Mom, Yuengling & Gators

Arrived at Mom's in New Port Richey last night to a big hug and some big smiles! Took a long walk around the neighborhood to stretch our legs, then Mom & I had the requisite "cup of tea" followed by a few hours of laughter and conversation long into the night.

 In the morning we decided to head to Tampa to take the Yuengling Brewery tour at noon. Thought we had plenty of time to get there so we stopped for a short visit to Green Key Beach before heading south toward Tampa. As it turned out, we did not actually have any extra time - the entire 35 or so miles were on stop and go roads with red light after red light so we just made it by the skin of our teeth! I believe we walked in to the brewery at 11:59.  We had just enough time to sign up (and for the girl at the desk to razz Andre about wearing a Samuel Adams Brewery shirt) before they herded us outside to start the tour. Here are some photos from the brewery tour.

All the beer brewed at the Tampa location is currently brewed in these two massive kettles

Yuengling is the oldest brewery in the United States

Mom & I enjoying our free samples

After we were done at the brewery we stopped for lunch at a Panda Express for some Chinese food, then got out the map to see if we could locate a park that my Mother and sister Kat had been to many years ago. It turned out we we were actually pretty close to it, so we headed to Lettuce Lake Park which is very near to the University of South Florida campus. The park was amazing to say the least. In fact, it was so awesome that I forgot to take very many pictures. We walked on the beautiful raised boardwalk structures through what seemed like a jungle to us with lush plants and wildlife surrounding us. At a number of points it opened up to the lake and although it was a hot day, we remained cool in the shade of the gorgeous trees and greenery.

After enjoying seeing a variety of birds including assorted Heron's, Ibis', Wood Storks and more, we got on to the real adventure of seeing a variety of snakes, turtles and yes, Alligators!  It was very cool and we hung out for quit a while, eyes carefully glued to the trees and swampy water close to us for snakes and also the shore across the lake where numerous alligators could be seen sunning and slowly moving in the water. If you look at the photo below (one of the few I took), you can make out the black snake who was cradled among the tree roots sunning himself.

After all the excitement of the gators & snakes, we went back to Mom's for a light dinner and a rousing evening of SCRABBLE. Clearly, we'd had all the excitement we could take for one day. Andre lost all three games then went to bed. Mom & I stayed up and gloated awhile.  Can't imagine a better day....