Sunshine Skyways

Today was a beautiful Saturday in December in the Tampa Bay area, so we decided to hike half of the 6-mile trail at the Little Manatee River State Park. The park is a great place to see native plants. Close to the trail we saw two large and distinctive spiders, which we believe are golden silk spiders, and which are shown in two of the photos. The first photo above that shows a spider includes a quarter ($0.25) so you can get some perspective of how large they are. It was our first time seeing these spiders and they really are beautiful. The local weather is supposed to be equally good tomorrow, so we will probably hit a local golf course, such as the Mangrove Bay Golf Course, which is a beautiful city course in St. Petersburg. The sunny days and warm temperatures in December and throughout the winter months are just part of what's great about living in the Tampa Bay area. We certainly don't miss the chilling temperatures, snow, or freezing rain that we experienced living up north.