My favorite Jamaican market - temporarily closed from a fire! Awesome place!

Tampa Bike Fest 2006

Stunt Shows! Harleys! Hayabusas! Custom Choppers! Exhibitions, goodies and lovely ladies - Tampa Bike Fest 2006 at the USF Sun Dome was a big hit! Lots of bikers braved the cool winds and showed up for a 1st class Bike Fest. There was a bike show and awesome stunts! Motorman, along with his wife, Dr. Donna showed us all the proper way to ride our bikes and intoduced their 16 year old son who drove like a 10 year veteran! Great show! Linda and I met Steve and Adrienne for breakfast and went on to the show. Steve and I both ended up buying a super wheel chalk for our bikes - "boys and their toys...."

Imagine this! Linda and I are out on a sunny Saturday morning - we have a nice breakfast at the Kozy Korner - and where do we end up? YUP, another Harley shop! This is Fletcher's in Clearwater. Just rebuilt 4 years ago, Fletcher's is the oldest Harley dealership in the Tampa Bay area. Just like the others - it is LOADED with lots of Harley goodies that scream out for you to take them home! We may have to put Linda in program to get her off the Harley clothes addiction! Oh well - on we go!

WOW! The grocery stores did not have these when I was growing up!

See ya later!

A Tampa Bay Classic for More Than 65 Years!

On July 3, 1935, Lois (Mamie) Whiteside and her sons, Richard Jr. and Jack proudly opened The Colonnade Restaurant on beautiful Bayshore Boulevard. The two boys were Plant High School students and the restaurant was soon a favorite local hangout for Tampa's teenagers. With the young and young at heart as regulars, "Cruisin at The Nade" became a favorite bay area pastime.

The Colonnade offered a variety of Americana favorites, including hamburgers, fried chicken and a Colonnade original -- an olive in your Coca-Cola®. After World War II, the restaurant began serving what it is now famous for -- fresh seafood. While stationed in San Francisco during the war, Jack became inspired by the West Coast Bay Area's many seafood restaurants. Avid fisherman, the boys were happy to add an array of fresh fish and shellfish entrees to the menu.

Mamie Whiteside always insisted on the freshest and finest ingredients and the family continues to offer their patrons the best of the land and sea. For five generations the Whiteside family has established a tradition of serving a superior product at family prices. This commitment to food excellence coupled with our exceptional service staff and a unique and casual atmosphere, has made The Colonnade a Tampa Bay Classic!

This was one of my "hangouts" in high school! It was a drive-thru back then and they would put an olive in your cokes! We would park our car, get out and prowl for the lovely young ladies! The Colonnade will be torn down soon, and with it - another little connection to my past will slip away. Lots of great times here!

Another beautiful sunset on Tampa Bay. Sometimes we stay in such a rush that we miss the grand gifts from our Creator!

Jim's Harley Davidson in St. Petersburg. A place that has gotten a lot of our $$$.

So Long Bubba..............

Shrimp King - that was the name of my bait & tackle shop in the mid eighties. A lot of wild times and fish stories went on there! We also had a lot of cats around - ALWAYS. I would pawn off cute kittens to customers, neighbors and family - anybody! I gave a few to my next door neighbors - the Meyers. Their few quickly became a bunch - and out of a litter in early 1993 came a awesome little orange fella that Courtney (only 10 then) claimed as her own and started bringing in her room and making a baby of him. Well, Stevie - the neighbors 13 year old like Bubba too - and this led to a few words between the families - all over a 3 pound orange kitten! Bubba ended up with us and quickly became part of the family. When we moved here in 1994, Bubba became our outside "guard cat"! He was pretty unique - he always wanted to be petted and would even crawl up on your leg for a scratch or two. Linda always fixed a box with blankets to sleep in when it got cold and he always had a blanket on the church pew in the carport. When it got real cold, Linda would go out and bring him and let him sleep in the extra bathroom. He could be found sleeping on the Harley or Linda's car hood or any other place that made him feel close to his people. He was a great hunter! Frogs, squirrels, snakes, birds and lizards were among the trophies he left on our welcome mat. He had buddies through the years - George and Country both came when the Genungs moved in 1995 - but none had the personality of Bubba! I have to admit that I have, on more than 1 occasion, said that I would not have any more cats once these were gone. My beef was with the other cats in the neighborhood that would come to eat out of Bubba and buddies' bowls. I even admit that I often took Bubba for granted and was often in too big a hurry to bend over and scratch him. BUT - I ALWAYS fed him and he was my buddy..... I came home today and Bubba was laying by his food bowl and could not move - those that know me know how I felt. It broke my heart - I tried to pick him up and he growled and tried to move but could only move a couple inches - his gums had gone white and he had lost most of the feeling in his back. I wrapped him in a bath towel, put him in his well padded sleeping box and headed off to the vet. I buried Bubba in the front yard where he had patrolled for the last 12 years and felt a little connection to my past slip away. Linda will be home soon and I will have to tell her and she will be crushed - she so dearly loves and dotes over all our animals. Once again, I realize that Bubba was one of the many blessings that have been poured out into my life and I am thankful for all the years I had my little buddy - Bubba! So long Bubba...................

COURTNEY TIME!!

When Court comes by the house, the dogs go crazy! Courtney has had a love affair with Harley since the day he came home and he goes completely bonkers when she "crosses the gate" - that's HIS woman! 

Friendship Trail!

The old Gandy Bridge is now Friendship Trail and is full daily with walkers, runners, roller-bladers and fishermen! The bridge connects Tampa and St. Petersburg. The people from both cities get great enjoyment, excercise and a lot of sunshine here!

The very lovely Linda!
My bride of 31 years! 

Here is Linda and I at Charlie's apartment last May - picking up his harley to bring back to Florida while he was headed off to Iraq. Looking back, it will go down as one of the great adventures in our journey through this life...
Now that he is back safely, it is even sweeter!

Some say with age comes wisdom. I'm living proof that sometimes old age arrives all by itself.

• We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.