This weekend I grabbed my Powerbook, some shorts and flip flops and my non-spf tanning lotion (sorry, Lauren) and headed to Tampa, Florida for some overdue R&R. Luckily, exactly one day after the British-American bomb scare, so I regretfully remove any anti-bacterial gel, lipstick, or H2O from my purse so the TSA posse doesn’t give me a vapor test, liquid pat down, or whatever else they do take preventative measures to keep us safe each day.

I left for the sunny side at around 2:30-am for a 6-am flight, waiting in a line to check in, waiting in a line to check my bag, waiting in a line for security, and finally a line to get bad coffee at Dunkin Donuts. I joke with some of the other early morning Chatty McChattertons about my life turning into one long line to nowhere, but everyone seems to have lifted spirits, even though no one has slept, and the airport is pretty darn crowded for the time of night. I found a tiny couch to curl up in before my flight, and hazily drudge onto the plane for an uneventful two hour trip.

The weekend was exactly what the doctor ordered. Mom’s fantastic cooking, mornings with a beach book and a sun-drenched pool, shopping at the stereotypical suburban safe-house, AKA, the mall, and going to the movie theater, an actually affordable movie theater. I even rode a bike thru the palm-tree lined streets and breathed in the amazing fresh air while listening to my newly beloved Azure Ray on my iPod.

Sadly my only night out, was to a bowling alley. Stop your judgement! It was pretty cool, actually. The place is called Splitsville, and it has a charming retro 50s diner thing going on, and its located in the heart of downtown Tampa, a place called Channelside. A popular joint for hand-holding first daters and newly married couples getting away from their children for a night. We drank beer, we bowled badly, and danced to some groovy music in the dim lighting.

Sometimes a girl just needs to escape the concrete for a bit, soak up some rays, and hang with some non-city folk to keep her balance and bring back the equilibrium.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 15th, 2006 at 10:35 am and is filed under Shopping, Friends, Beach, Glamour, New York City, Travel, Vacation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.