Today started with a blip.
I was awake by 6am which wasn’t bad considering the time difference. Karen slept through until 7.30am. As usual she went in the bathroom first. When I went in though and tried to turn on the taps nothing happened. At first I thought it was me and then realised we didn’t have any water. I called reception who said we would have to wait until maintenance clocked in at 8.30am. So we went down to breakfast. As we sat there eating I could hear the reception desk taking calls from other rooms with the same problem. Eventually they found out that all of Port Richey was without water.
Not the best start as I wanted to wash away that been stuck on airlines too long feeling. But with no other option I stuck on some clothes and we went out to explore. At least it was me and not Karen who would have been frantic with the situation.
We headed south down to New Port Richey. Within a couple of miles we saw a Walmart and called in to buy some snacks and fruit. We found downtown New Port Richey which was a featureless soulless place so we didn’t stop. Instead we drove back northwards and called into Starbucks. They were only selling bottled drinks as they were out of water as well.
So we thought we would head further north in the hope of finding somewhere that may still have water. We came to a turning for Hudson Beach which we took and we were glad we did so. It was a small place with just a couple of bars and a little boardwalk. By now the sun was out and it was glorious. There was a lovely shrimp shack type of place overlooking the sea that was open so we thought we would try and get Karen a coffee. We bagged a prime table on the edge of the beach and decided to treat ourselves to 1lb of Hot Shrimp coated in Old Bay Seasoning. We were on holiday after all. They were delicious and we spent a lovely hour sitting in the sun enjoying the views.
After exploring a little further we decided to eat the snacks we had purchased at one of the benches on the small beach.
By now the sun was really hot as the temperature gauge hit 88f.
We thought we would go back to the Hotel to check the water situation and to our relief the problem had been resolved enabling me to have a much needed shower. Not wishing to miss more of the day we were soon out and drove the few miles to the Werner-Boyce Salt Springs Park. There were only about 3 other cars parked so we had the place to ourselves. It was lovely exploring and following the Spring Walking trails through the undisturbed natural eco system.
By now Karen was craving a Starbucks and so we popped in on the way back to the Hotel. However they still weren’t serving as they needed to flush out all the machines as the water had been cut off. So without a caffeine fix we returned to the Hotel and sat in the sunshine by the deserted pool and spa for a hour.
In the evening we drove to have a much anticipated Steak at the Longhorn Steakhouse we had seen earlier. The evening finished with a quick dash to Ross, Dollar Tree and Books-a-million which were all next to each other. Another really good day.
