Life of the Traveling Wife

Hey, friends! We are still absolutely loving Tampa and the surrounding areas we have been exploring and I can’t wait for you to read this blog to catch up on our adventures with us! Bobby started his second travel nursing assignment on July 5th! He has been enjoying this new hospital and his coworkers, but isn’t loving the night shift as it is taxing on his body, sleep and eating schedules. Please be praying that in the future we can land a day or mid-shift schedule in other hospitals. July was full of fishing, golfing, and day trips. But, July also brought a few hardships that I’ll briefly share with you all. The first three days of July are in the June 2022 blog! If you missed how we ended June and started July be sure to read about our adventures back on Long Island.

🌞 July 🌞

[July 4] We spent the morning and afternoon enjoying fishing from the pier and the beautiful beach views at Fort DeSoto! Bobby officially joined the shark catching club that day! These little sharks are so strong. It took some muscling from Bobby and a guy we recruited on the pier to get the hook out of its mouth, but when they did, Bobby was able to send him back into the Gulf. That night we went back over to Bayshore Boulevard along with hundreds of others to watch the fireworks all across the Tampa Bay night sky! It really was an incredible spot to watch the fireworks because no matter where you looked you could see a firework display. So many people set up their lawn chairs and blankets in the grassy median of the road or stood along the railing of the sidewalk, like us, to get an incredible view.

[July 5] Bobby started his SECOND travel nurse assignment!! This second hospital is located in Clearwater, but not quite near the touristy Clearwater Beach. We love our apartment and are so happy we get to stay here through October (or so is the plan for now). So thankful for my guy and this awesome journey we decided to take together. We are excited for the ever growing memories we get to make in Tampa and are so thankful for the consistent sunshine allowing us to explore and enjoy all that there is to offer.

[July 8] We went golfing at Heritage Isle. Our tee time started out as doubles with two really sweet older gentlemen, but after the first hole we split up. We played 9 holes in the morning and were really glad that we got an early tee time so we could enjoy a nice hearty lunch and get out of the heat after we were done golfing.

[July 9] Bobby and I took a drive to Sand Key Park to check out the park, beach, and fishing areas! We are excited to come back here to fish with some new methods we have been learning about.

[July 12] We spent the afternoon and evening at the Sunshine Skyway Bridge Pier. We caught our usual fish that mainly like to steal our bait and Bobby caught a saltwater catfish! There seems to be a bit of a lull in the fish activity recently, but that just makes every catch we can land a little more exciting.

[July 13] We went fishing in Clearwater at Coachman Park. We were the only ones there and we were able to catch a bunch of different kinds of snapper on live shrimp. While we were fishing, a Segway tour came out of nowhere to stop at the pier we were on for a water break. The leader of the tour had a huge parrot on his shoulder too. We really don’t know where they came from because the area we were in was very secluded and next to a big construction area for the future Imagine Clearwater Park, so we had to park further away and walk to this pier. After spending some time fishing, we went into the town of Dunedin for lemonades from Lanes to end the night.

[July 14] We went into Downtown Tampa for lunch at Chez Faby. Then we checked out the park across the street and then down to the Riverwalk to take a little stroll.

[July 15] We rented fishing kayaks to try out a new method of fishing in hopes to catch some snook or redfish in the mangroves. We knew there were snook nearby when we saw so many mullet jumping out of the water all around us. We kayaked a really big loop and took a break at Shell Key Beach to eat our sandwiches for lunch. We came home to find the best care package and card in the mail from my mom. She sent us amaretti cookies from Madonia Bakery on Arthur Ave in the Bronx. If you know, you know. But if you have never had the absolute privilege of stepping in and just smelling the air inside this old school Italian bakery, I suggest you hop on a plane, a train, and then get a cab ASAP. Anything from Madonia’s is delicious, but these amaretti cookies are so flavorful and melt in your mouth- life changing.

[July 17] I’ve created more earrings that are on my Etsy shop! Click here to check them out! Also, this comes later in August, but I’ll let you in on a secret… I’m back on Instagram! Follow me at ooh_dolly_shop to see some wholesome content of my earrings in your feed and behind the scenes videos of me making them! Feel free to message me on Etsy, dm me on Instagram, shoot me an email or text if you’d even like a custom made order!

[July 20] We went fishing at the Sunshine Skyway Bridge Pier! We were there from 4 to 9:30pm and caught a bunch of little snapper fish. It’s always really interesting to fish at night. After the sun goes down the water turns from a bright blue-green to black and it almost looks as if you are staring out into nothingness. It’s a bit of an eerie feeling but also exciting as you never know what you will pull up out of the water!

[July 21] We had been researching for great places to get donuts in the Tampa area and heard about Nicola’s Donuts. We went in the morning and both agreed that the donuts from Nicola’s might be the best fresh baked donuts that we have ever had! This donut shop stays open until they sell out, which is usually around 1pm or sooner everyday, so you really need to get there early. You can also call ahead the night before to place your order to pick up the next day. That night we went for ice cream at Twistee Treat… talk about a sweet tooth kind of day!

[July 22] We took a trip down to Anna Maria Island. We walked around several streets with shops, checked out the Anna Maria Island Pier, and put our feet in the most incredible sand we have felt in Florida yet!

[July 23] We went fishing at Fort DeSoto. I don’t think we will ever stop loving this beach and this pier. =) Bobby caught another species that we got to check off on our saltwater fish catch list, a spotted seatrout!

[July 26] We went to the mall to walk around and get Bobby a fun new pair of work shoes!

[July 27] Bobby and I went back down to Anna Maria Island. We walked along the different pop-up market craft tents. It was the last day that this area was going to have them until they pick back up in November, so we went down to check them out since we missed the time frame of the shops being open the other day when we came down here. Then we went over to Leffis Key Preserve to walk the boardwalk and make our way to the top of the hill where you can see a 360 degree view of the Coquina Bay.

[cont. of July 27] That morning while we were down in AMI, I had gotten a call from my mom that our landlord on Long Island had passed away. Instead of going into the details around that day, I wanted to share with you a glimpse of the relationship we had with our landlord, Lou. We moved into the top apartment of his house the summer before I went into the 3rd grade. He got to watch me grow up and always lovingly signed the birthday or holiday cards he gave to my mom and I as Uncle Louie. Every Valentine’s Day he gave us boxes of chocolates, but always made sure that mine were milk chocolate and that my mom’s were white chocolate, the way we preferred. He found comic strips talking about the “Vegetarian Olsens”, clipped them out of the newspaper, and stuck them on our front door for a good laugh. He showed his artistic talents when drawing us a picture of my mom’s car turning on a red light after they had just installed those dang red light cameras near the corner of our house years ago. One day, he even installed deer whistlers on my mom’s car after she had been in an accident with a deer to prevent any future deer from jumping out into the street. He taught me how to use the electrical control panel in the basement when the power would go out in some areas of the house. He made us homemade pasta and sauce. And my personal favorite were the rice, black bean, and cheese burritos that he made, always making sure to give us sour cream and salsa on the side. He had a garden for a few years and would share his veggies and herbs with us. And this past spring my mom got all the things to grow a garden with him that they both got to enjoy creating and eating from before his passing. He made our little home feel safe and made us feel cared for knowing that he was always home just downstairs.

[July 28] We hung low at our apartment for most of the day, but that night we went to the Ruskin Family Drive-In to see the Minions: Rise of Gru. Bobby and I used to go to the drive-in to see movies when we lived in Pittsburgh, so it was fun to continue that tradition down here in Florida.

[July 29] We went to the Belleair Causeway Coastal Area and Bluffs. We tried fishing off the beach area, but we ended up having success fishing under the bridge instead! After we spent a few hours fishing we took a drive by the hospital that Bobby works at so I could get a chance to see it.

[July 30] We made our drive down to Miami to stay and visit with our friends for the weekend!

[July 31] We all went to the original El Rey De Las Fritas location for lunch in South East Little Havana, Miami. This restaurant is known for its Cuban bread and sandwiches. Our friend’s superintendent at work lent us his beach condo for the day. So after lunch, we packed up our beach stuff and headed to the condo! It was so nice being on a private area of the beach in Miami so we could have a relaxing and fun beach day. We played a few games of kan-jam at the beach and went to the condo’s pool afterwards. That night we had such a nice dinner at their home, played a board game, and enjoyed brownie sundaes for dessert.

[August 1] We left Miami and headed back home to Tampa. It was too quick of a trip down, but we are so glad we got to spend some time with our friends and miss having them nearby in Tampa with us.

Let’s Get Connected

Thanks for tuning in to a little piece of our corner of the internet. We are so thankful that we get to bring you along and share with you the highs and lows of our journey. We are also thankful for your messages and words of encouragement! It makes us feel loved and close while we are away from you all. And if this is your first time reading along, we would be more than happy to have you as our friend! Subscribe down below for more updates! Signing out from the Sunshine State! 🌞🌴

Madison Basile

Long Island, NY> Lynchburg, VA> Pittsburgh, PA> Tampa, FL 🏡