Travel

Last year's "First Annual Sister Trip to Siesta Key" was to spread our father's ashes on his favorite beach. We found the perfect, heart shaped shell, filled it with his ashes, and took it out to the sandbar to float away.

So, when I saw this little butterfly shell on the beach, I thought it was ideal to use to recreate the moment by filling it with glitter and crystals in memory of Daddy.

Instead of a fairy, I made a mermaid, but of course, she did end up with wings. There was a dead dragonfly right by where I made her, so I plucked off it's wings.  Gross to do, but I like the look…

Sissy and I knew that our sentimental sister, Bobbie, would want to keep this one, since it was in honor of our Dad. Usually I leave the fairies on the beach the last day of my trip as a farewell and a thank you.

This time, though, I created an environment for her and glued her together into a sea shell home. (Minus the wings, which would just rot. And who knows what the seaweed will do?)

I guess that means I owe Siesta Key a fairy…. durn, I'll just have to go back again, huh?

And I thought last year's sister trip was fun. This one was just perfect, even better.  Before I went to Utah for the Grand Masquerade, I flitted down to Tampa to meet my sisses at the airport for our new tradition of an annual beach trip.

(Yep, October was a whirlwind for me, three trips and a workshop at my home… now it is time to relax and rest up after all of that.  No, wait!  I think there is more to come… Christmas is just around the corner and if I want to sell any angel kits or other decor -dyed and glittered trees, anyone??- I need to get into HIGH gear)

My sisters had booked a week or so at a condo on Siesta Key beach, where we stayed last year and I'd liked sooooo much that I took all of my kiddos there this summer and where my husband and I had an impromptu wedding vow renewal.

Bobbie and Sissy were having a nice long trip (I met them for 5 days of it) but the condo wasn't available for their whole stay. So, they decided to each surprise the other with a night not too far from the airport.

Unknown to them, they had each chosen the SAME hotel.  And what a place!! The Loews Pink Palace on St. Pete beach.

I figured that they had both admired it and spoke of longing to stay there sometime.

Nope.

Sis had never heard of it before, Bobbie had never mentioned it. They both chose to splurge (big time) and treat their sister to a night at a spectacular resort.

Since I knew both secrets, I called ahead, upgraded a tiny bit and  made sure that we could check in one day and stay both nights in the same room instead of moving from one to another the next day.  

We had a balcony room overlooking the ocean, at one of the prettiest hotels I'd ever seen.  We walked along the beach, ate seafood, shopped at a boardwalk in Treasure Island, and just relaxed on the balcony.  

They shared a king bed and I had a rollaway, otherwise known as my baby bear bed.

We had some crafting time on our vacation, and here is how I drew that sweet, little baby bear bed. Not so sweet?

Well, one night, I had the worst nightmare. I'm not much of a nightmare type, they happen very rarely for me.  But this one was a doozy, and felt so real.  It was one where I tried to call out for help, but couldn't make myself heard.

But I just KNEW that if I could force the sound out, my sisters could hear me and they would save me from the long arms (with claws) that were grabbing me from under the bed.  It hurt!! 

Finally, I croaked out what to me felt like a blasting scream, but what was in reality a scratchy, little creaking sound.  But, it did the job, I awoke my saviors and they rescued me from the black arms coming from under my baby bear bed.

But, it still hurt.  

Seriously, my shoulder and hip were hurting. I figured I had tensed up so much from fear that my muscles were aching.

Till the next morning came…..

AND I HAD TWO, HEART SHAPED, painful, BRUISES ON MY HIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (We called them ghost bites)

Later on, I read about the ghosts in the hotel, apparently the owner and his true love can be see at times.  Which might explain the two hearts? (I didn't take a photo, because they were almost more butt than hip and no one wants to see that.)

As Dewdrop likes to say, "That's Crweepy!"

Well, in all actuality, I probably had bumped my hip the day before and didn't realize it and the pain was what caused the dream.

At least that is what I'm going with.

The hotel was amazing and except for the short, ghostly visit, was perfect. I enjoy older hotels with a lot of history. F. Scott Fitzgerald used to hang out there, and you could feel the Gatsby vibe. 

As I like to do on vacations, I created a sea shell fairy as a thank you to the beach.  Since we were having a Halloween themed trip, I called her a Sand Witch.

And it seemed fitting, since I was finding so many black shells on this beach.  I wanted to make another witch later on for Siesta Key, but the shells were mostly a lighter color there.  Each beach has its own look with its shells and the ones I pick  up determine who or what I'll make.

But she is always a fairy of gratitude.

After making the shelly witch, we spotted this bench, a perfect photo op and place to play!

I loved the old faded colors of the boats and chair.

Sissy had gifted us all with these matching shirts (from Walmart) and they were ideal for our witchy week theme.

She even brought her cauldron mug for coffee. We aren't big drinkers, so coffee was our vaca brew.

And coffee has never tasted better than it did from this balcony. 

She also gave us matching scarves in this sea color.

There were lots of laughs that week, like here where we asked the person at the next table to take our picture just as a bird was pooing on my head.  I had to go to the restroom and dunk my noggin in the sink to wash it out, then came back out with a sopping, dripping head just in time to barely catch the last of the dolphins playing off the pier as they swam away. I guess they'd been showing off while I was scrubbing my hair.

Everything about our stay at the Pink Palace was just beautiful. The place was pure luxury through and through. 

With never ending salt water taffy at the front desk!

I was not too shy to keep "trick or treating" the concierge.  This is part of the haul that made it with us to the condo at Siesta Key later on.  We were set for candy for the week.

We didn't make use of the hotel spa, but we did ask for a tour of the rooftop garden area attached to the spa.

And we spent some time at antique and boutique stores around town. I'm showing off the back of my new shirt here.  I don't know why we even packed anything, between all the gifts we gave each other and the shopping we did, we didn't need anything from home at all!

Sissy even brought us silver ice cream spoons. They used to be our mom's.

And they made sure to use them when they went to the ice cream parlor at the hotel.

But as much as we loved the high life at our palace, the best part was the company.  

My son works at the Kansas City Renfest running a booth for a friend and also selling his own wares. The first weekend of the season, the booth's owner (and his inventory) were away at another festival and my boy had some extra work on his hands to get the space open and to fill the spot up.

Here is one of his displays to foof up the "Druid's Grove".  

I came in for an afternoon to help him and did a little druid-ing up myself.  Bone decor isn't typically what I do, but I kinda like the result.  I told myself that the bones were at least in my color pallet, I've always been a fan of whites.

At least they weren't as heavy to work with as all the stone my boy moved around.  Here is the jewelry display in the glass cabinet. Not all of the inventory has been set out yet., and it isn't quite done, but aren't the pillars and slabs of stone very striking?

I've been hand dying silk ribbon to use for his pendants, and he also has black cord to hang the jewelry from.  The buyers will get a choice and the silk or cord will be cut to order.

The day before the event began, he was still sanding, oiling and creating wands and spikes. This area is was still in progress, it is the weaponry corner.  Yes, those are vampire stakes he has hanging up, and there are some wands and stakes in a pile that still need to be finished.

I offered to make a sign for him. Not everyone knows where to go when they are in dire need a cudgel, and usually if you looking for a cudgel or a vampire stake, then you are probably in a hurry to get it, and a little direction would be appreciated.

Cool, aren't they?  

I also helped him embellish the woven willow laurels that he had created.

And Sugarwings helped me out by modelling them so I could see how they fit.

The booth is all about magic, which is why he used the willow limbs to make the crowns.  I wrote up these tags for the finished laurels.

Usually, I work with vintage flowers, but you gotta know your crowd. Old millinery would not be as appreciated as the newer blooms.  (Although, I did sneak in some vintage lace…)

All of the flowers are wired into place and there are crystal beads woven onto the wires.

I have loved the festival since the first time I attended, way back when my boys were in Jr High school.  Over the years, I've become even fonder of it, and I was thrilled to get a behind the scenes peek at the park before it was open for the season.  The buildings are so quaint and charming, and with no one there I had a chance to get some pictures without families in blue jeans or pushing strollers and spoiling the atmosphere.  

For being the day before opening, I was surprised to see how quiet the venue was.   Here and there, were cars pulled up in front of a booth as vendors unloaded, with a few folks were busy unpacking and setting up.

And people were planting some blooming flowers in front of their shops. But for the most part, it was dreamily serene.

The park itself is a pretty place, it was a joy to walk through in the peace, enjoying aspects of it I hadn't noticed before.

Still, I'm looking forward to a visit there while there is a bustling crowd of happy shoppers, watching shows, and munching on giant turkey legs.  And the best part?  Grand fairies all dressed up as fairies or princesses, eyes lit up, and believing that the magic is real.

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ps- I will be participating in Brenda's  Fall Home Tour.   It begins on the 15th, and my home will be on the list for the 18th.  There will be lots of pretty things to see. I've been checking out some of these blogs from the URLs Brenda sent to me, and she has corralled an inviting selection of homes to peek into.