Vaca day 6

This is long overdue... We were so busy enjoying oursleves on our trip we didn't blog the last two days, and then returning home has been a whirlwind that really hasn't quit. It probably won't for a while...
Looking back to more restful times...
we decided to finish up all we wanted to do in St.Petersburg. We parked at the Dali Museum and, (thankfully) it was open this time! We spent a good three hours there, wandering in and out of tour groups and learning more about Dali than I ever had before. I had always felt that his paintings were either 1. Strange, or 2. disturbing. After learning about his life and motivations, I can't say that i think differently about my first impressions of him- but i do at least understand more what he was trying to get across. Strange, very talented artist. I used to always say in art school that i couldn't evr be a truly amazing artist because i wasn't mentally disturbed, didn't do drugs, and wasn't completely obsessed with myself and my work. No Dali's in the Henry family :)

Daddy Long Legs of the Evening- Hope!- this was my favorite Dali, not because its fun to look at, but because of the meaning behind it. He painted in right after He and his girlfriend had escaped from the Nazis and come to the States. He depicted himself and an instrument basically dying and then the canon in the corner is symbolic of the allies fighting and winning the war. Daddy Long Legs- the nemesis of my childhood was actually a positive symbol of success to the Spanish. Not a pretty painting, but a powerful one.

After the Dali museum we went to Café Alba. It was, we decided, our favorite place of the week. It was essentially in a basement in downtown St. Petersburg. After walking through a small courtyard you enter into the adorable warm restaurant. The exposed brick archways and reclining bench seats are just part of its charm. Jeff found this place because of his search for crème brulee, and that was probably the best part of the meal. It was definitely a good place to have a long lunch and just talk about our trip and our life.
Our final destination for St. Petersburg was the Florida Craftsman Gallery. Because of my history at Appalachian Center for Craft, fine craft is one of my loves. It is so inspiring to see artists taking common objects and making them art by creating them with such care and detail. The gallery attendant was a wrinkled little lady that moved to St. Petersburg decades ago and has never left. She had such a cute personality, we loved talking with her.
After that we headed back to the bungalow and spent the rest of the evening enjoying the beach and our cute little Caddy’s.

this is one of the millons of little lizards that go darting off when you invade their territory walking down the sidealk. I couldn't help but think about how much fun Libby would have had chasing the little guys and maybe snacking on a few of them.