From arid to balmy, from desert to sea. Our trip continued with a visit to St. Petersburg, FL, to spend some much needed time with daughter Hillary and son-in-law Bruno.

The drive back to the coast from North Carolina was much less taxing, albeit another nine hours on the road. An unplanned detour to avoid an accident ended up being a visual welcome to the state of Florida.

We arrived around five and checked in to the Ponce de León—a quaint little hotel within walking distance to museums, art galleries, the ocean, breweries—just about everything. Hillary and Bruno joined us later for Pisco sours and Spanish tapas at Cerviché—a memorable way to mark our arrival.

As always, we packed A LOT into a short amount of time. The following morning, we took a nature walk through Weedon Island Preserve, located on the shores of the old Tampa Bay. A 45-foot tower provided picturesque views of the surrounding area, with the skyline of Tampa in the distance.

Paved pathways and wooden boardwalks led us through the mangroves, providing glimpses of tree crabs and numerous species of waterfowl.

The heat of the day was spent at the St. Pete Brewing Company, drinking IPAs, and playing Phase 10—hooray for family! Later, we opted for a sunset walk along the shoreline of St. Petersburg beach.

A brief respite featuring martinis and Cuban music at the Don Cesar highlighted the evening.

How about a little culture? No trip to St. Pete would be complete without a visit to the Dalí museum. It was surreal (sorry). And—I had no idea that Dalí and Alice Cooper were such close buddies.

As short and frenzied as our trip was, it was packed full of memories. Dave and I will treasure the moments spent with family most of all.