We boys had a GREAT dinner last night at the Front Porch . . . while the girls went somewhere less ‘spendy’ . . .

TommyH and I had the honey shrimp on a bed of smoky gouda grits . . . and Paul had the seafood linguine . . .

. . . and of course there was dessert involved. Stacked Key Lime pie, Coconut Cream pie and I had the flourless chocolate cake!!! YUMM . . . it is our ‘day off’ you know.

Today is Saturday, rest day. Time for napping, shopping, eating, touring, bike mechanic work, laundry . . . all the things one does not get done during our ‘work week’!!! BUT . . there was plenty of time to explore the downtown area, in between the rain showers that is

. . . the historic state capital. Open for touring on Saturday . . .

. . . here is a real carpet bag made famous by the ‘carpetbaggers’ who descended on Florida trying to make their first million!!!!

. . . and of course a pair of ‘Walkin Lawton’s’ shoes from his walk from Pensacola to Miami. Someone making the same trek today would probably be wearing a pair of Nike’s and have them as a corporate sponsor . . . .

. . . there were still signs like this on up until the mid 1960’s!!!!

. . . at one point there was a big debate in the Florida legislature regarding smoking during the legislative sessions. Not sure what this jokester’s message was  . . . but it looks funny!!!!

Here is the ‘new’ capitol  . . . built in the late 1970’s. Only Nebraska, South Dakota and Louisiana have gone with the ‘elevated tower’ look. Glad it never caught on . . . makes our dome in WI look even more majestic!!!!

. . . all the new parts!!

Right down the street from us was the 22nd Annual Crawdad festival. Lots of music, beer and ‘dads . . . !!!

We might head back this evening, when it cools down a little. Once it stopped raining . . . STEAMY!!!

Too hot and sticky to go back to the Crawdad festival, so TommyH and I headed over to the Backyard Bistro . . . walking distance from the hotel. I had the sirloin steak on smashed baby red potatoes with grilled portabellas on top. TommyH had the Backyard’s version of Shrimp and Grits . . . Saturday night so I had to have a ‘tini first, of course  . . . yumminess all around!!!!

. . . after all the activity today, we decided on dessert too . . .Ginger Creme Brule for Tom and another flourless cake for me. YUMMM!!!  . . .  the others went out for pizza!!!! Tomorrow we hit the road again . . .