Florida (as many other places) you don’t need a liquor license to serve beer or wine. So there are many restaurants that only serve beer or wine, or drinks derived from either one. I guess it’s so there can be more restaurants for the tourists, and I believe that liquor licenses are not available to all the restaurants on a street like my towns drive along the water. There are 5 or 6 restaurants within about ¼ mile, just lined up, and not all have a full license. Or maybe it’s the cost of a license, I don’t know. Anyway, I digress.

Last night we went to a wine tasting, at a little place in St. Pete, a tiny storefront. They sell only a few dozen wines, mostly European, and a few California wines. They have bar tables and stools where you can sit and have a glass of wine. The only food they serve is a plate of cheeses or a plate of calabrese and cheese. It’s very laid back, as this area is. The owner walks around barefoot, his dog is parked on the floor, and other dogs are welcome. Kinda crazy but that’s the way it is down here. Very pet friendly.

It was a blind tasting. We tasted 6 different wines, 3 white and 3 red. They schedule 3 tastings every first Friday night, at 6, 7, and 8. There were 11 people in our group. It was a lot of fun, we met some people, and tasted and learned about the wines. All six were from Spain, all were good. We bought one bottle of red. It was a fun and different t hing to do.

Today a good friend took us out sailing for the day on his 37’ Cape Dory sailboat. Neither of us has experience sailing, but this guy is planning at some point to sail around the world, and I think he probably will do it, God willing. I steered his boat quite a bit, when he was messing with the sails. The wind was light, around 10 knots, and the seas were basically calm. We stayed a few miles offshore of the barrier beaches. It was a flawless day, hot but clear, and sunny and absolutely no threat of rain. First time in months there has been no threat at all of thunder showers anywhere in the area. We were out all day, from 11 or 12 to about 6. It was awesome to be out on the water, and not be worrying about fixing something, lol. We saw dolphins, and a few other fish jumping. Dolphins are such a regular occurrence here, I am feeling like I can’t take every appearance of them personally, even though I’d like to.

So, we’re home now, gonna shower and settle in with some TV. Been a couple of really nice days down here in paradise.

Love and light to all.