Easter on the beach?!

Well, Easter Sunday started conventionally with mass at a beautiful Spanish style church where the priest released monarch butterflies at the end of the sermon!  The rest of the day was not our usual, as we spent the afternoon at Clearwater Beach.  The Gulf water was beautifully warm (warmer than our pool at home!) and the sand was fine & white.

There is still evidence of a recent hurricane...

Clearwater Bay

As we were heading back to the hotel, we heard a great blues band playing and decided to continue our unorthodox Easter in an open-air bar on the beach!  Even better... it was Happy Hour so drinks were 2 for $5.  We dined on the most fabulous shrimp and enjoyed the music until a thunderstorm sent everyone packing.

Jim finally found an alternate mode of transportation that Cel would agree to!

Next we were on to Gainesville, home of the University of Florida Gators.  Jim was in his element as we toured the Basketball Stadium,

the Baseball Stadium,

the swimming/diving facilities,

indoor

outdoor

and the tennis facilities.

Most impressive though was the football stadium...

Just imagine the excitement of 90,000 rabid fans as they attend a home game in "The Swamp"?!

After Jim's university application was rejected yet again, he contemplated ending it all "gator style".

He was easily talked out of it though, as we headed off to Tallahassee - Florida's state capital!