Florida Sunshine!

During a cold wet weekend in April, Team Jones headed South to sunny Florida!

We visited with Amanda's Aunt Joyce who lives on Siesta Key and enjoyed a local brunch of bloody marys and sauerkraut hot dogs before heading to Saint Petersburg for Derrick and Megan's wedding.

Derrick and Megan had their wedding in the beautiful Sunken Gardens in St. Pete. We had a lot of fun celebrating with their family and friends. Here is a photo of Sue, Derrick and Joe who had a mini gamecock reunion during the reception.

We stayed at the Inn at the Bay in St. Petersburg. We chose this bed and breakfast because of its two course gourmet breakfast, and we were not disappointed. The first morning we had a crab cake with lemon sauce and young asparagus tips, followed by coconut cranberry pancakes. It was exquisite. Breakfast the second day had a tough act to follow, but it was delicious with an egg benedict, followed by a berry crumble. So good.

The Inn at the Bay was located just two blocks from the beach and walking distance to everything downtown. We walked everywhere, and one of us had the blisters to prove it after sprinting to Derrick and Megan's rehearsal dinner, in heels. The dinner was at a fabulous Cuban restaurant at the end of the pier. Again, the food, and the sangria, were amazing. We did arrive and check into our room with plenty of time to spare, but we were running late because the feather bed in our room was too comfy and we were lulled into a nap.

While in St. Pete. we enjoyed the beaches, strolled through an art festival and had some delicious gelato for lunch. I know... Gelato? ...for lunch? Yes! It was our vacation.

Even better than the food was the time we were able to spend with friends, both old and new. Two warm and interesting people we met were Derrick's best man and neighbor, Kevin and his wife, Laurel. Kevin and Laurel keep bees and invited us to check out their hives before driving back to South Carolina. This was an opportunity we could not pass up. Here is Kevin and Joe dressed in bee keeper gear.

We learned a lot and were even sent home with some yummy honey.
Thank you Kevin and Laurel!
On the drive back we stopped and bought some Florida grapefruit.
We couldn't pass up the opportunity to buy fresh citrus.
It was a great trip filled with family, friends, delicious food, and sunshine.

Here is the bee version of "Where's Waldo." Do you see the queen?