The weather is nice, thus far; albeit, exceedingly hot. The beautiful Gulf of Mexico is barely a stone’s throw away, but we are yet to set foot on the beach. I think we are saving that for Naples. We did make our way to The Pier at St. Petersburg Marina yesterday and stayed long enough for Annis to buy a red straw hat before learning that The Help was showing in 30 minutes. The book is better than the movie, in my opinion; however,  the movie is worth seeing. Actually, the view at the marina was far superior to any movie I have ever seen. It is now raining! The weather does change, much like a woman’s mind.Somewhere around 9:45 we ate pizza at a nice restaurant near the marina. The first words out of the waitress’ mouth was “The kitchen closes at 10:00, so you had better hurry and order”  which we did. I had parked my truck in a parking deck near the movie because I was  told I could have my ticket validated for free parking. I  had it validated but for some reason it was done on the wrong side of the ticket, which meant free  parking was now out of the question. There was no attendant, only a talking machine. After three credit card tries and using every denomination of cash I had in my pocket, the gate finally opened. Yes, my pistol was cocked and ready, as we were the only people left. When I finally arrived back at our “Resort” I discovered that there were no parkking places left, so I had to park just outside Valdosta and walk back to the room. .