A Little Late

I'm a few days late, because Amos and I have been having so much fun, and I decided to extend my stay by about a week. Last time I checked in, we were having a great time in Clearwater, enjoying Amos' boat and going around town doing fun and random things. Since I'm a random type of guy, that suits me just fine. Since I've been in Clearwater, we've been out on the water so much that I feel like I'm getting burnt to a crisp, but I've been pretty responsible and have been applying sunscreen liberally as well as wearing a shirt when it gets a bit too hot (or cold) out. Amos took me and a few of his friends out to a fabulous spot on Clearwater Beach last night called Jimmy's Fish House & Iguana Bar. The restaurant was right on the water with fabulous views, and Amos even called a Limo Service in Clearwater to take us there! He was talking about renting a limousine all week, but this isn't something new for him because he routinely likes to spend his money. Jimmy's was a great place to eat, but the views were even better, and I was upset initially that I forgot my camera to take some pics. Hopefully we can go there again later this week and take some pics. Deep sea fishing today was great. We didn't have the luck that we had in previous days when it was just me and Amos on the water. Amos says that sometimes happens when you bring a bunch of people out on the boat and they have some pretty high expectations. We did catch a couple tuna, and the meat will be thrown on the grill tomorrow night when Amos is going to have a fish grill at his house. Some of his old friends from St. Petersburg are in town, and they all love to grill, drink Corona, and have a great time. I take it a little light on the drinking because I don't like hangovers, but Amos likes to tip them back quite a bit. Such is the life of a boater and fisherman. I extended my stay mainly because Amos got invited down to Tampa to go to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Jacksonville Jaguars game this coming Sunday. He had an extra ticket, and suggested that I stay and go with him, because he and his friends sometimes take a limo to the games, and go to a nice little restaurant outside the stadium before hand. Personally, I like to tailgate when I go to football games, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to go to a football game with Amos. I did take a couple of pictures from the water today so you can see what it was like out there. It was a pretty clear and warm day, and although we didn't have much luck, we still enjoyed the water and I enjoyed the company.   The first pic was while we were waiting for a fish to come on board, and the second is Amos' friend Chris, who had a Tuna on the line before it fell off. He was giving a hell of a fight, and we were hoping to get the fish in the boat, but alas, no luck. I'll be back hopefully later this week or after going to the Bucs game with another update.

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Having a great time in Clearwater

Clearwater, Florida is a gorgeous place. it's been a few years since I've been down here, but clearly, you can see that there's really nothing to dislike. There's been a few times that I've been here, but the views that I've seen on this trip have been especially incredible because Amos has been here for a very long time, and has found all of the great spots to check out. We have spent the majority of our time on the water, which is where Amos likes it most, but we will be venturing inland as well later on this week to do a few fun things. Yesterday we went fishing, and caught a couple groupers and one snapper. Amos said that was a decent day, but he's had much better, especially around this time of year. He likes to take it easy, and not fish all day because of his age and because he gets tired quickly while fishing. If he's simply driving the boat, he can carry on quite a while, but there's a limit to what he can do each day. The same goes for me, and I like to make sure I'm in bed by about 9pm every night so I can get a good rest and wake up early. I've always had that early to bed, early to rise mentality, and that won't change as I get older. Amos has some more fun stuff lined up for us, and I'll try to snap more pictures along the way, but I'm excited for being out on the water a bit more, and he's bringing a few friends out with us fishing on Wednesday, followed by a limo ride out to Clearwater Beach to go to a nice restaurant before I leave town. I never do that kind of stuff, but Amos is pretty well off financially, and likes to treat people well when they come in to town. I'll be back in the next couple days with more news if I can remember, but this trip has so far been a very fun one! Until then, have a great day, and thanks for visiting. Great picture of clearwater

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My Cousin Amos

I've got an Uncle named Amos, and he's about the coolest person I know. He lives just outside of Clearwater, Florida in Dunedin, retired, and spends a lot of his time on his boat either deep sea fishing, or just hanging out on the water in the Gulf of Mexico. He lives a pretty easy life, and loves living near the ocean. Me, I'd rather be landlocked, although the thought of the Florida weather does appeal to me, especially at my age. Amos grew up in North Carolina, and as a kid, I can remember my Father taking me to his house, and we would go fishing at this small lake that he and his Dad had been fishing at for years. I recall catching a ton of fish, a couple snakes, and even pulling up a car tire. Needless to say, we had our fun at that lake, and at Amos's house while we were growing up. Amos' wife died a few years back, and as a result he left North Carolina, where he had spent his entire life, for life in Florida. He says he loves it there, so that's good by me. Since I travel quite a bit nowadays, I thought that I would give Amos a call and see if either one of us would want to visit the other. After catching up on the phone for about 2 hours (it had been about 9 months since we last spoke), I agreed to come down to Clearwater. Amos can be tough sell to get off the water, and it has been over 10 years since I've been to the East Coast, so I agreed to foot the bill for the plane ticket and stay at his house for a week. I leave tomorrow, and Amos already has all the weeklong activities planned. And yes, we'll be spending a ton of time on his boat. I can't wait.

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Welcome

Welcome and thanks for visiting my blog. You can learn more about me through my About page, otherwise just a short hello to say thanks for visiting. Actually, while I'm at it, I might as well tell you about my day today. As you previously learned about me, I'm retired, so I can pretty much do whatever I want with each day as I please. Today, I had plans to go to a model train yard in Greeley, CO, where I am visiting an old friend who I met back in college in Indiana. Ralph invited me out for a weeklong stay at his house, where we could commute to the train yard where he volunteers. Here's a video of the museum, so you can see what a cool place this is Ralph spends quite a lot of time here, and they certainly need a lot of help, which is nice because the whole place is run on volunteers and donations. But the place is incredibly life like, and you see some things created in there that are pretty amazing, especially when it's just about a perfect fit to scale. Ralph and I discussed taking a long distance train trip on Amtrak, which I travelled recently, but Ralph has not travelled for quite some time. That's in the works, and I'm very much looking forward to it. That's all for today, but see you soon.  

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