Last Saturday, Annika and I explored Dunedin, Fl. It's not far from where we live and I had to drop my son off at a birthday party with his father. Downtown Dunedin is so small, but everything in it is exciting and worth seeing. My adventure will my six year old daughter is chronicled below.
Our first stop was
Kelly's Restaurant. (You must check out their cool web page.) Our server was Lisa and she was great. She did a wonderful job and spoke directly to my daughter, as opposed to over her. (My daughter loved her, her tattoos, and said that she looked like someone on TV.) I ordered the Seafood Omelette with the Hellfire and Damnation sauce. The omelette had scallops and shrimp and was good, but I felt that the sauce had a constistency too much like spaghetti sauce for my taste. My daughter ordered the spaghetti off of the children's menu. The sauce was incredibly spicy, especially for a child. I noticed Annie was suddenly coughing a lot and trying to keep eating. I asked her what was wrong. When she told me that it was too spicy, I assumed that she was just not wanting to eat like she often does. I tasted it and coughed a little myself from the spiciness of it. I ordered some cinnamon toast for Annie and gave her some of my omellete. I might have said something about the pasta, but as it cost me a penny per pound of Annie, I let it slide. Our total was $15.58.
Our next stop was the
Dunedin Marina. Annika and I looked at the boats and talked about how they work, anchoring, and navigational equipment. Then we saw a HUGE school of fish and watched them for about twenty minutes.
Annika noticed that there were boats coming in and out of the water and she wanted to go see how that was done. We marched ourselves down to to the dock and sat there watching people struggling to get their boats in and out of the water. Annika was especially impressed with the jet skis. I'll admit it, I was impressed too. I told her that they were like motorcycles for the water. I realized that I was suddenly sunburnt and told Annie we should head for our orginal destination, the playground.
The playground is located right next to the marina at
Edgewater Park. My kids love this place! If you click on the link, you will see why! The Jungle Gym is a PIRATE SHIP! Annika was in Heaven! She ran around and bossed the little kids. She was clearly the captain of this ship! I got to swing on the swing set while Annika ran around like a maniac. The park is beautiful with clean bathrooms, a gazebo, and picnic tables.
I noticed Annika was a bit red, so I suggested we walk back to town and have some ice cream at the recently moved
Strachan's Desserts. They have not updated their web site, but the new location is directly across the street from Kelly's Restaurant. Strachan's carried fudge, cakes, and ice cream. Annika went for the Cherry Vanilla and I went with the cookies and cream. It was very good. They have the perfect set up for people watching. They have a bar against the front window and you can watch the people cruise down Main Street while you enjoy your favorite flavor in the cool air conditioning.
Annika and I were beginning to wind down, but I wanted to get a post card for my brother. We decided to hit The Boxcar at 349 Main St. They are an authorized USPS location and they sell trinkets, tourist items, coffee and snacks. The woman working there was very nice and laughed at my bad jokes. I found the perfect post card and our trip was over.
Dunedin is one of my favorite places in the Tampa Bay area. In addition to the places we visted on Saturday, they have
Flanagan's Irish Pub. This small pub is everything you hope it would be, complete with live music that you are encouraged to sing along with. I have never before been to a place that made me feel like I was right at home as soon as I crossed the threshhold, but Flanagan's is it. I didn't get to visit that day, but as we passed 4 men came out of the bar (at 11am) hugging each other. As they walked down the street, arm in arm, they were singing at the top of their lungs and laughing at what was surely the funniest joke ever.
Dunedin is a good natured, good time.
