Time to get outside...

Our January weather has not been as warm as normal...but a few weekends ago it was great, so we loaded up the bikes and headed to our favorite beach restaurant and on tp Robinson Preserve for some biking. We had never stopped at the Valentine House that was relocated to the property so we stopped in for a peak first. As we walked up the steps to the front porch they had a telescope zoomed in on a nest...I took some pics through the lens...this Great Horned Owl was so cool. Wish we could have seen the babies...

The Valentine House was relocated here on May 1, 2010 from Manatee Fruit Company property and is circa late 1800's. This home was preserved to save a piece of history and now serves as the park welcome center. The front room has historical pictures hanging on the walls and explanations about the family. Another room has a 300 gallon mangrove habitat and other "touch" items for learning. It has been beautifully restored, glad we stopped in. The bike ride was fantastic. We headed home for some dinner after a wonderful day. The next day was very chilly so we were back inside to find things to do.

The next weekend was also cool and windy, so we headed up to Tarpon Springs for a winery tour. We had bought a Groupon and thought it would be as good as the last tour...we were WRONG. From now on, we'll be checking TripAdvisor before we buy. This place was a joke. Castle Winery. Oddly enough their wine is fairly good....but the rest of it was a joke. This is owned by a couple and they do it all. They even live on the 2nd story of the building. They only make about 1500 bottles a year. They were very nice, but they did not at all provide what they advertised on their Groupon....I won't give you all the details, but I did report them to Groupon and I did a write-up in TripAdvisor. 

This outside area might have been nice if it had been warmer....

This little bit of history was one of the best parts....

Their prized Picaso....but has nothing to do with making wine.

The wine making tour...much more about their art collection than how they make wine.

Needless to say, we were so sorry we'd talked some friends into going with us....we owe them a better Saturday trip...glad they are troopers. Our Greek lunch in Tarpon Springs was the best part of the day. 

It had been very windy on Saturday so we were glad we'd planned an indoor activity..as goofy as it was....by Sunday the wind was waaaaaaaay down and the sun was out, so we ventured downtown to the Seafood Festival. If you were in the shade it was still a bit cool, but you could handle it.

We had a great lunch and headed to the theatre to see 13 Hours.....wow was that intense but very amazing. The next weekend we were headed over to Ft. Pierce and would see the Navy SEAL Museum....hope it mentions the guys in this movie.

It had been a good weekend....just hope it warms up a bit....we are in SOUTH FLORIDA!!!!