True story: My hair looks like hell in the winter. See, I don’t have curly hair, exactly, but I don’t have straight hair, either (don’t worry, this isn’t about to devolve into a lesson on hair product, stay with me) and, when there’s no humidity, my hair doesn’t do anything. When we have a spot of weather, though, it looks far lovelier. I won’t go into specifics, because I’m already boring the shit out of myself, but my point is, this is the first good hair week I’ve had since November, because we’re winning the battle against winter, the swamp has returned, and all I want to do is get the hell away from this computer and head outside.
This weekend, though, there's a ton of shit to do inside and out — I'll be mostly outside (because Florida!) but also I'll step inside a bit. Here's my much-anticipated (in my mind) list of what the hell I'm doing this weekend.
OK, so I'm taking a half day (note to my boss: um, not really, that's poetic license) today to head to Fort DeSoto just because I can. Really. If you live in south Pinellas (If we were trendier, we'd call ourselves SoPo), you may know this park like the back of your hand. If not, check out the Friends of Fort DeSoto Facebook page. There is no alcohol allowed in the park, so I won't be bringing a celebratory rum and ice in a water bottle down to celebrate, nosirreebob. Nope.
After that, the weekend gets more complex. I’m heading to
Yo Sushi to taste their new menu and then to the
Tampa premiere of Habana Compás to get a taste of Cuba. This will no doubt fuel my desire to head to the Keys (
and now that I've blogged about it, it's a work-related trip and I can totally write it off on my taxes. True story).
Of course, everything's a tradeoff, and I'm bummed to miss the premiere of Rescue Dogs at the Palm Harbor Muvico — 20% of the proceeds from the Friday night showing will go to Suncoast Animal League. Remember those guys? Bonus Track: some of the abandoned dogs SAL rescued from Redland will be there to walk to the red carpet. Want tickets? Get 'em here. It also means I'll miss A Wake in Ybor at The Studio@620, but I can catch it when it comes around to Ybor, so there's always a bright side.
Saturday! Jesus, haven't we already done all the things? No. Not even close. Weekends take work, and if you care about your weekend you'll get your ass in the kitchen and mix up a batch of bitters for Manhattans. That's if you're fancy. I'm not; it's too hot for whiskey; instead, you'll find me making a thermos of hibiscus gin cocktails to enjoy as I watch Spamalot at Demen's Landing. Of course, that means I miss the Pride and Passion event at the Tampa Museum, which kind of sucks because it looks like a ton of fun.
As for Sunday? The EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival has about a month left, and I figure all the spring breakers have headed back north so it's safe to return to the theme park.
I'm beat. See you next Friday?
This article appears in Apr 21-28, 2016.