The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Shines Brightly
April 10th, 2024 – TCS # 851
Happy April and Buongiorno, My Readers! Okay, Full Disclosure Here. Two Things, One is that Buongiorno is not spelled the Way I think it is. So, I decided to use Google Translate as The Easy Way. Because I think in My Literal Mind that It should be Spelled “Bonjourno” or maybe “Bonjuirno”. At Least, That is what It seems like to Me anyway. Secondly, This is a Greeting in Italian that means “Good Morning”. In Romance Languages, Greetings are Very Formal. I seemed to Think that It meant “Hello”. But, Actually, It might be More Useful to use “Buona Giornata” which means “Good Day” in Italian. Because The Term, “Ciao” is more like Saying “Hey” in Italian. Romance Languages are either Formal or Informal, and There are Words for Each. Quite Confusing if You don’t know The Language. Regardless, The Italians will appreciate the Gesture!
Anyway, It is that Time of The Year, That Month that Those in My Family dread, April.
I am sure that All of You have That One Time of The Year when If Any Anything Bad is going to Happen, It is going to be in That Month. In Other Words, In Everyone’s Family, There is always that One Month of The Year that You dread it coming because You believe something crazy is going to Happen. For Some, It is Months like September (for those of 9/11), October, May, or (Hopefully Not) December. For Our Family, It seems to be April.
Anyway, On to This Week’s Newsletter!
So, I am Back from My Made-Up Company, “WTSOC Communications & The Christianville Spirit” Mandated Vacation. Yes, even a Newsletter Writer like me, has to have a Vacation or at least a week break or two. But, Don’t Worry It doesn’t happen often, I stay faithful in My Weekly Newsletters.
In all Honesty, It has been a Long Time since I took a Vacation! Looking back on It Now, I think that between My Mom and I, We both needed It! The Folks here at The Christianville Spirit were like, “Christian! You need to use Your Vacation Days because Lord Knows that You need It!” “Who knows?! You might see Bridgett while on Vacation and, Bonus Points! You get to see Your Amazing Uncle Craig and Alejandra! Plus, You get to see Your Cousin Olivia, who You have not seen in Years (Literally, Years)!” Last Time since Seen Olivia: 2017 (Before Grandma Honey’s 80th Birthday). But, Who’s Counting?!
So, On Vacation, I went!
So, The Thing that I knew that I needed a Vacation but, Where? Well, Orginally, We were going to go back to Atlanta for My Uncle Bruce’s 60th Birthday. Due to Reasons beyond Our Control, We couldn’t go. However, Working with My Brother’s Schedule, He had Time off the Following Week and Uncle Craig was like “Come Down to Tampa!”
For The Record, I have not been to Tampa (Tampa Area anyway) since like The 90s when We were Kids, My Aunt on My Dad’s Side lived in Clearwater and We were going to Disney World. This Time, I would actually see Tampa. Like Tampa, The City!
So, The Next Question, What did I do on This Vacation?
Well, I am going to Tell You in as much Detail as I can What I did in Tampa, Florida!
Gather’ Round, My Readers! It’s StoryTime!
This is a Story that I am calling
Spring Break in Tampa
It Took alot to get me there, Anxiety-Wise. I mean, I haven't Flown anywhere in like 4 Years.
I was going there, not just to see My Brother but, Most Importantly, My Uncle Craig and His Lovely Girlfriend, Alejandra Plus, Deep Down, both My Mom and I needed a Break for All The Nonsense (Both Inside and Outside of PTLS)
One Thing is for Sure, I knew that I was Going to Walk A lot This Trip
I tried to burn off My Nerves when We got to The Airport by walking through Terminal A and then, The Beginning of Terminal C. It took an Hour to walk to and from. I Noticed that Sitting Down Increased My Anxiety, whereas if I was Moving, then My Anxiety would go Down!
Once I got in My Seat on The Plane, I was still Anxious but, Better after I knew Who Our Seat Mate would be
It was a Nice Woman named Monee (Mow-Nea) from The University of Tampa. We told her about PTLS briefly and She told us some Trivia about Tampa
After We got to Tampa, Uncle Craig and Alejandra picked us up from The Airport and went to His Apartment to drop off our stuff before walking about 5 Minutes to This Restaurant called The WaterVue overlooking The Skyline of Tampa and What I affectionately Referred to as "The Craig Zone"
A Line of Buildings that My Uncle Craig's Company Built, His Mark on The Tampa Skyline
"The Craig Zone", is known Locally as the "The Channelside District" or "Water Street Tampa"
After Dinner, We walked back to Craig's Apartment and I did My Checking of Stuff on My IPad and Cammed with My Best Friend, “M.P Twinee” to introduce Her to Uncle Craig and Alejandra
We spent The Rest of The Evening hanging out and Counted Down to Uncle Craig's Birthday!
The Next Day (Friday), We greeted My Brother and The Lady Friend at like 6 AM Local Time. Slept in until 12 and then, Uncle Craig took us over to The Marriott Tampa Water Street via His Little Boat.
After We got Settled at The Marriott, We met on Uncle Craig's Main Boat and then, We met Alejandra's Son, Max who has Downs Syndrome. He speaks English and Spanish (which is Quite Amazing), and Very Obsessed with Singer, Cardi B.
Uncle Craig's Boat was pretty cool! It had an Upstairs with Seats in The Front and Back. and, a Downstairs with A Kitchen, Bathroom, Bedroom, and a TV Area.
After We hung on The Boat for a While, We took The Boat over to The Tampa Air Show, where We watched Pilots do some really Maneuvers. Even One Pilot who gunned it over The Boat, It was Sooo Loud! But, They made A Heart as part One of Their Tricks
Of Course, We told Olivia and Alejandra about The Recent Hallmark Movie that mentioned about Military Jet Pilots
after We got back, We hung out at The Hotel Pool for a Bit and I had a Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri while Watching My Brother and The Lady Friend swim while I was relaxing watching Road Videos on My IPad
Then, That Evening, We went to Dinner at This Place called "The Pearl" in The Channelside District. and, Yes, We walked from The Hotel and Back. Although, I was Pretty Dehydrated, I had Scallops with Rice for Dinner (Something I have not had since Having it with Lynee's Mom)
As We were coming back to The Hotel after Dinner, We ran into Someone that carting The Flowers from The Wedding at The Hotel (The People's Wedding!). Olivia, being the Saving Person that She is, helped The Person carting The Flowers back to The Car.
I told her that It was "Wedding Karma", A Romanticist Rule that If You help Someone with Their Wedding, that Someone Else will help You with Yours
The Next Day (Saturday), My Mom talked to The Air Show Pilots that Morning, "So Top Gun!" She says.
Then, We hopped on Uncle Craig's Boat again, This Time with Leah, Alejandra's Teenager. This Time, We were in for a Longer Day on The Boat! We were going to go to Clearwater and then, Meet Olivia for Dinner in
Downtown St. Petersburg (Locally known as "St. Pete")
Uncle Craig hurt his Leg due to Small Accident before We took off but, He was Okay.
It took like 4 Hours to get from Tampa to Clearwater because We had to go around
St. Petersburg and Through The
Intercoastal Waterway
When We got to Clearwater, Uncle Craig said to get him a Wrap for His Leg. We walked to The Sandcastle Festival on Clearwater Beach. We got to walk on the Clearwater Pier (Something I have not done since The 90s with My Dad)
And, Then, We walked along The Beach for a little while, Before Arriving an Hour later to The Boat.
Then, We took The Boat, The Shorter Way, into The Gulf, and Boy! We got Splashed by The Waves! It was like a Water Ride at Times!
We arrived at St. Pete at like 9 at Night, The Sunset over The Ocean was Stunning though! We had Dinner with Cousin Olivia. After Dinner, We helped save someone that was stuck just outside of The St. Pete' Marina
By The Time, We got back to Tampa, It was almost Midnight, We had spent 12 Hours on The Boat! But, My Brother helped Uncle Craig with The Lines of The Boat and Filling up Gas. It was a Real Father Figure Moment for All of Us.
The Next Day (Sunday) Easter. My Mom and I walked from The Marriott to Sparkman's Wharf (Part of Uncle Craig's Project!) to see The Cruise Ship sitting there, It was the Norwegian Jade.
My Mom and I had these Chicken Nuggets and a Donut! It was So Good!
Everglazed Chicken & Donuts
After Hanging out there for a while, My Brother came over to sit with Us.
After Hanging Out there, It was starting to get Warm, so We walked to See One of The Rooftop Pools at
The Tampa EDITION
Then, We walked back to The Hotel to get something and then, Walked across The Bridge to get to Uncle Craig's Apartment for Easter Dinner
We then met Alejandra's Older Daughter, Farrah and Alejandra's mom who speaks mostly Spanish. Everyone was There this Time: Leah, Farrah, Max, Alejandra's Mom and Cousin Olivia
Over The Course of The Trip, I explained to Alejandra and Alejandra's Daughters about Who "M.P Twinee" was,
My PTLS Gang and PTLS in General
Alejandra would always joke with Me about My Best Friend, “M.P Twinee” being My Girlfriend because I talked about Her a lot and Wanting My Mom to Sent Pictures to Her.
and, I did Show “M.P Twinee” The Views from both Uncle Craig's Apartment and Our Hotel Room on the 27th Floor
Both Views were Pretty Amazing! I think that I liked Uncle Craig's View just Slightly better
Anyway, The Final Day, My Mom got a Travel Alert on Her Phone, The Weather was Bad back Home (Severe Weather Season, I tell ya!) so We decided to stay an Extra Day! (Totally Worth It!)
Uncle Craig picked up from The Hotel and drove us over to The "Craig Zone", Showed us another Rooftop Pool with Amazing Views! Had Lunch with My Brother and The Lady Friend (and, Cousin Olivia) at This Place called "The Naked Farmer", A Homegrown Food-kind of Place.
After A Walk to The Cruise Port and back to the "Craig Zone",
We said Good Bye to My Brother and The Lady Friend, and Hopped on The Trolley to Ybor City and back.
Met up with Uncle Craig after Work and Then, He showed us The Media Room, A Huge Scale Model of The Tampa Skyline with like 8 Projectors with Different Modes to Symbolize different things.
Really, It was Amazing to see The Mark that My Uncle Craig is leaving on Tampa and will Continue to leave on Tampa
Probably The Best Mark of Any of His Projects!
Anyway, that Night, We hung out with Uncle Craig and Alejandra. We had Pizza and Chicken Nuggets.
The Next Day, We travelled back Home, I was less Anxious this Time. It was a little Bumpy flying back but, We made it okay
All in all, It was an Amazing Trip! Very Relaxing!
Tampa is Definitely Different compared to Many Cities that I have been to.
People walk Everywhere! It has a Good Vibe to It.
Of Course, Tampa is more Professional compared to
St. Pete's more-Melo Vibe. But, Needless to Say, I was Very Impressed with Tampa. It is different Kind of Living in Tampa. Compared to Suburban Living and Community Living (aka: In an Apartment Complex); City-Center Living is Very Different.
As far as Girls are Concerned, There were Many Pretty Girls in Tampa! I saw One Girl at a Coffee Shop (on The Extra Day) that was Pretty Close to Bridgett Description but, She was Reading a Book and I did not want to bother her. I figured that If I were to run into Bridgett Lafleur (The Person that I led to Believe is My Romantic Person) that more than Likely, She would Recognize Me in Some Way. That Logic that makes sense to Me anyway.
Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Take a Vacation every once and a while! You might need it!
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