Gulfpost 7

Aug 29 - 31, 2012

Aug 29
I'm writing this three days later and cannot remember what I did this day.  It may have been a less active day.  :-) 

But at night, I went swing dancing for the second time at the Gulfport Casino.  I learned more steps and danced for about 3.5 hours nonstop.  Like when I go Latin dancing at Viejillo's.  My feet hurt afterwards, and I think I need to wear different shoes when I swing dance.  Like sneakers.

Aug 30

This was a busy day.  First, I had my hair cut and colored by Nancy at Sea Breeze.  She did a  I kept giving her instructions because of my many cowlicks and fussy way I like my hair cut.  She did a fantastic job!

I had lunch at O'Maddy's, across from the water, with a guy named Nigel who is thinking about moving to Costa Rica.  He found me on Couchsurfing and wanted to pick my brain.

Thinking about how I'm going to get from my condo in St Pete (where I move on Friday) to/from Gulfport, I went to see Bill, the bicycle guy.  Karen Love bought a bike from him.  He finds them at yard sales, etc., and sells them for $20.  Some are very expensive bikes, but he's not in it for the money.  He equips each bike with a water bottle holder, and changes the seat for whichever one you want.  Plus he gives you a bike helmet.  All for $20!  I picked out a 21-speed mountain bike, the only want that was low enough for me, but told me I had to check to be sure I could lock it up downstairs at the place I'm moving to, because there's no way I can carry it up the stairs to my second floor apartment.  I'll get back to him as soon as I know.

Then a nice lady, Marsha, originally from Massachusetts, whom I met at the beauty salon, picked me up and showed me a one-bedroom condo for rent at Town Shores.  This is a huge 55+ community with lots of swimming pools, and just a five minute walk to town.  I don't know how I would feel staying in a place like that.  Even though I'm 62, I'm a young 62.  While I get along with everyone, I think I'd feel more comfortable staying in a small apartment in the center of Gulfport.

Thursday night is Social Night at the Peninsula Inn, where the Gecko Ball was held.  My landlords Daniel (the DJ) and Mike (the bartender) run it.  I met Karen and her friend Carol (Pittsburgh Steelers fan) there for cocktails.  Yuengling beer is my drink here.  Daniel put on some great music and we were all dancing outside.

Aug 31
Moving day.  I had to vacate this adorable guest cottage in Gulfport and move about 4 miles away to South St. Pete.  It's too far to walk in the heat or at night, but it's doable on a bicycle.  Or I could beg a ride from someone.

It's lovely in this condo complex.  There are two pools, one overlooking the bay, and right across there is Gulfport.  If I were a fish, I could swim the distance in a couple of minutes.  I'll be staying here two months.  It's within walking distance to shopping, restaurants, banks, and bus stops.

After I unpacked, I took the bull by the horns, along with an empty backpack and carryall bag, and walked in the sweltering heat to Walmart.  It was cool inside, and for the first ten minutes, that's all I cared about.  I had to shop judiciously, because I didn't want to carry back any more th  an was absolutely necessary.  So I did my selective shopping, then I ran into Marsha, another Marsha, a woman from Gulfport I had met the night before.  She so graciously offered to drive me back to the new condo, so I quickly stocked up on more groceries.  Have I mentioned how wonderful the people in Gulfport are?  The little problem was that I couldn't remember where the condo was.  We left Walmart on a street that did not look familiar to me, but Marsha was patient and drove us around until I saw a rotary that looked familiar.  Duh.

After unpacking the groceries, I headed for the pool.  Ahhhh.