoyed the Pasta Jambalaya. One of the nice things about this restaurant is you can choose between the small or large portion of most entrees.

Another restaurant I have to mention is Marlin Darlin in Belleair Bluffs. Mom treated us to dinner there the other night. The lobster bisque is to die for, and my entree was perfect. I had "Sea bass, pan seared with wilted arugala, blistered tomatoes, and a pine nut Nueske bacon crunch with red skin mash". OMG was it yummy! My grapefruit cosmo wasn't bad either:)

Although we have been enjoying the local restaurants, we've also cooked meals at the house. My sister Lisa made us an excellent dinner when she was here. Lee grilled NY strip steaks, and Lisa made Caesar salad and smashed small potatoes. It certainly tasted like we were at a first-class restaurant! And as I write this, my son-in-law is cooking up some eggs and bacon for today's breakfast. As you can see...we're not done eatin!