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An 'ancestral' home away from home
By LORRIE LYKINS Getting Away With ... Dewayne Staats* * * Tampa Bay Devil Rays broadcaster Dewayne Staats is in his 26th season commenting on major league baseball, having broadcast the Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees before arriving in the Tampa Bay area five years ago. Staats and his wife, Dee, own a home on the Greek island of Rhodes that they share with cousins living on the island. Your favorite weekend destination? "Home. We just don't go anywhere on the weekends -- we live on Sand Key (south of Clearwater Beach), and you don't really want to take off and go somewhere else when you're lucky enough to live where we live."
Where did you go on your last real vacation? "This past October we went to Greece by way of Northern Italy. Dee and I had planned the trip for a while and after Sept. 11th, our relatives called us up and said we know it won't do us any good asking you not to go, and they were right. "We figured there would be more security at that time than there's ever been, so we felt safe. As a matter of fact, the security (at the airport) in Milan was incredible. And of all the people waiting in line at the airport, security pulls my wife and me and a Greek Orthodox priest out for random searches! "I'd always wanted to see the Last Supper (painted on a monastery wall in Milan), so we went there, then took a train to Lake Cuomo and rented a car. "We drove all around the lakes and into Switzerland and up to St. Moritz. Of course, it wasn't ski season in October, so we saw a lot of cows and horses wandering around. "After that, we flew to Athens and on to Rhodes to get to the village of Paradisi." Staats continued: "We've owned the house for 10 years; we bought it from Dee's aunt, to keep it in the family. It's a small, two-bedroom, two-story house built on the same lot where Dee's mom was born and grew up." Because of that, and because the house has been passed from one generation to the next, "I guess you could say that, yes, it's the ancestral home," Staats joked. Most memorable vacation? "Two years ago we went through Madrid, Florence and Rome. The Sistine Chapel and the Vatican were incredible sights. "I have to say, though, that Venice was the highlight of our trip: We took a water taxi from the airport into Venice and stayed at a place friends had recommended, the Savoya and Jolanda Hotel Venice. It's a two-minute walk from St. Mark's Square.
"We walked over to the square as soon as we arrived and there were musicians playing as an incredible fog was rolling in. The effect of the whole place being shrouded in heavy fog and the music playing -- it was surreal." - Lorrie Lykins is a freelance writer living in Seminole. Contact her at WriteLor@Yahoo.com
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