This week’s dining tip (see back story in Jan. 1 TBRR): We will spend this week devoted to the family staying in our pajamas just a little longer and cheating on our diet with a breakfast of a large glass of milk and our beloved mother’s raisin filled cookies. Hope you’ll take a moment this week to feast on a similar family tradition. Merry Christmas!

As we conclude our yearlong dining suggestions

Next week we wrap up our yearlong list of 52 dining suggestions.   We hope that we may have made you aware of a gem or two of a restaurant you had not tried before. We have eaten in every one we listed – most much more than once. Sadly, two have left us during the year - Roosevelt Boulevard’s Cheddars and Clearwater’s Farmer Boys. We’re sure there were some oversights – after all, there are hundreds of restaurants in Pinellas County alone. But we have given you a year’s worth, and we hope you’ll try some of them and perhaps maybe shoot us a comment below on a place we might have missed. We will feature some of those in 2018. In the meantime, bon appetit!

Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

1. Forgive us for not joining the hoards piling on State Senator Jack Latvala. The longtime Pinellas legislator did the right thing in resigning. Now it’s up to the proper authorities to sort things out. We can only say that Latvala was unquestionably the most effective legislator for Pinellas County over the past two decades. The alleged indiscretions, if true, are inexcusable, but let us see how things play out before reaching any final judgement.

2. Every year when your HB (Humble Blogger) rings the bell for the Salvation Army, we hear a heartwarming story or three about the Army’s good works. This year was no exception as a woman related how the Army helped her almost a decade ago when times were very tough. Now she can’t pass a kettle without dropping in some money. Thanks to all of you who did the same this holiday season. And thanks to our SW (Saintly Wife), daughter and granddaughter for ringing at our side along with the wonderful Hilkert family.

3. Idle musing: in our sixty years as a Florida resident, we’ve become familiar with cities like Archer, Coleman, Jay, Malone and Paisley. But until some recent research, we had never come across Hypoluxo, some 2000 residents strong, in Palm Beach County. How it got its name is more complicated than space allows.

4. Stolen from the creative marquee of attorney Alan Gassman: Santa and Mrs. Clause, your postnuptial agreement is ready.

5. You’ve lived in Clearwater a long time if you enjoyed the jazz at Woody Riley’s Warehouse on Garden Avenue – especially Paulette Pepper and the Garden Avenue Seven.

The diamond, the media and other stuff:

6. As predicted, the break-up of the Rays has begun with the trade of Evan Longoria. The return was about as expected – the Arroyo kid they picked up has a lot of potential and outfielder Dennard Span was just a salary dump by the Giants in exchange for taking on Longo’s rather hefty contract.

7. The Yankees acquisition of Giancarlo Stanton is causing seismic waves all the way from Tampa Bay to Anaheim. But just as important was their reunion with C.C. Sabathia, a strike throwing machine - more on the Yanks and 2018 in a couple weeks.

8. Fifty years ago as 1967 wound down, the top three hits in America were Hello Goodbye by the Beatles; Heard It Through the Grapevine by Gladys Knight, down from number one – this song would also be number one a year from now, but by Marvin Gaye and at number three - the Monkees’ Daydream Believer.

9. NFL takeaways from Week 15 – with the induction of Jon Gruden into the Bucs’ Ring of Honor – the trinity is two-thirds complete. Tony Dungy needs to be added to that list. Along with Gruden and previously inducted John McKay, Dungy made the franchise what it is – no other Buc coach comes close to that trio’s accomplishments. John Fox, Hue Jackson and Chuck Pagano are just three coaches who will be hiring moving companies in the next week. The Giants and Bengals have already made moves for a total of five and there could be one or two more.

10. Happy 7^th birthday to our greatest Christmas gift ever – our granddaughter Emma Kathleen.

Bing, Nat, Perry and other Christmas favorites

On Christmas Eve when our Raves and Rants focus group turns on the Victrola (hey, they’re old) these are their particular favorites – Bing Crosby’s I’ll Be Home For Christmas, Perry Como’s Home for the Holidays, Nat Cole’s The Christmas Song, Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s Christmas Eve Sarajevo 12/24 and Wham’s Last Christmas. In the words of another Christmas tune (thanks to Les Brown) from TBRR – We Wish You the Merriest!

SNEAK PEEK AT NEXT WEEK: Our year-end retrospective