horseshoe beach, florida

i spent a lot of hours driving south and finally got to florida!!   at a rest stop, i was quite pleased when i saw two older people tossing a frisbee to loosen their joints during their travels.

i was very happy about the sun

florida became the 29th state visited on my trip so far.

i picked out the nearest town along the gulf coast, which ended up being horseshoe beach, and plotted my course to get there.  i wanted to watch the sunset over the gulf of mexico, but i got to the gulf too late.   so instead i just watched the remaining twilight of my final day being 29 years old.

when i drove through the little town, i noticed the cafe was open.

i decided to go in for the experience more than the menu.  sure enough, i was almost the only person in there and the one hosting/serving had the thickest accent i've heard so far on my trip!  she (jessica, i think) had grown up there and 'has all her roots there.'

i ordered a burger and got some kind of pattie of meat that i was assuming was actually meat.

the chocolate cake i got was...  um, interesting?  dry.  odd tasting.

i was the last one out of the restaurant as they were closing down the joint.  i enjoyed talking to the waitress and owner (i think).  they aren't very busy in the winter, but it picks up a lot during scallop season in the summertime.   the service was excellent, so i was happy to be a recipient of it.

once i had my fill of the little gulf-side town, i found my way back to the interstate which was 2 hours away.  then, while continuing south on i-75, i noticed a town with my hometown name of 'wildwood'.   i took the exit and found wildwood, florida.

it had more than one traffic light, so it was actually a legit town : )

i continued most of the way to tampa and then pulled off at a rest stop to sleep.  this was where i woke up on my birthday.

it had rained overnight at the rest stop and was cloudy and chilly when i woke up in the morning. : (

i drove to a nearby starbucks to treat myself to coffee and had some time to read the bible and ponder about whatever.  at least that was a nice way to start the day, despite the rain.

a friend of mine had dared me to get my picture taken with 30 different strangers for my 30th birthday.  it didn't happen.  i did try to get it going in the morning, but with two failing attempts.  the first fail was with the rest area security guard who disappeared into some door right before i was going to go grab him.   the next failed attempt was with someone in starbucks who walked up to me to give me some magazines but then was reluctant to take a picture with me.   oh well, i feel like i gave a little attempt.   the rest of the day didn't afford much opportunity to continue the challenge;  i didn't want to waste any time while i was with my friend mike who i was about to meet up with....