On the Road Again!

[ew1usnr]

My car was tied up for almost 2 1/2 months with the paint job. I fixed a few stray items this morning and this afternoon we took it for a spin. It felt good to be driving it again. The engine ran cool and smooth. We took it to the "Hula Bay" restaurant that is at a marina on north Tampa Bay. It was a beautiful day. 65-degrees, clear and sunny.
3525

3526

The restaurant has an open veranda that extends out over the water and gives a nice view of the marina. The boat in the foreground is marked "Tampa Fire Rescue":
3527

[Jeff W]

Next time you drive through Bradenton, stop off and see my old pal Snooty. That was a regular stop for us growing on during our winter pilgrimage in the '70's.

Amazingly, the Google machine says he is still around and recently celebrated his 65th Birthday.

Here is a link to some details for those interested. He is a big boy!

http://www.southfloridamuseum.org/TheAquarium/SnootyFacts.aspx

I wanted to add his digs look nice now. When I used to visit him his home was a simple little fountain like you would see in a mall. It was located in the City Hall lobby.

[ew1usnr]

Next time you drive through Bradenton, stop off and see my old pal Snooty.

Hello, Jeff.

I'll do that. Now you have given me an excuse to drive down to Bradenton. That will be a nice trip.

Thanks, Dennis.

[ew1usnr]

We drove The Wonder Falcon to the South Florida Museum & Aquarium to visit Jeff's old pal Snooty, the 65-year old manatee. The aquarium is in Bradenton, on the south side of the entrance to Tampa Bay. We found a parking space right in front of the museum.

3537

Snooty is a celebrity.
3538

They have a nice aquarium for him now.
3539

On the way back, we stopped at the dirt-track speedway in Gibsonton. They have races every Saturday at 6:30 pm. I have been wanting to go for a long time and today had seemed like a perfect opportunity. Unfortunately, there had been some rain and the races were cancelled for this evening. Oh, well. Some other time.
3540

[Jeff W]

Awesome! Thank you for the pictures. Sure brings back fond memories. He used to come right up to me for a head rub. At the time I thought he was my special little friend but I bet he did that to all the visitors:)

We used to bring him snacks and he would snuffle them right from my hand. Very gentle giant.

[Jeff W]

Hi Dennis, we were just down to Orlando last week to visit the Big Mouse. It was a great time but sadly I learned that Snooty died last fall. He was the oldest living Manatee in the world. Apparently he drown after getting into a restricted area of the pool. Sad day when your childhood disappears... kind of like when Toyota uses a Beatles song for their car commercial.

[ew1usnr]

Hi Dennis, we were just down to Orlando last week to visit the Big Mouse. It was a great time but sadly I learned that Snooty died last fall. He was the oldest living Manatee in the world. Apparently he drown after getting into a restricted area of the pool. Sad day when your childhood disappears... kind of like when Toyota uses a Beatles song for their car commercial.

Hello, Jeff

Did you drive your Falcon???!!!

I didn't mention about it here when it happened to Snooty because the whole thing was so sad. A lot of people were upset about it and were demanding that the director be fired.

On a happier note, I saw this 1957 Lincoln Continental while leaving the grocery store this afternoon. I hopped out and and the owner walked up as I was taking pictures. He asked: "Do you like old cars?" Man, I LOVE that old Lincoln.

6626

6627

6628