It was great that our villa agents had put on a welcome party for us when we arrived in Florida. Last night we had a tiny lizard hanging onto the netting by the front door as we arrived and this morning we had a huge cockroach scuttling about in the kitchen as I was making a cup of coffee...Needless to say my screams probably woke the whole neighbourhood, a bit of a problem as it was 5am!
Anyway, after Keith had dealt with it, we settled down and did a bit of quiet exploring as the kids were still asleep. Our villa is lovely - we have four bedrooms, two bathrooms, an open-plan living room/dining room/kitchen and a pool with a large covered terrace. We are in a very quiet residential area and the pool area looks over beautiful gardens on either side of us, one of which has an oak with Spanish Moss.
We will still be finding things well into the holiday and it won't be until the last day that we discover something vital we needed to know (the light switches are a particular problem!) but it's a lot of fun getting to know a new house, even if it is for just a couple of weeks.
As it grew lighter outside we sat on the terrace with a cup of coffee (bliss!) and then we unpacked the suitcases, showered and had breakfast. The plan was to do a bit of exploring and I had a look at Google Maps on my laptop as last night we didn't have a clue as to where we were. Mikey is desperate to go to a Chili's restaurant and I knew there was one nearby so we piled into the car and set off.
The area around here has a gridwork system of roads which I find very confusing for some reason. However, we drove along the same stretch of road we were on last night and found Chili's a bit further on. Getting back to the villa was very easy by taking a different route so once we'd found our bearings we headed for the Publix supermarket to do a big shop.
I love mooching about in foreign supermarkets and looking at all the different foods on offer but the others seemed desperate to get back to the pool. We still managed to spend a hefty amount on breakfast and lunch foods, wine, beer and essentials, though, and all our stuff was very kindly packed by a young lad who told us he really wanted to visit the UK. How ironic that we love visiting the US!
Back at the villa it was time for relaxation in the sun, and although it's very hot - about 95f - the sun isn't as fierce as I thought it would be. It doesn't feel as though it's a burning heat, probably because of the humidity.
We spent most of the rest of the day lazing about and in the evening headed for Chili's. The car park was already quite full but we were given a table straight away and the children ordered some bacon and cheese fries for an appetizer. I'd decided not to have a starter and I chose a chicken salad for my main course, while Keith pushed the boat out and went for a Ribeye steak with broccoli (I was envious) and mashed spuds.
When my salad arrived I was speechless as it would have fed two people easily. Mikey had chosen a burger while Sophie opted for chicken pasta and their dishes looked reasonable. I think the restaurant put their whole salad offering on my plate!
I gamely tucked in but I knew that even after 20 minutes of eating it still wouldn't look like I'd taken a bite, so I ate the chicken and left almost two thirds of the salad. I suppose I could have asked for a doggy bag but I knew I would have ended up throwing it all away in a couple of days!
After our meal, Keith suggested we head further up the road and see how far the centre of Bradenton was. By now it was dark but we went all the same and drove for about 15 minutes, spotting a lovely marina on the way. We crossed over a large bridge and then Keith said we should turn back. Crossing a three lane highway with cars coming at you is not my favourite thing to do, but I managed to do a U-turn at an intersection and we headed back on what I thought was the same road...only it wasn't!
Keith could barely see the map by now and I had visions of us driving around and around until dawn but luckily we found the road near to our villa and thankfully turned for home.
I was shattered by now and it was great to sit on the terrace in the sultry night air and enjoy a glass of our Rex Goliath Cabernet Sauvignon, which we discovered, to our shock, was from Chile and not California after all!
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