Watercolor only in the top and bottom sketches, white and black ink in the middle sketch; Handbook Watercolor Sketchbook 3.5 x 8.5 inches

I'm not sure what to think of the word "staycation"....I don't think of staying at home as a vacation since I work out of my home. I'm there a lot. Sometimes, too much, but I digress.

Chris and I decided to go out sketching Sunday morning... a kind of spur-of-the-moment Spring madness took over, and we were off!

We went to some little islands that are linked together called Davis Islands. They're located just off from downtown Tampa in Hillsborough Bay. Even though the islands are linked to the mainland, it was like stepping into another world....

We found a small park and decided to start there. There was a tall tower in the middle of the park with dedication plaques on the sides. At the bottom was the cool looking stone fountain face. Unfortunately, the fountain was bone dry and looked as if it had been a long while since it worked.

The other cool thing about the tower is that it threw a long, wide shadow that was very pleasant to sit in as we quickly climbed into the 80's on Sunday. Next, I shifted around and drew the bench with a bridal wreath shrub blooming behind it.

Shifting once again, I noticed the house (it might have been a business, not sure) across the street with the gorgeous cut-out work over the front door. The building was under construction and up for sale, but the red clay tiles shining in the sun were gorgeous. Each of the sketches took about twenty minutes each.

We made our way back to main street to find some lunch and stopped in a Grecian cafe....that was only serving breakfast! We had hoped for an gyro, but the breakfast was good, it was cool and we felt refreshed after our meal.

Going to a place we were unfamiliar with (we've both been there, just not a lot), eating lunch in a restaurant we weren't familiar with, then getting served breakfast instead of lunch all contributed to the feeling that we were on a real get-out-of-town vacation. Kinda cool actually.

And just thirty minutes later, we were home.....can't beat that!