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Beautiful Day for a Downtown Stroll











Went downtown this morning (Saturday August 28) to mess around. Turned on the wrong road to go to the Pier but ended up on this quiet park area just to the South. Very peaceful, nobody around except for the rare dog-walker. The marina was filled with boats and it doesn't take long before you start to think maybe you'd like to have one yourself. Then reality strikes and you think of the costs. Reminds me of the old joke: The best day of your life is when you buy a boat...the 2nd is when you sell it. Maybe, but I'd sure like to wake up and fill the cooler with a bohemian style beer and head off into the Gulf. Not too far, you know. Just enough to escape civilization and think you're the luckiest guy in the world at that moment.


By the way, that's the "Pier" above, with the inverted pyramid. They have shops and an aquarium inside. The city council voted this week to tear it down and build another one. Said renovation costs on this one would be prohibitive.






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