2023 - Beerhunters - Florida Palms Tournament

In April 2023 the Beerhunters attended the 41st annual Florida Palms Tournament staying at the Postcard Inn in St. Pete's Beach.

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The schedule is out
Game 1 Monday 1:00 pm
Game 2 Tuesday 9:00 am
Game 3 Wednesday 1:09 pm
Playoff Thursday 9:00 a.m.

Mike Upton contact num: 727-580-9420

Tom Martin contact num: 902-580-7902

PCI Rooms:

• Mike/Phil - 217
• Dave/Elaine - 187
• Bill/Linda - 278
• Sam - 228
• Jeff/Kathy - 277
• Nev/Kathleen - 262
• Tom/Paula - 124
• Andy - 143
• Ron/Leeanne - 189

Trip Summary:

Day 1 - Travel Day

Phil’s wife was kind enough to drive us to the airport so no need to take a car!! 
Dave and Elaine are on the early flight arriving around 10:30am. Jeff and Bill D. Are a bit later and stopping at Costco so will arrive at the hotel at around 2:30pm.

Myself Phil and Andy are delayed and should land in Tampa around 5:15pm. (Now delayed again till 8pm)

Tom is likely on a train, plane or automobile somewhere - crisscrossing the country again!?

Dave (our trusty chauffeur)!!

As of now - Phil and I are looking like we will need a ride in the shaggin wagon!! We will keep you posted!

Update - Just got a WhatsApp call from Florida and it appears that Dave forgot his drivers licence at home!! So our "trusty chauffeur" is not that trusty after all!! Elaine may need to step in until we get there. When we finally arrived at around 1am in Tampa, Dave had fallen asleep - so we woke his ass and had him come to the airport to pick us up... Wasn't till around 4am that we got into our room.

Welcome Party - 7pm Under the Tiki Hut

The welcome party was at 7 pm. Unfortunately with all the delays, Mike, Phil (Dave as our trusty chauffeur) and Andy only landed at 8pm and missed much of the festivities.

Enjoying a pint, some good food and the Boston-Florida hockey game with Phil and Crystal in the Lounge

Day 2 - Hockey at Clearwater Ice Arena

Today marked the first official day of the tournament with Team Registration at the rink.

Hockey at Amalie Arena

The tournament officially started with the Beerhunters coming in a close second. The other Teams are shaking in the ir boots about our power play that gave up 2 short handed goals.

Tonight we have tickets to Game #4 of the opening playoff series between between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Tampa Bay Lightning - Go Leafs Go. The Leafs are leading the series 2 games to 1.
The Leafs, like the Beerhunters were the second best team, however they managed to back their way into a tie game late in the 3rd period. No rest for the Beerhunters as we got overtime!!

Luckily, Amalie arena has an amazing Biergarten in our level:

Leafs Win!!! Overtime win!

The Leafs, unlike the Beerhunters, managed to squeak out a victory from the hands of defeat!! Leafs didn’t deserve the last two but found a way to persevere!

Day 3 - Hockey at Clearwater Ice Arena

Todays events... 

Tonight we have tickets to the Tampa Bay Rays - Houston baseball game. Tampa is on a heater of a start with 20 wins and 3 losses so far.

For those going to the baseball game we have a 5:00 pm reservation at Bravaro’s

Reservation: Bavaro's Pizza Napoletana & Pastaria-St Petersburg 

Scheduled: Apr 25, 2023 at 9:00 PM to 10:30 PM, GMT

Location: Bavaro's Pizza Napoletana & Pastaria-St Pete945 central ave St. Petersburg FL 33705 United StatesReservation Number: 39288

New Ball

Quote from Kevin - “No putting the hat in your crotch!!”  
New guy Phil is the big winner!! Drinks on Phil!

The Crowd Favourite

Phil quote on ride home after winning 4 times: “Where was that guy Paul ?? Would have been nice to take his money too” - Ouch!!!

Back at the hotel Dave saves the day by providing a Samsung remote so that we can switch our TV to watch hockey.

Day 4 - Hockey at Clearwater Ice Arena, Sun Set Shooter and Picture Night at PCI Beach Bar

Late game today at 1pm. The boys are better rested and that’s not good for the other team. The Beerhunters were able to come out on top with a definitive victory in a heated affair. The highlights are - 1 - Tom Martin shattering his brand new stick over the crossbar as Air Transat lost his sticks. But not to be outdone by 2 - Andy losing his fancy BMW key fob and having to pay for a $800 replacement fob!!! And call and have the local BMW dealership deliver him a key to the arena as he managed to get the car to the arena!!

As discussed in the dressing room and explained by Mike Upton - Fireball shooters are all the rage down here in FLA. We also discovered Fireball shooters in our dressing room back in Toronto!! Here is a link to how to make the Fireball shooters: Blog - Fireball Cherry Jello Shots

Dinner at the Bonefish Grill tonight before the Boston game. Here are directions to the Bonefish.

Still no luck getting Dave to get his license onto the rental car!! Worst Uber driver in history!

Day 5 - Clearwater Ice Arena - Hockey Finals

Today was spent wandering the beach and exploring St. Pete’s. Nevil and Kathleen took in the local museum while others looked for bargains at the local shops.

Team dinner was held at Agave - a local Mexican  restaurant followed by watching the Leaf game at the Reef restaurant and bar. Rookie Phil earned his stripes and was in fine form - willing to eat the burgers that came with each bucket of beer!!!  Lisa (the security guard from the Postcard Inn in previous years) recognized us and came over to say hello.

The dinner deal was a a 5 beer bucket and a burger for $20 (not wanting to miss a deal, … Phil being a “team player” volunteering to eat the burgers (and drink one too many beers). By nights end (which was 5am), Phil had managed to down 4 burgers!!!

The Leafs lost so we are looking for tickets for Game 6 on Saturday. 

Air Canada responded to our refund claims stating that the delay was due to a safety issue, not routine maintenance and as such no claim is warranted but as a “good will gesture” Air Canada is offering a $300 voucher. We are going to wait till we get back then take a position on a response.

Day 6 - Wrap Up Party

7:30 to 10:00pm then party on the Beach until closing!!!

Today started with heavy winds with a choppy sea. Things calmed down by mid-morning and the team spent the majority of the time at the pool. Some folks went to John’s Pass to see the Dolphins and do a little shopping. Folks found the there were few bargains to be found and in fact prices were significantly higher than in the past. Click on the map below to get directions:

Johns Pass

Phil had a very rough start to the day making the claim “I am never drinking again”!! But to get him going - we got him some of “the hair of the dog” and took him to McDonalds for a quarter pounder for breakfast!!

Team dinner was at Verducci's followed by the banquet in the banquet room above the Lobby.

Many skipped the banquet in order to catch the Boston - Florida playoff game.

Day 7 - Free to Explore all of what St. Pete has to offer!

Today is a free day to explore and shop. Most went shopping at the local shops and making trips to the designer shops at the Ellenton Premium Outlet mall. Click the map to get directions:

Ellenton Premium Outlets

Dave and Phil with their Ellenton purchases - Two kids in a candy store - Of course they max'd out their credit cards buying stuff for themselves and nothing for their wives!! If you hunted deep enough there were some awesome deals to be found!! Next year Phil has agreed (assuming he is ever invited back) to try my technique of flying down with "no clothes" but what you have on and buy everything at Ellenton!! 

WestJet Travel Home

Bill/Linda and Jeff/Kathie travelled home on WestJet today as WestJet cancelled their return flight for Sunday. Unfortunately for Bill the trip was not uneventful:

Maple Leaf Game 6 - Leafs Win!!!

Day 8 - Travel Day Back Home

Last day to walk on the Beach. Really windy today at the Beach so the kite surfers are out.

Flight home delayed - but this time only about and hour.. So we spent some quality time at our old haunt the “Columbia” restaurant.

ArriveCAN

A little known fact is that you can still use ArriveCAN to bypass the lineups for the kiosks! I used the ArriveCAN app and got thru customs faster than those travelling using NEXUS !!

Roster

Here are the contact emails for all the players. You can send emails to individuals by selecting their email address or send a note to all the players using the group email icon below:

Use this to send an email to all Beerhunters

Directions to Clearwater Ice Arena

Click on the map below for directions from the Postcard Inn to the Clearwater Ice Arena

Post Card Inn

• 6300 Gulf Blvd, St Pete Beach, Florida 33706

Clearwater Ice Arena

• 13940 Icot Blvd., Clearwater, FL 33760

Click here to get google driving instructions from your location

Flights, Parking and Check-In Tips

Jeff and Kathy on Westjet

Mike. Phil and Dave on Air Canada

Updated - April 11, 2023 - return flight is delayed:

Updated - April 18, 2023 - departing flight delayed:

1. AC1656
   Departing Toronto, Lester B. Pearson Intl (YYZ) on April 23, 2023 @ 14:25 (previously 12:50)
   Arriving in Tampa, Tampa Intl (TPA) on  @  (previously 15:42)

Updated - April 23, 2023 (11am) - departing delayed again

US CBP (Customs and Border Protection) MPC (Mobile Passport Control)

I recently travelled to the US via Toronto Pearson and there is an option to use an expedited Customs clearance app. I used the new US CBP (Customs and Border Protection) MPC (Mobile Passport Control) app to get thru customs. You can pre-load the app with your information and the app provides you a timed entry barcode when you arrive at the airport. You have an hour to get thru the Security lines. The app allows you to bypass the general screening line and is very efficient.

I highly recommend that if you are travelling to the US from an airport that allows the use of the MPC app that you take the time to download and set up the app. It is very easy to use and it allowed me to bypass the general line much like using NEXUS! I will definitely be using this every time I travel from now on.

Parking

If you decide to park your car at the airport, pre-purchase your parking ticket for the week as you will get a discount and simply print a copy of the barcode. When you arrive at the airport simply scan your barcode at the machine. When you arrive back home - simply scan the same barcode at the automated gate and the gate will open.

One tip is to make sure to take a picture on your phone of where you parked your car so that you can find it when you return!

Click here to reserve your parking.

Airline Delay Information

7 of us were delayed by Air Canada due to scheduled maintenance, causing us to miss the welcome banquet, Here is the form for submitting a claim:

Air Canada Delay - Claim Form

Here is there response so far:

A key definition is whether the delay was in the Airlones control. Here is the definition:

Within the airline's control

Situations within an airline's control usually happen because of commercial decisions an airline makes in its day-to-day operations. These could include staffing issues and decisions to consolidate flights because of low demand. 

Disruptions due to scheduled maintenance (including any work to address issues found during that maintenance) are also considered within the airline's control.

Sharing Photos - Using QuMagie

 NOTE: QuMagie replaced Qphoto. If you previously used and/or installed QPhoto, you can delete it and use QuMagie (effective Aug 2023).

You will now see "Click Here" links where you can view and downloads including the download of photos of events. You may be required to 'validate' a password to access photos so you can contact me and I will provide you with the required password. You also can now contribute to these photos. In order to post photos on the website and because these can be quite large - we will need to share the photos using a special app on your phone called "QuMagie". These photos will automatically be linked to the website.

For this event the "Folder" where you upload your photos/videos is called "2023 - Beerhunters - Florida Palms...".  So save your files to "Shared Photos/Hockey/Beerhnters/2023 - Beerhunters - Florida Palms"

Details on How to Load QuMagie onto Phone

How To? - View Photos and Install "QuMagie" App on Iphone or Android Phone to Post Photos