The locals have a name for it. What occurs is easily transmittable, not curable, and not even terminal—but is something most everyone catches while they’re in the Florida Keys for any length of time. Louis and I have had a bad case of it too—I don’t know if we’ll ever recover—it’s certainly not something you want to voluntarily get over. Keys Disease is a state of mind. And as I don’t want to forget one moment of our time here, I’m taking this opportunity to put most of it down here—so when we get back home into our daily routines, I can hopefully catch the disease again periodically—I’ll just pretend to be Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, close my eyes and click my ruby red heels together three times.
We arrived here in Marathon exactly 5 weeks ago today—it was Tuesday, January 27th. We came in with “C-Life” and “Wanderin’ L & M” quickly followed a few days later— all three boats have been here together. We had planned to stay a month—the thought of staying in one spot for four weeks was a welcomed change. Not once on this whole trip of ours have we stopped and enjoyed one particular place for four complete weeks! Most everyone on the Loop takes the time during the winter months to either linger and enjoy the Florida Keys for several weeks or make a quick stop somewhere here (like Key West) and then go over to the Bahamas for a few weeks. We had fully intended (when we left Morehead City in May of last year) to go over to the Bahamas and Abacos during this time period joining other Loopers—we had all our documentations accurate and up to date—but after we got back to the boats in late December and were exhausted from Christmas and such, we decided we just needed to stop. And what a better place to do just that than at Dockside Sombrero in Marathon! And stop we did—life slowed way, way down—we got into a lazy routine—and all of us caught Keys Disease.
The days flew by—none of us knew where the time went. Our days were spent in a sort of glorious limbo—we were always outside enjoying the high 70’s temperatures—it never rained during the daytime—how lucky we were! We would begin our mornings with walks—even Louis got into the habit of walking with the guys at 7am! The girls would walk @ 8:30 more briskly and longer—at least 2-4 miles each morning. My thanks go to Ellen on “Our Turn” for “keeping the pace” with and for me. I walked every day but one and will miss terribly that part of my morning as we ride “Bella Luna” home. After our daily walks and breakfasts, the rest of our time here has all melded together in a kind of blissful haze.
We only had two things that were scheduled each week that we needed to do. First, we looked forward to the farmer’s market bringing the freshest and prettiest fruits and vegetables to the side of the road for us to buy every Saturday morning. Truly, we’ve never had better fruits and such. And second, we welcomed our pump-out time every Friday morning sometime after 10am. Every thing else we did was just a spontaneous decision/choice. We recycled bottles and cans. How wonderful—we had developed full blown Keys Disease. Twice, we had large Looper cocktail parties (40 or more)—thanks go to Barbara on “Gone Cruising” for organizing Dockside’s one. Early on, we had wonderful visits with Lisa and Jim on “Kismet” and Linda and Charlie on “Freedom’s Turn” (they both have gone to the Bahamas). We saw friends from home—Betsy and Curtis (Raleigh) bringing their precious friends, Susan and Bill Carter, for us to finally meet; Eva and Tom Higgins (Chapel Hill) who were spending the month of February in a nearby beautiful Key Colony home; we had an unexpected surprise visit from Liz Stagg early one morning—we thought she was knee deep in snow!; and we had a special two-day visit with Judy and John Woody. We owe them both a special thanks for making the efforts they did to come see us—not once, but twice now! We also spent several days with Alice and Phil Priemer on “Wonderland” up at Boathouse Marina—they were very gracious to keep coming back and forth getting us with their car. We also had a couple of occasions to get back together with gold Loopers, Carol and Lee Kirwan, whom we met last April in Morehead. Having Brenda and Brantley “Reel Estate” for a week or so right in the slip beside us was very special too. We also enjoyed vicariously the Creech’s and Ross’s grandchildren when they came to visit—think stars, fishing, and youthful enthusiasm & laughter!
We took three day trips too—the first to Key West, stopping at No Name Key for a delicious pizza lunch at the hard-to-find No Name Pub—the second was to the Dolphin Research Center (actually we went there twice) and thanks to Buddy Barnes for making that possible both times—and the third day we spent at the once-a-year marine flea market up at Islamorada. All three of those days were a blast! Also, Louis and five other guys one day chartered our old friend’s boat for a successful day of off-shore fishing—we can always count on Capt. Steve Leopold on “Yabadabado” to put us in the fish!
We enjoyed our dinghy rides every other day or so—going at least twice weekly to Burdines for the very best and freshest Rubens, fries, and fried key lime pie (oh yes, so delicious!). One day while in our dinghy, we got to sneak alongside a big fat manatee and watch it drink water dripping from the fish market’s supply of ice. We also went fishing another day in the quiet and secluded mangroves up Sister’s Creek for small snappers where only dinghies and canoes can go, and other times we would just ride around looking at other boats and boaters—people watching at its very best. Having the opportunity to see pelicans and ibis perched on the branches of the low lying limbs and not the least afraid of us was special to witness too—so was the 3 foot long iguana sunning in the tree-top right behind our boat. We also had a resident manatee that would almost daily pass behind our boats and head up the canal hoping to find a water hose—we followed it one day. Thank you again, Deb, for selling us your dinghy!!
We also had time to get some work done on the boat. Bonnie and Bruce from “Phantom of the Aqua” were able to make and put on for us new white sun screens all the way around the windows of our boat—boy, did they ever do a great job! Our interior is now so much cooler—and we love the privacy the screens allow us. Louis was able to get the zincs changed and a slightly bent prop blade fixed. I planted a small herb garden. Louis “up-fitted” the dinghy with a solid floor and a comfortable seat he got from Phil—although I still think it looks like a toilet seat! We probably put around 300 miles on our bikes too—always going somewhere and glad we had them! Publix (grocery store), Winn-Dixie, CVS, Home Depot, West Marine, Boaters World, and K-Mart were all very close and easily accessible by bike. Having spent so much of our trip going to various Wal-Marts around the Loop, we all were disappointed in the K-Mart here only having a fourth of the merchandise we had been used to prior to coming to the Keys—the shelves were sparsely furnished and selections limited. I doubt they’ll be in business much longer here.
We enjoyed nightly music from our own Dockside’s Bar—Joe Mama and Florida Straits being our favorites. We sometimes ate (just five boats down from us) ribs on Thursday nights, Saturday and Wednesday nights were Prime Rib—all cooked on an outdoor grill. There also was a delicious Super Bowl Sunday Chili Cook-off, a pig roast another day—but not as good as Louis’s by a long shot, and all day Mondays and Tuesdays were “happy hour” at Dockside. We quickly got to know the staff there too on a first name basis—Roy, Ron & Tom on the docks—Debbie & Popeye, Stephanie & Janet on the inside taking food and drink orders. “Buddy” the dock cat came to visit us daily on board our boat—even climbing up the steep ladder to the flybridge with us on several occasions! We went to Keys Fisheries several times—having lunches and dinners and buying stone crab claws to take back with us to the boats. We went to Island Grill several times for the best calamari we ever tasted—went once to Hurricanes for their $5 lunch—went to the Stuffed Pig for another delicious meal too. Having a Chinese lunch buffet within walking distance wasn’t bad either! But probably our favorite local spot to go to was Sparky’s for their “happy hour”—25 cent shrimp and wings, beer $1 and you had to go early to get a table because it was always so crowded! What delicious fun.
We have “penciled in” our names for the winter of 2010 for more of the same—middle of January to the middle of March. “God willing and the Creek don’t rise” (Thank you, Phil, for telling me about this 200 year-old prayer!)—hopefully we’ll make it back—I’m certainly going to keep my fingers crossed until then. This has been the most special time for us that I can ever remember—people who know us well know we don’t stay still for any length of time. And when we first heard about Keys Disease, we had no idea what the locals were talking about. “Nonsense”, we both said. But now we know—we know first hand. TYJ
Friday, March 6, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Marathon, #1
When I signed off on the last blog, I wrote that I wouldn’t publish another one unless something unusual happened to us here in Marathon—thinking a day to day routine would be boring and uneventful. Not so, I’m finding out—and we haven’t even been here a week! So, I’m going to number this as 1, as our first exciting experience—we don’t want to forget last night! Monday, February 2nd.
It started with a Looper party organized over the daily morning radio program broadcasted here in Marathon at 9am on channel 68. “Pot of Gold” had sent out the invitation to all Looper boats in the area (several mornings in a row) to come to their marina’s dock (City Dock) for a 5pm cocktail party—bring an appetizer and your own drinks—a chance for us all to get together, as we are spread out here in Marathon over several marinas and anchorages. What a great idea and what fun—let’s go!
As the afternoon progressed, we all anxiously watched the weather and the accumulating clouds and hoped the forecasted rain would hold off until after the party was over. As it turned out, there were 66 people attending from 34 boats—we had no idea that there were so many of us in the area! A group picture was taken—maybe it will appear in the next AGLCA mailing. The rain did hold off, but thunder and lightning made the party end much sooner than any of us would have wanted. Quickly gathering our coolers and dishes, we all hurried back to our perspective marinas and boats—many had left windows and hatches open.
Thankfully, we got to our boat just as a gentle rain began—so far, no problem. We were invited over to “Kismet” to have a drink (we’re so glad you’re here, Lisa and Jim!) and then walked down the dock (under an umbrella and carrying my shoes) to the restaurant here at Sombrero Dockside—meeting “C-Life” and making a table of six for dinner in Dockside’s outdoor bar. Under cover, still no problem—we’ve dealt with a lot of rain on this trip.
No sooner had we sat down and ordered drinks did the heavy rain begin. The perimeter curtains around the restaurant were lowered and we all felt safe, secure and dry—thunder and lightning were getting closer, but still no problem. Wow—how in an instant things changed. All of a sudden, a burst of wind blew out the seams in the curtains and the rain blew sideways onto us. Everyone got wet—at all the tables—and most people jumped up and headed inside to the bar area. (Not us though, the bar was way-too packed and we would have gotten even more wet just trying to squeeze in!) A weather “cell’ was over us—bringing winds of 60+ mph—just like a hurricane. Tables were soaked and plastic chairs were blowing over and across the floor. It was surreal—and we were standing outside under cover trying to stay dry near the kitchen! And as quickly as it began, it all stopped. Tables were toweled off, chairs were up-righted, new settings were passed around, we dried ourselves off, sat back down again and ordered our dinners—laughing and joking about our ordeal of the past 20 minutes. Kay even suggested we order hurricanes to drink! (That’s Pat O’Brian’s in New Orleans though!)
The band began playing again and our dinners came—we all enjoyed it tremendously. Having finished our meals, we asked for our checks to come from our still wet (and now cold and shivering) waitress, Stephanie. No sooner had she brought our checks back to the table than another “cell” blew through and the whole scenario began again. Truly, having had enough by then and all of us in some state of “wet”, we quickly said, “G’bye & G’night!!!” and dashed back to our boats. It was 9:15 pm. Whew—we’re so very glad we were right here tied to the dock and not on anchor. But what a night—what a memory!
It started with a Looper party organized over the daily morning radio program broadcasted here in Marathon at 9am on channel 68. “Pot of Gold” had sent out the invitation to all Looper boats in the area (several mornings in a row) to come to their marina’s dock (City Dock) for a 5pm cocktail party—bring an appetizer and your own drinks—a chance for us all to get together, as we are spread out here in Marathon over several marinas and anchorages. What a great idea and what fun—let’s go!
As the afternoon progressed, we all anxiously watched the weather and the accumulating clouds and hoped the forecasted rain would hold off until after the party was over. As it turned out, there were 66 people attending from 34 boats—we had no idea that there were so many of us in the area! A group picture was taken—maybe it will appear in the next AGLCA mailing. The rain did hold off, but thunder and lightning made the party end much sooner than any of us would have wanted. Quickly gathering our coolers and dishes, we all hurried back to our perspective marinas and boats—many had left windows and hatches open.
Thankfully, we got to our boat just as a gentle rain began—so far, no problem. We were invited over to “Kismet” to have a drink (we’re so glad you’re here, Lisa and Jim!) and then walked down the dock (under an umbrella and carrying my shoes) to the restaurant here at Sombrero Dockside—meeting “C-Life” and making a table of six for dinner in Dockside’s outdoor bar. Under cover, still no problem—we’ve dealt with a lot of rain on this trip.
No sooner had we sat down and ordered drinks did the heavy rain begin. The perimeter curtains around the restaurant were lowered and we all felt safe, secure and dry—thunder and lightning were getting closer, but still no problem. Wow—how in an instant things changed. All of a sudden, a burst of wind blew out the seams in the curtains and the rain blew sideways onto us. Everyone got wet—at all the tables—and most people jumped up and headed inside to the bar area. (Not us though, the bar was way-too packed and we would have gotten even more wet just trying to squeeze in!) A weather “cell’ was over us—bringing winds of 60+ mph—just like a hurricane. Tables were soaked and plastic chairs were blowing over and across the floor. It was surreal—and we were standing outside under cover trying to stay dry near the kitchen! And as quickly as it began, it all stopped. Tables were toweled off, chairs were up-righted, new settings were passed around, we dried ourselves off, sat back down again and ordered our dinners—laughing and joking about our ordeal of the past 20 minutes. Kay even suggested we order hurricanes to drink! (That’s Pat O’Brian’s in New Orleans though!)
The band began playing again and our dinners came—we all enjoyed it tremendously. Having finished our meals, we asked for our checks to come from our still wet (and now cold and shivering) waitress, Stephanie. No sooner had she brought our checks back to the table than another “cell” blew through and the whole scenario began again. Truly, having had enough by then and all of us in some state of “wet”, we quickly said, “G’bye & G’night!!!” and dashed back to our boats. It was 9:15 pm. Whew—we’re so very glad we were right here tied to the dock and not on anchor. But what a night—what a memory!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Everglades City and Marathon
We left our serene little spot in Goodland Monday morning once the tide got high enough to travel. It has been very surprising to me that the waters in this region of Florida have been so shallow—we have a draft of four feet under our boat, so we have to make sure the water we traverse through has a depth of at least six feet. Many-a-time in these last few weeks we’ve had just that little “skinny water” too—and we’re well off-shore! But what a beautiful day we had to cross to Everglades City—the water was slick calm, the temperature was perfect, and there were dolphins everywhere following us and showing off. A sign well out in the middle of nowhere said, "Welcome to Everglades National Park". What a hoot to be that far from land and see a sign like that!
Everglades City is the last “get off the boat in civilization” stop before a long days’ crossing to the Florida Keys. We docked at the Rod and Gun Club for our overnight spot—what a grand old place that is! Built as a private hunting and fishing club in 1864, it has withstood many hurricanes and storms and is still so stately and beautiful today. Visited by Ernest Hemingway and John Wayne and many more celebrities, it also has held court to four sitting Presidents! Framed newspaper and magazine articles about the Rod & Gun Club line the entrance to the front desk and all kinds of local taxidermied animals and fish hang on the walls—what a history this place has had! We had a delicious late lunch out on the covered screened porch and a late dinner in the beautifully paneled old cypress wood dining room—what a real treat for all of us twice in one day—we thank you Buddy and Jimmy for your hospitality!
The Captains decided at dinner that early Tuesday morning we would leave and cross to Marathon—it would be a long day on the water for the two boats—but we could make it before dark. (We could break this crossing up into two parts with an anchorage tonight—but there’s a cold front coming through sometime Thursday and it is best we go the whole way before the winds really pick up.) So, at first light (ugh!) we’re headed to The Keys—our home base for the next five weeks!
It was a long day, not as pretty as the day before for sure, but we got here safely @ 5:30 pm and were welcomed by the crews of “Reel Estate” and “Sunshine” with drinks in their hands. We tied up in Sombrero Dockside Marina—a really good and convenient spot to rest for a month. We have a popular bar and very casual outdoor restaurant just at the end of our dock—Publix, Winn-Dixie, CVS and K-Mart are just a short walk away. There’s a walking loop that follows the golf course just behind our boats and I plan to make good use of that, hopefully daily! (We think this is a really good spot to be in considering other marinas that are available here—thanks Brantley for making it all happen!)
So now it’s early Sunday morning, February 1st, five days later, as I am writing this. Since we’ve been here (and with Buddy Barnes renting a van—thanks Buddy!) we’ve spent one day going to The Dolphin Research Center and then another going to Key West—love those Cuban mojiotos! (Seeing 9 of us packed into the van was hysterical!) “Wanderin’ L & M” made it here safely Thursday afternoon—boy is it good they’ve finally caught up with us too. We’ve been to some great restaurants and are enjoying the fresh seafood. In between spare times, the guys have been doing projects on their boats—Louis concentrating mainly on getting our dinghy’s outboard motor fixed. The girls have been doing laundry and grocery shopping—plus I’ve walked the loop every morning (we estimate it’s just shy of 2 miles--you're my inspiration, Bean!).
We’re getting into a nice routine now—something we’ve not had the luxury of before on this trip because we’ve always had to keep moving. “C-Life” has their company gone and the rest of our boats are back to being the normal crews. And the Florida Keys is where everyone on the Loop just slows down their pace and comes to a stop. Being this far south, we want it to be warmer than it is—but it’s not. We’ve had a couple of warms days—shorts and sandals—but mostly it’s been cool—far too cool to go swimming—but so nice. And we’ll take it gratefully too—it’s far nicer weather here than what’s at home. (Geni said they’re expecting ice Tuesday night!)
And we are going to try and just stop, rest & relax and enjoy our time here to the fullest—so I won’t be blogging as much—there just won’t be as many different days to document and I need to catch up on some reading! We both got Florida fishing licenses and hope to do some fishing. And we’ve heard from friends from home who will be coming through the area in February—several couples who plan to be in and around Marathon—we’re looking forward to being with them when they get here. By then, we’ll have culled the very best spots to take them to—what fun yet again!
We’re going to a Super Bowl Chili Cook-off Party this afternoon here at our marina—that ought to be interesting—I like the Budweiser commercials the best. After that, we have no plans—and we’re sticking to it! If anything different happens (which I doubt it will) then I’ll do a new posting, but otherwise, love to all and Happy Valentines Day!
Everglades City is the last “get off the boat in civilization” stop before a long days’ crossing to the Florida Keys. We docked at the Rod and Gun Club for our overnight spot—what a grand old place that is! Built as a private hunting and fishing club in 1864, it has withstood many hurricanes and storms and is still so stately and beautiful today. Visited by Ernest Hemingway and John Wayne and many more celebrities, it also has held court to four sitting Presidents! Framed newspaper and magazine articles about the Rod & Gun Club line the entrance to the front desk and all kinds of local taxidermied animals and fish hang on the walls—what a history this place has had! We had a delicious late lunch out on the covered screened porch and a late dinner in the beautifully paneled old cypress wood dining room—what a real treat for all of us twice in one day—we thank you Buddy and Jimmy for your hospitality!
The Captains decided at dinner that early Tuesday morning we would leave and cross to Marathon—it would be a long day on the water for the two boats—but we could make it before dark. (We could break this crossing up into two parts with an anchorage tonight—but there’s a cold front coming through sometime Thursday and it is best we go the whole way before the winds really pick up.) So, at first light (ugh!) we’re headed to The Keys—our home base for the next five weeks!
It was a long day, not as pretty as the day before for sure, but we got here safely @ 5:30 pm and were welcomed by the crews of “Reel Estate” and “Sunshine” with drinks in their hands. We tied up in Sombrero Dockside Marina—a really good and convenient spot to rest for a month. We have a popular bar and very casual outdoor restaurant just at the end of our dock—Publix, Winn-Dixie, CVS and K-Mart are just a short walk away. There’s a walking loop that follows the golf course just behind our boats and I plan to make good use of that, hopefully daily! (We think this is a really good spot to be in considering other marinas that are available here—thanks Brantley for making it all happen!)
So now it’s early Sunday morning, February 1st, five days later, as I am writing this. Since we’ve been here (and with Buddy Barnes renting a van—thanks Buddy!) we’ve spent one day going to The Dolphin Research Center and then another going to Key West—love those Cuban mojiotos! (Seeing 9 of us packed into the van was hysterical!) “Wanderin’ L & M” made it here safely Thursday afternoon—boy is it good they’ve finally caught up with us too. We’ve been to some great restaurants and are enjoying the fresh seafood. In between spare times, the guys have been doing projects on their boats—Louis concentrating mainly on getting our dinghy’s outboard motor fixed. The girls have been doing laundry and grocery shopping—plus I’ve walked the loop every morning (we estimate it’s just shy of 2 miles--you're my inspiration, Bean!).
We’re getting into a nice routine now—something we’ve not had the luxury of before on this trip because we’ve always had to keep moving. “C-Life” has their company gone and the rest of our boats are back to being the normal crews. And the Florida Keys is where everyone on the Loop just slows down their pace and comes to a stop. Being this far south, we want it to be warmer than it is—but it’s not. We’ve had a couple of warms days—shorts and sandals—but mostly it’s been cool—far too cool to go swimming—but so nice. And we’ll take it gratefully too—it’s far nicer weather here than what’s at home. (Geni said they’re expecting ice Tuesday night!)
And we are going to try and just stop, rest & relax and enjoy our time here to the fullest—so I won’t be blogging as much—there just won’t be as many different days to document and I need to catch up on some reading! We both got Florida fishing licenses and hope to do some fishing. And we’ve heard from friends from home who will be coming through the area in February—several couples who plan to be in and around Marathon—we’re looking forward to being with them when they get here. By then, we’ll have culled the very best spots to take them to—what fun yet again!
We’re going to a Super Bowl Chili Cook-off Party this afternoon here at our marina—that ought to be interesting—I like the Budweiser commercials the best. After that, we have no plans—and we’re sticking to it! If anything different happens (which I doubt it will) then I’ll do a new posting, but otherwise, love to all and Happy Valentines Day!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Sarasota and Naples
We left St. Pete on Sunday, January 18th headed to Sarasota. The day before, Louis had lowered our mast so we could take the inside route—going through small towns and under bridges so that we wouldn’t have to wait for them to open for us. We were traveling with “C-Life” and “Reel Estate” and it was a beautiful and calm day, but still very chilly. We enjoyed seeing numerous ospreys nesting on the channel markers—they’re not afraid of getting too close to humans—like eagles are. This must be the nesting season too—every nest we’ve passed has been occupied! There are a lot of ospreys in this area.
We arrived in Sarasota a little after lunch, pulled into the very pretty Marina Jacks and called Tracy Guess—Travis’s father, who lives in Sarasota. Tracy wound up coming to our boat late afternoon and going out to dinner with us and the gang (8 of us total)—we went up the street just two blocks to a great Mexican restaurant, Dos Senoritas—everyone had delicious dinners—cheap too! But it was a mighty cold walk back to the boats—are we really in south Florida? Certainly doesn't feel like it!
Monday, we left the marina and headed to an anchorage—Cape Haze—recommended by Peggy and Guy. We rafted the three boats together in a quiet little cove—surrounded by beautiful homes—feeling safe and secure for the night. (Another cold front was to come in during the night—bringing high winds.) Louis got our dinghy down for Brantley to use with his dog, Rudder, and off the two men went with the dog—seeking a nice grassy spot. Boy, do we both still miss our Buddy! I fixed a big pot of homemade vegetable/beef soup and since there were 7 of us, we ate our supper on “C-Life”. Thanks Kay & Robert!
The cold front did indeed come through during the night waking everyone up but me—how I slept through those two hours I’ll never know! But our anchors held, so everything turned out as hoped. TYJ. We pulled up our anchors the next morning and were in for an ugly surprise—the muddiest, blackest, bottom we’ve ever seen! We spent quite a long time in the howling wind getting all that muck off our anchors—very thankful for our washdown hose on the bow.
Tuesday, Inauguration Day for our new President, we headed to Cabbage Key for the much heralded cheeseburgers they serve. Accessible only by water, this famous place is also known for the thousands of initialed dollar bills hanging from the ceiling and posts. The staff there claims to have over 50,000 bills hanging at all times and so the saying goes, once the bills fall to the floor they’re given to charity. This place is an institution around these parts—and I’m glad we didn’t miss it—even if Louis and I did have a really hard time getting “Bella Luna” secured to the dock in the high winds. By the way, the cheeseburgers were great too! It’s still cold here—but our children back home have snow on the ground today—so we really shouldn’t complain.
After lunch we left for Ft. Meyers—getting in there just at sunset. We were greeted at the dock by Bonnie and Bruce Dailey—residents of Ft. Meyers—and friends on “Phantom of the Aqua” who have just completed the Loop—congrats to them both!! Our boats had lots of salt spray on them—a good bath is in order for them tomorrow!
Wednesday, I watched the morning repeats of the Inauguration in between running back and forth to the dock’s laundry. Once that was accomplished, I started making the breads from the “starter” Peggy had given us—an Amish recipe that you divide and then bake every 10 days. Kay made a chocolate recipe and I made the traditional one—both delicious! Louis and Robert were working on our dinghy’s outboard most of the day—it’s still not working correctly—but I have faith that it will be fixed soon! The guys also rented two cars for us to use the next couple of days. We wound up going nearby to a casual restaurant for dinner—Brantley and Brenda going to the airport during that time to pick up Deb Van Nordwik, who will be traveling with them for a couple of weeks. Also, Margie and Larry, from “Wanderin’ L & M”, joined us for dinner —we’ve missed them during the weeks apart for Christmas. They are in a near-by marina having their boat repaired and will join us as soon as they can—hopefully before we cross to Marathon—where we’ll all be together for a month.
Thursday morning, Brantley, Brenda, Deb, Louis and I took off in our rental car for Sanibel and Captiva. Both small islands, they are known for their beautiful beaches, lush landscapes and superb shelling. Walking the pretty beach, we found lots of beautiful shells (small conchs), 9-fingered starfish, and other sea-life that had been washed ashore in the past two days’ high winds. We also went to lunch at one of Sanibel’s most popular spots (and one of Louis’s top 5!), “Cheeseburger-Cheeseburger”. With over 20 different toppings to choose from, plus five kinds of cheese, and all cooked to perfection, need I say more?! We’ll be back, for sure! That evening, we were still stuffed from lunch—but not wanting to miss a thing, we joined the group and went for sushi and Chinese at the Dailey’s favorite near-by spot.
Friday, “Reel Estate” took off for Marathon early. Poor Brantley, he had gone slowly long enough and was ready to “let the big dogs run”. It was a beautiful day and calm water and he was in Marathon by mid-afternoon—in comparison, it will take us 5 good days to get there—but we’re still enjoying the journey, slowly. No sooner had they left than Louis’s cell phone rang and it was Alice and Phil (of “Wonderland”) and Jackie and Lyn ( of “Carolina Captains”) both Loopers and both in Ft. Meyers for the day—by car. Both couples came to our boat and we all got in a nice visit before going to Joe’s Crab Shack for lunch. It was really great seeing both couples—it had been April ‘08 when we saw them last. “Wonderland” will be in Marathon when we get there—yea!
Saturday (yesterday), we fueled early and were underway by 8:30am headed for the Naples City Dock Marina. We arrived around 3pm, got situated in a great spot and called Judy and John Woody—who were coming for their annual winter solstice not too far from us. After getting their RV set up in its’ own special pretty place, they drove down to the marina and met us and the crew of “C-Life”. It was “Saturday Night” and we all had a blast—Judy and John fitting in perfectly with us crazy Loopers. Eleven of us went to the end of the dock to a very popular and crowded restaurant and continued on with “you-know-what”. It was such a special and fun evening and even more so by having the Woodys with us—we really do miss our friends from home! (John, you’re slipping!—you need to practice back-to-back evenings—we know you can do it!)
So now it’s late Sunday afternoon (Jan. 25th) as I am writing this. We left Naples this morning once the tide got high enough and have come down a calm ocean (outside) to Goodland, just below Marco Island. This is the weekend that the tiny village of Goodland celebrates the “Mullet Festival”. The crew of “C-Life” and us walked into town to see just what was going on and found a crowded area of about a square block filled with several thousand orderly people enjoying a live band, lots of motorcycles & old cars & beer drinkers, jewelry & trinkets & fresh vegetable stands, and mullet cooked about any way you can imagine. None of us stayed long—but it was all worth seeing, if nothing else but the clothes (or lack thereof) that some of the people were wearing. What a hoot—any reason for a party!
We’re in the Calusa Island Marina now—in a very quiet and secluded spot among thousands of mangrove bushes. There’s a long wooden dock that weaves around these low, lush mangroves that takes us back to the office, which is hidden from view and quite a long walk away too. We hear none of the noise from street traffic or near-by bars and don’t smell any food cooking in restaurants—it’s really quite refreshing and unlike anything we’ve experienced so far. Needless to say, we don’t have cable TV or Wireless—but that too is befitting this special spot (I hope to use Louis’s phone card to publish this in a while). This is as close to being “au natural” as you can get without being on anchor. The sun will be setting soon—it has finally warmed up—and we really feel blessed to be in Florida now. The windows on the boat are open and Louis has been taking a nap—just right—only the ospreys are making any noise. And with the sun to my back, this is the perfect place to sit and type and gather my thoughts—I love it! We’re having dinner on “C-Life” tonight with Kay’s & Robert’s guests, who have been with them for several days now. What a grand week we’ve all had!
We arrived in Sarasota a little after lunch, pulled into the very pretty Marina Jacks and called Tracy Guess—Travis’s father, who lives in Sarasota. Tracy wound up coming to our boat late afternoon and going out to dinner with us and the gang (8 of us total)—we went up the street just two blocks to a great Mexican restaurant, Dos Senoritas—everyone had delicious dinners—cheap too! But it was a mighty cold walk back to the boats—are we really in south Florida? Certainly doesn't feel like it!
Monday, we left the marina and headed to an anchorage—Cape Haze—recommended by Peggy and Guy. We rafted the three boats together in a quiet little cove—surrounded by beautiful homes—feeling safe and secure for the night. (Another cold front was to come in during the night—bringing high winds.) Louis got our dinghy down for Brantley to use with his dog, Rudder, and off the two men went with the dog—seeking a nice grassy spot. Boy, do we both still miss our Buddy! I fixed a big pot of homemade vegetable/beef soup and since there were 7 of us, we ate our supper on “C-Life”. Thanks Kay & Robert!
The cold front did indeed come through during the night waking everyone up but me—how I slept through those two hours I’ll never know! But our anchors held, so everything turned out as hoped. TYJ. We pulled up our anchors the next morning and were in for an ugly surprise—the muddiest, blackest, bottom we’ve ever seen! We spent quite a long time in the howling wind getting all that muck off our anchors—very thankful for our washdown hose on the bow.
Tuesday, Inauguration Day for our new President, we headed to Cabbage Key for the much heralded cheeseburgers they serve. Accessible only by water, this famous place is also known for the thousands of initialed dollar bills hanging from the ceiling and posts. The staff there claims to have over 50,000 bills hanging at all times and so the saying goes, once the bills fall to the floor they’re given to charity. This place is an institution around these parts—and I’m glad we didn’t miss it—even if Louis and I did have a really hard time getting “Bella Luna” secured to the dock in the high winds. By the way, the cheeseburgers were great too! It’s still cold here—but our children back home have snow on the ground today—so we really shouldn’t complain.
After lunch we left for Ft. Meyers—getting in there just at sunset. We were greeted at the dock by Bonnie and Bruce Dailey—residents of Ft. Meyers—and friends on “Phantom of the Aqua” who have just completed the Loop—congrats to them both!! Our boats had lots of salt spray on them—a good bath is in order for them tomorrow!
Wednesday, I watched the morning repeats of the Inauguration in between running back and forth to the dock’s laundry. Once that was accomplished, I started making the breads from the “starter” Peggy had given us—an Amish recipe that you divide and then bake every 10 days. Kay made a chocolate recipe and I made the traditional one—both delicious! Louis and Robert were working on our dinghy’s outboard most of the day—it’s still not working correctly—but I have faith that it will be fixed soon! The guys also rented two cars for us to use the next couple of days. We wound up going nearby to a casual restaurant for dinner—Brantley and Brenda going to the airport during that time to pick up Deb Van Nordwik, who will be traveling with them for a couple of weeks. Also, Margie and Larry, from “Wanderin’ L & M”, joined us for dinner —we’ve missed them during the weeks apart for Christmas. They are in a near-by marina having their boat repaired and will join us as soon as they can—hopefully before we cross to Marathon—where we’ll all be together for a month.
Thursday morning, Brantley, Brenda, Deb, Louis and I took off in our rental car for Sanibel and Captiva. Both small islands, they are known for their beautiful beaches, lush landscapes and superb shelling. Walking the pretty beach, we found lots of beautiful shells (small conchs), 9-fingered starfish, and other sea-life that had been washed ashore in the past two days’ high winds. We also went to lunch at one of Sanibel’s most popular spots (and one of Louis’s top 5!), “Cheeseburger-Cheeseburger”. With over 20 different toppings to choose from, plus five kinds of cheese, and all cooked to perfection, need I say more?! We’ll be back, for sure! That evening, we were still stuffed from lunch—but not wanting to miss a thing, we joined the group and went for sushi and Chinese at the Dailey’s favorite near-by spot.
Friday, “Reel Estate” took off for Marathon early. Poor Brantley, he had gone slowly long enough and was ready to “let the big dogs run”. It was a beautiful day and calm water and he was in Marathon by mid-afternoon—in comparison, it will take us 5 good days to get there—but we’re still enjoying the journey, slowly. No sooner had they left than Louis’s cell phone rang and it was Alice and Phil (of “Wonderland”) and Jackie and Lyn ( of “Carolina Captains”) both Loopers and both in Ft. Meyers for the day—by car. Both couples came to our boat and we all got in a nice visit before going to Joe’s Crab Shack for lunch. It was really great seeing both couples—it had been April ‘08 when we saw them last. “Wonderland” will be in Marathon when we get there—yea!
Saturday (yesterday), we fueled early and were underway by 8:30am headed for the Naples City Dock Marina. We arrived around 3pm, got situated in a great spot and called Judy and John Woody—who were coming for their annual winter solstice not too far from us. After getting their RV set up in its’ own special pretty place, they drove down to the marina and met us and the crew of “C-Life”. It was “Saturday Night” and we all had a blast—Judy and John fitting in perfectly with us crazy Loopers. Eleven of us went to the end of the dock to a very popular and crowded restaurant and continued on with “you-know-what”. It was such a special and fun evening and even more so by having the Woodys with us—we really do miss our friends from home! (John, you’re slipping!—you need to practice back-to-back evenings—we know you can do it!)
So now it’s late Sunday afternoon (Jan. 25th) as I am writing this. We left Naples this morning once the tide got high enough and have come down a calm ocean (outside) to Goodland, just below Marco Island. This is the weekend that the tiny village of Goodland celebrates the “Mullet Festival”. The crew of “C-Life” and us walked into town to see just what was going on and found a crowded area of about a square block filled with several thousand orderly people enjoying a live band, lots of motorcycles & old cars & beer drinkers, jewelry & trinkets & fresh vegetable stands, and mullet cooked about any way you can imagine. None of us stayed long—but it was all worth seeing, if nothing else but the clothes (or lack thereof) that some of the people were wearing. What a hoot—any reason for a party!
We’re in the Calusa Island Marina now—in a very quiet and secluded spot among thousands of mangrove bushes. There’s a long wooden dock that weaves around these low, lush mangroves that takes us back to the office, which is hidden from view and quite a long walk away too. We hear none of the noise from street traffic or near-by bars and don’t smell any food cooking in restaurants—it’s really quite refreshing and unlike anything we’ve experienced so far. Needless to say, we don’t have cable TV or Wireless—but that too is befitting this special spot (I hope to use Louis’s phone card to publish this in a while). This is as close to being “au natural” as you can get without being on anchor. The sun will be setting soon—it has finally warmed up—and we really feel blessed to be in Florida now. The windows on the boat are open and Louis has been taking a nap—just right—only the ospreys are making any noise. And with the sun to my back, this is the perfect place to sit and type and gather my thoughts—I love it! We’re having dinner on “C-Life” tonight with Kay’s & Robert’s guests, who have been with them for several days now. What a grand week we’ve all had!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Tampa Bay
From Tarpon Springs, we traveled a short distance down to Clearwater. We fueled, pumped out, and both “C-Life” and “Bella Luna” miraculously got into their very narrow slips as the wind was howling. We enjoyed a great—but late—outside lunch at the nearby local hangout (Crabby Bill’s) just around the corner from the marina. We did more laundry and Louis lowered our mast—as we will be going under several bridges (that we don’t want to wait to open for us) on our way to Ft. Meyers. Late in the afternoon, we walked over to the pier where there were sunset activities—a la Mallory Square in Key West. We saw several men with metal detectors combing the beach and we witnessed two weddings on the wide, pretty and populated sandy shore—it was a perfect, but cool, evening and the sunset was spectacular. The pier was lined on both sides with local vendors, artists and picture takers—like us!
We wound up spending six nights on Tampa Bay—three at the St. Petersburg Municipal Marina (right on the Bay) and three with Peggy and Guy in Apollo Beach. Our first two nights were in St. Pete—we did laundry, ate out one night, gave our boat a much needed bath and window polishing, took a red trolley tour of downtown, went out on the famous (but very touristy) pier—complete with a pirate ship no less, took a beautiful nighttime horse carriage ride under a full “bella luna” and enjoyed the pretty sunny days that we had. Brantley and Brenda on “Reel Estate” joined us on our first day in St. Pete—they brought the boat over from Fort Pierce through Lake Okeechobee—and both of them are friends from home. We’re delighted and so glad they’re along for the journey—but Brantley is having a really hard time going slowly with his 1700 horsepower engines!
On Monday, the three boats crossed Tampa Bay (11 miles) and went over to Apollo Beach for a three nights’ visit with Peggy and Guy Leverett. We were able to tie our boat and “C-Life” behind their house, but “Reel Estate” had to go to the near-by marina. (Not a problem.) Our first night there Peggy cooked a delicious lasagna for us all and we had a relaxing and fun evening being in their beautiful home. Tuesday, the four of us girls went shopping and the boys went flying in Guy’s airplane—a Piper Cherokee 160. Guy showed Louis and Robert several anchorages we’ll be hopefully using on our way to Marathon and the men all had a great day “up in the air”. We four girls also had our own super days’ fix of retail therapy! We wound up that night at the marina restaurant, Circle’s Bar and Grille, and all eight of us had a delicious outside dinner—Kay surprising Louis with his own tiny toy octopus to keep as a reminder of his favorite meal in Tarpon Springs!
Wednesday, the girls decided to go to the movies (“The Reader”) and with so many good ones out now (it was hard to pick one)—but that one was especially good. The guys worked on the boats, did errands and everyone was happy. On our way back from shopping, we stopped at the local meat market and bought steaks for the night and wound up grilling for dinner back at the house. Guy and Peggy made our three nights with them so special and easy, and we all are deeply appreciative of their time, energy and efforts—especially since Peggy was not feeling her best. Get well soon, Peg!!
After breakfast Thursday, we crossed back over Tampa Bay to the same municipal marina in St. Pete. The Creeches picked up a friend of theirs who flew in from Southport—Buddy—who will be traveling with them until we reach Marathon—his wife will fly in next week. Once we all got our boats secured, Brantley and Brenda took off to run errands, Robert and Kay waited for Buddy to get to the marina, and Louis and I took off to go see another movie (“Gran Torino”) with Clint Eastwood—another good one—color Diane happy—two days in a row! Since the temperatures have taken a dive here and everywhere else on the east coast, Brantley cooked a big pot of delicious chili for us all and we ate on his boat—yum! Thanks B & BG!
So now it’s Friday and we’re leaving a rough and white-capped Tampa Bay—headed to Bradenton for the night—Twin Dolphin Marina. This afternoon, the guys are being picked up by a rep and are going to see a boat that is built in Bradenton that Buddy is very interested in—a Marlow—and “us girls” are going to enjoy a few hours of just being on our boats in solitude—something that we rarely get. (If it were a decent temperature outside, I think we would be poolside—but not this week—it’s record lows here too.) Twin Dolphin Marina is a great place with all the amenities—with Charlie Price as the Harbor Master making us all feel so welcomed. With his generosity, all three boats were able to stay two nights, rent two cars (7 of us!) and spend most of the day in Sarasota visiting the Ringling Brothers Museums (think circus!), and at the end of the day we enjoyed Charlie’s annual marina appreciation party. We thank you greatly, Charlie!!
From Twin Dolphins, we head to Sarasota for Sunday night, an anchorage Monday and then we hope to be in Ft. Meyers on Tuesday—weather permitting— a cold front is coming in with high winds. In Ft. Meyer’s, we’ll join Margie and Larry on “Wanderin’ L & M” and be in the home port/marina of Bonnie and Bruce Dailey—“Phantom of the Aqua”.
We wound up spending six nights on Tampa Bay—three at the St. Petersburg Municipal Marina (right on the Bay) and three with Peggy and Guy in Apollo Beach. Our first two nights were in St. Pete—we did laundry, ate out one night, gave our boat a much needed bath and window polishing, took a red trolley tour of downtown, went out on the famous (but very touristy) pier—complete with a pirate ship no less, took a beautiful nighttime horse carriage ride under a full “bella luna” and enjoyed the pretty sunny days that we had. Brantley and Brenda on “Reel Estate” joined us on our first day in St. Pete—they brought the boat over from Fort Pierce through Lake Okeechobee—and both of them are friends from home. We’re delighted and so glad they’re along for the journey—but Brantley is having a really hard time going slowly with his 1700 horsepower engines!
On Monday, the three boats crossed Tampa Bay (11 miles) and went over to Apollo Beach for a three nights’ visit with Peggy and Guy Leverett. We were able to tie our boat and “C-Life” behind their house, but “Reel Estate” had to go to the near-by marina. (Not a problem.) Our first night there Peggy cooked a delicious lasagna for us all and we had a relaxing and fun evening being in their beautiful home. Tuesday, the four of us girls went shopping and the boys went flying in Guy’s airplane—a Piper Cherokee 160. Guy showed Louis and Robert several anchorages we’ll be hopefully using on our way to Marathon and the men all had a great day “up in the air”. We four girls also had our own super days’ fix of retail therapy! We wound up that night at the marina restaurant, Circle’s Bar and Grille, and all eight of us had a delicious outside dinner—Kay surprising Louis with his own tiny toy octopus to keep as a reminder of his favorite meal in Tarpon Springs!
Wednesday, the girls decided to go to the movies (“The Reader”) and with so many good ones out now (it was hard to pick one)—but that one was especially good. The guys worked on the boats, did errands and everyone was happy. On our way back from shopping, we stopped at the local meat market and bought steaks for the night and wound up grilling for dinner back at the house. Guy and Peggy made our three nights with them so special and easy, and we all are deeply appreciative of their time, energy and efforts—especially since Peggy was not feeling her best. Get well soon, Peg!!
After breakfast Thursday, we crossed back over Tampa Bay to the same municipal marina in St. Pete. The Creeches picked up a friend of theirs who flew in from Southport—Buddy—who will be traveling with them until we reach Marathon—his wife will fly in next week. Once we all got our boats secured, Brantley and Brenda took off to run errands, Robert and Kay waited for Buddy to get to the marina, and Louis and I took off to go see another movie (“Gran Torino”) with Clint Eastwood—another good one—color Diane happy—two days in a row! Since the temperatures have taken a dive here and everywhere else on the east coast, Brantley cooked a big pot of delicious chili for us all and we ate on his boat—yum! Thanks B & BG!
So now it’s Friday and we’re leaving a rough and white-capped Tampa Bay—headed to Bradenton for the night—Twin Dolphin Marina. This afternoon, the guys are being picked up by a rep and are going to see a boat that is built in Bradenton that Buddy is very interested in—a Marlow—and “us girls” are going to enjoy a few hours of just being on our boats in solitude—something that we rarely get. (If it were a decent temperature outside, I think we would be poolside—but not this week—it’s record lows here too.) Twin Dolphin Marina is a great place with all the amenities—with Charlie Price as the Harbor Master making us all feel so welcomed. With his generosity, all three boats were able to stay two nights, rent two cars (7 of us!) and spend most of the day in Sarasota visiting the Ringling Brothers Museums (think circus!), and at the end of the day we enjoyed Charlie’s annual marina appreciation party. We thank you greatly, Charlie!!
From Twin Dolphins, we head to Sarasota for Sunday night, an anchorage Monday and then we hope to be in Ft. Meyers on Tuesday—weather permitting— a cold front is coming in with high winds. In Ft. Meyer’s, we’ll join Margie and Larry on “Wanderin’ L & M” and be in the home port/marina of Bonnie and Bruce Dailey—“Phantom of the Aqua”.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Five Days in Tarpon Springs
Like so many others who have done “the crossing”, we were elated to see all the activity, pelicans, snowy egrets, commercial fishing boats, restaurants, sponge boats and people as we pulled into the village of Tarpon Springs on Monday, January 5th. It was a pretty ride from the main channel up the narrow bay with commercial boats on each side of us; we made our way to the City Marina—our home for the next four nights. The smells of the different restaurants made our mouths water! Cute shops right on the water—real civilization—yes!!! Color Kay and Diane very happy!
Side by side with “C-Life”, we quickly got both boats settled in our narrow slips and immediately hit the pavement. We were definitely in the thick of activity—and all just a few feet from our boats! We were located right beside the Sponge Factory Museum, sponge boats and several head boats—boats for daily off-shore bottom fishing that take individual passengers out on the Gulf. (“Head” boat means you don’t need to charter the whole boat to enjoy a day of fishing; you just buy a ticket and get on—they provide all the fishing equipment.) We had been told by other Loopers that this location—City Marina—was the best location for seeing and visiting all the popular spots in the area of Tarpon Springs which we would be interested in.
With 65% of the population being Greek in Tarpon Springs, it was no wonder we had landed in the thick of Greek food restaurants and culture. We chose for dinner Monday night, from a recommendation by recent Loopers, a near-by restaurant called “Hella’s”. As expected, it really was delicious—except that Louis ordered grilled octopus, thinking it would taste like calamari. At some point, Louis needs to tell everyone reading this blog what he thought of his meal. Let me put it this way—I’m proud of him for trying something different! We all got lots of laughs just from watching Louis react to the plate put in front of him and Robert pushing back in his chair away from the dish!
We had expected bad weather/rain on Tuesday (we did have high winds though), but the front stalled and it wouldn’t get here until Wednesday. We had heard that taking an hour’s trolley ride would be worth our time—and since the weather was accommodating us—we thought it a good idea. So off we went a couple of blocks to catch the trolley. Little did we know it was Epiphany Day—a Greek religious holiday—and that thousands of people would descend upon this town to watch the festivities. Our trolley ride couldn’t navigate the narrow streets packed with cars from all over the surrounding areas. So we decided to follow the crowds and see what all the hoopla was about.
Epiphany Day is always January 6th—it is the twelfth day after the birth of Christ and the day that John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the river Jordan. The Greeks celebrate this day with gusto! They gather in their neighborhood churches for a service at 11am, and then all walk in a procession around noon (with the priests in full robes and drummers leading the way) to a natural spring area/lagoon—located centrally to the community. (The largest church, St. Nicholas, was broadcasting its’ service to all of us gathered on a lawn at Spring Bayou just two blocks away.) We saw several men, women and especially children in their native Greek costumes too—just precious—more Kodak moments. And surrounded by thousands of on-lookers sitting on the steep, grassy lawn all around this small lagoon area, the celebrations continued. After more prayers and blessings from the singing and chanting priests, around 60 young boys (ranging in age from 15 to 17) all clad in black shorts and solid white tee-shirts raced down the steep, stone steps and jumped into the shallow lagoon. The boys then swam/raced to about 8 small boats, all tied together in a semi-circle, and tried to get on them. Several of the boats tipped over with too many youths trying to get into the closer ones and other boats sank from the sheer weight of too many bodies. It was fun to watch—people were laughing and yelling and there was so much excitement. (I felt like I was watching the running of the bulls in Italy!) After a few more prayers, the main priest threw a small, white, wooden—but heavy— cross into the lagoon and all the young men frantically jumped in the water in hopes of retrieving the blessed cross from the bottom of the waters. As is custom for 103 years now, the boy who finds the sunken cross is believed to have the greatest of good fortune/luck for the coming year. And as it turned out, the young man who found the cross was the fifth in his family to do so. (Talk about pressure!) His grandfather, his father, and two uncles all preceded him in their youths—finding the cross—a very “lucky” family indeed!
After the cross celebration, everyone started walking away from the lagoon. We wound up eating a late lunch in another Greek restaurant—the local’s favorite, “Mama’s” (Kay got her Greek fried cheese—yum!) Again, everything was delicious but very crowded this Epiphany Day—and we decided that since it was so late, we would not have dinner but walk up after dark and eat pastries for “dinner”! What a hoot—we’ve never done that before—we hadn’t been enticed at all after either huge meal to order dessert, but we knew we wanted to sample the beautiful/delicious pastries from the three fabulous bakeries before we left here. So, we each ordered 2 desserts—I had tiramisu and chocolate chipped canolies (sp.?). Louis ordered carrot cake and an éclair. Have I said yet that when we get home from this trip that both Louis and I are joining Weight Watchers and Alcoholics Anonymous?! It’s sad, but true.
An interesting thing happened to us earlier Wednesday morning when we were both working outside, Mary and Bob Drake from Soundings magazine walked up to us and asked to interview both “C-Life” and “Bella Luna” for an upcoming issue on boaters enjoying Tarpon Springs! They both stayed around for almost an hour, Bob taking pictures and Mary writing frantically in her steno pad—what fun we had, Robert, Kay, Louis and I all eagerly talking about our fabulous journey—and someone was actually listening! Louis eventually pulled out several Soundings magazines we had on board and Mary turned to an article she had written and lo and behold, Louis had dog-eared the page! I really think she was delighted and impressed that it was interesting enough to us that we had ear-marked that particular article—one on Saint Simmons Island in Georgia, where we plan/hope to stop on our way home. It will be interesting to see what Mary has to say about us when the article comes out later on this year—she said it would be in an early winter publication—and I do so hope Bob took good pictures—especially of me!
Thursday morning we finally got our trolley ride, after two other attempts. Of particular interest were the three neighborhood churches all within easy walking distance. So after lunch, Robert & Kay & I (Louis was going back to wash the boat) took off to visit these churches—stopping by the Spring Bayou to hopefully get a chance to see the manatees which had been there earlier on our trolley ride. As hoped, they were still there and we watched and watched as they came up for air in the shallow spring. Slow and gentle and huge, one even had a baby—which was sticking very close to its’ mother. What fun—now I can say I’ve seen a manatee up close and personal! And the churches were very special too—one was a lovely, small “neighborhood” Greek Orthodox--Saint Michael--and the other was the large Greek Cathedral--St. Nicholas—with beautiful guilt, paintings and many stained glass windows—the church that had broadcast the worship service on Epiphany Day. The third church was a small Unitarian Universalist Church featuring George Inness, Jr’s wonderful, huge paintings.
On our way back to the boats, Kay and I stopped at Mykonos restaurant for a glass of wine and a beer for me and I got the fried smelts, which I had been wanting to try ever since I saw a plate of them go by at another restaurant. Very small, very tasty and lightly fried, I was glad I hadn’t missed this wonderful Greek specialty. To their credit, Kay & Robert & Louis all tried one, but they didn’t like them—so I got the whole dish to myself—yum! And I’ve decided if we ever get the opportunity to go back to Tarpon Springs, we’re going to eat at Mykonos first—definitely the best of the three Greek ones we tried.
We’ve decided to eat on the boat tonight (Kay’s cooking soup) and tomorrow (Friday) we leave for fuel and an overnight in Clearwater, then two nights in St. Pete (Saturday & Sunday) and on Monday move across Tampa Bay to spend a few nights in Apollo Beach with our dear friends we’ve traveled with so much throughout this trip—Peggy and Guy Leverett on “Southern Comfort”. They have graciously offered us and the Creeches the use of their dock and their neighbor’s dock for a couple of nights’ layover and a special visit with them. “Southern Comfort” completed the Loop just a few weeks ago before Christmas and they now have earned their gold Looper flag—congratulations, Peggy & Guy!
Side by side with “C-Life”, we quickly got both boats settled in our narrow slips and immediately hit the pavement. We were definitely in the thick of activity—and all just a few feet from our boats! We were located right beside the Sponge Factory Museum, sponge boats and several head boats—boats for daily off-shore bottom fishing that take individual passengers out on the Gulf. (“Head” boat means you don’t need to charter the whole boat to enjoy a day of fishing; you just buy a ticket and get on—they provide all the fishing equipment.) We had been told by other Loopers that this location—City Marina—was the best location for seeing and visiting all the popular spots in the area of Tarpon Springs which we would be interested in.
With 65% of the population being Greek in Tarpon Springs, it was no wonder we had landed in the thick of Greek food restaurants and culture. We chose for dinner Monday night, from a recommendation by recent Loopers, a near-by restaurant called “Hella’s”. As expected, it really was delicious—except that Louis ordered grilled octopus, thinking it would taste like calamari. At some point, Louis needs to tell everyone reading this blog what he thought of his meal. Let me put it this way—I’m proud of him for trying something different! We all got lots of laughs just from watching Louis react to the plate put in front of him and Robert pushing back in his chair away from the dish!
We had expected bad weather/rain on Tuesday (we did have high winds though), but the front stalled and it wouldn’t get here until Wednesday. We had heard that taking an hour’s trolley ride would be worth our time—and since the weather was accommodating us—we thought it a good idea. So off we went a couple of blocks to catch the trolley. Little did we know it was Epiphany Day—a Greek religious holiday—and that thousands of people would descend upon this town to watch the festivities. Our trolley ride couldn’t navigate the narrow streets packed with cars from all over the surrounding areas. So we decided to follow the crowds and see what all the hoopla was about.
Epiphany Day is always January 6th—it is the twelfth day after the birth of Christ and the day that John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the river Jordan. The Greeks celebrate this day with gusto! They gather in their neighborhood churches for a service at 11am, and then all walk in a procession around noon (with the priests in full robes and drummers leading the way) to a natural spring area/lagoon—located centrally to the community. (The largest church, St. Nicholas, was broadcasting its’ service to all of us gathered on a lawn at Spring Bayou just two blocks away.) We saw several men, women and especially children in their native Greek costumes too—just precious—more Kodak moments. And surrounded by thousands of on-lookers sitting on the steep, grassy lawn all around this small lagoon area, the celebrations continued. After more prayers and blessings from the singing and chanting priests, around 60 young boys (ranging in age from 15 to 17) all clad in black shorts and solid white tee-shirts raced down the steep, stone steps and jumped into the shallow lagoon. The boys then swam/raced to about 8 small boats, all tied together in a semi-circle, and tried to get on them. Several of the boats tipped over with too many youths trying to get into the closer ones and other boats sank from the sheer weight of too many bodies. It was fun to watch—people were laughing and yelling and there was so much excitement. (I felt like I was watching the running of the bulls in Italy!) After a few more prayers, the main priest threw a small, white, wooden—but heavy— cross into the lagoon and all the young men frantically jumped in the water in hopes of retrieving the blessed cross from the bottom of the waters. As is custom for 103 years now, the boy who finds the sunken cross is believed to have the greatest of good fortune/luck for the coming year. And as it turned out, the young man who found the cross was the fifth in his family to do so. (Talk about pressure!) His grandfather, his father, and two uncles all preceded him in their youths—finding the cross—a very “lucky” family indeed!
After the cross celebration, everyone started walking away from the lagoon. We wound up eating a late lunch in another Greek restaurant—the local’s favorite, “Mama’s” (Kay got her Greek fried cheese—yum!) Again, everything was delicious but very crowded this Epiphany Day—and we decided that since it was so late, we would not have dinner but walk up after dark and eat pastries for “dinner”! What a hoot—we’ve never done that before—we hadn’t been enticed at all after either huge meal to order dessert, but we knew we wanted to sample the beautiful/delicious pastries from the three fabulous bakeries before we left here. So, we each ordered 2 desserts—I had tiramisu and chocolate chipped canolies (sp.?). Louis ordered carrot cake and an éclair. Have I said yet that when we get home from this trip that both Louis and I are joining Weight Watchers and Alcoholics Anonymous?! It’s sad, but true.
An interesting thing happened to us earlier Wednesday morning when we were both working outside, Mary and Bob Drake from Soundings magazine walked up to us and asked to interview both “C-Life” and “Bella Luna” for an upcoming issue on boaters enjoying Tarpon Springs! They both stayed around for almost an hour, Bob taking pictures and Mary writing frantically in her steno pad—what fun we had, Robert, Kay, Louis and I all eagerly talking about our fabulous journey—and someone was actually listening! Louis eventually pulled out several Soundings magazines we had on board and Mary turned to an article she had written and lo and behold, Louis had dog-eared the page! I really think she was delighted and impressed that it was interesting enough to us that we had ear-marked that particular article—one on Saint Simmons Island in Georgia, where we plan/hope to stop on our way home. It will be interesting to see what Mary has to say about us when the article comes out later on this year—she said it would be in an early winter publication—and I do so hope Bob took good pictures—especially of me!
Thursday morning we finally got our trolley ride, after two other attempts. Of particular interest were the three neighborhood churches all within easy walking distance. So after lunch, Robert & Kay & I (Louis was going back to wash the boat) took off to visit these churches—stopping by the Spring Bayou to hopefully get a chance to see the manatees which had been there earlier on our trolley ride. As hoped, they were still there and we watched and watched as they came up for air in the shallow spring. Slow and gentle and huge, one even had a baby—which was sticking very close to its’ mother. What fun—now I can say I’ve seen a manatee up close and personal! And the churches were very special too—one was a lovely, small “neighborhood” Greek Orthodox--Saint Michael--and the other was the large Greek Cathedral--St. Nicholas—with beautiful guilt, paintings and many stained glass windows—the church that had broadcast the worship service on Epiphany Day. The third church was a small Unitarian Universalist Church featuring George Inness, Jr’s wonderful, huge paintings.
On our way back to the boats, Kay and I stopped at Mykonos restaurant for a glass of wine and a beer for me and I got the fried smelts, which I had been wanting to try ever since I saw a plate of them go by at another restaurant. Very small, very tasty and lightly fried, I was glad I hadn’t missed this wonderful Greek specialty. To their credit, Kay & Robert & Louis all tried one, but they didn’t like them—so I got the whole dish to myself—yum! And I’ve decided if we ever get the opportunity to go back to Tarpon Springs, we’re going to eat at Mykonos first—definitely the best of the three Greek ones we tried.
We’ve decided to eat on the boat tonight (Kay’s cooking soup) and tomorrow (Friday) we leave for fuel and an overnight in Clearwater, then two nights in St. Pete (Saturday & Sunday) and on Monday move across Tampa Bay to spend a few nights in Apollo Beach with our dear friends we’ve traveled with so much throughout this trip—Peggy and Guy Leverett on “Southern Comfort”. They have graciously offered us and the Creeches the use of their dock and their neighbor’s dock for a couple of nights’ layover and a special visit with them. “Southern Comfort” completed the Loop just a few weeks ago before Christmas and they now have earned their gold Looper flag—congratulations, Peggy & Guy!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Crossing the Gulf of Mexico
We left Apalachicola on Friday, January 2nd—having been at Scipio Marina for two nights, right alongside a wonderful seafood restaurant—Pappa Joe’s. We had the crew of “C-Life” over to our boat the day before for a traditional New Year’s Day lunch of turnip greens, black-eyed peas, pork, and cornbread. Yum-yum—I love New Year’s Day! Kay furnished mashed potatoes and gravy, deviled eggs, and a nice bottle of champagne and we all toasted the New Year with gusto—several gustoes!
We left the cute town of Apalachicola mid-morning for a short (30 mile) run to Carrabell. This is the place where most Loopers wait for a calm day to make their crossing of the Gulf of Mexico over to the west coast of Florida. We’ve had friends leave almost immediately and others who have had to wait over a week for a calm sea in order to cross. We had no idea what time frame we would be in—would we get lucky? January is not known for its’ good days to cross—the books say there may be 10 good days out of the whole month that might be favorable—we knew we were behind the main group of Loopers who had crossed before Christmas. Buddy is the “crossing guru” at Moorings Marina (where we were going in Carrabell)—everyone seeks his valued and accurate opinion and goes when he says, “Time to go!” Both “C-Life” and “Bella Luna” were prepared to wait (even if it would, most likely, take us over a week)—we would have a long trip of 82 miles (11-12 hours) in very open waters and no land in sight to get to the other side of the Gulf—Steinhatchee.
So, we got to Carrabell around lunchtime after a calm-but cool-ride. (We’re in Florida, right? I thought we were going to be warm!) Louis and Robert checked in the marina and quickly sought Buddy’s opinion. Showing our Captains his computer generations, Buddy said we needed to leave very early the next morning (yipes!)—there would be 3 days in a row with calm seas—almost unheard of in the month of January. This is great news to us!!! Both couples made a quick dash across the street to the local IGA supermarket to stock up on a few more supplies, knowing our next several nights we wouldn’t have any access to a grocery. We had one more meal of oysters at the local favorite restaurant—with a ride over and back from Tony—and all four of us loved every bite.
Saturday morning, after an abortive attempt at 6:30am, we left the docks at 8am—still in dense fog. It was daylight, but just barely in all that fog—we would be in that soup until almost 3pm! Thank goodness for radar, a great GPS system, no wind, calm waters and the security of having another boat with us! Not only is it a long ride over to the west coast, but it’s another long two days after that to get to Tarpon Springs and the comfort of the ICW. We had three days in a row of pretty weather—we knew we needed to hustle.
And hustle we did! We got to Steinhatchee just at dusk—lots and lots of Saturday fishermen were coming in. And we were tied right at the end of the dock watching all of it! Cooler after cooler went to the fish cleaning station (thinking of you, Bob!), where men and women worked hard to clean their catches of mostly bottom fish. At this local, very old Florida “happening place”, the prettiest catch I saw was 8 large and very heavy red groupers on a string. For once I didn’t beg for a single fish—I was just too tired to clean and cook anything so fresh that evening! Besides, we had to leave before daylight the next morning to go another 80+ miles (about 15 miles offshore) to get to Chrystal River. (The reason we have to go offshore so far is that the waters are just too shallow to run the coastline in this part of the west coast.)
From Steinhatchee to Chrystal River—from dawn to dusk we traveled on calm waters. We had to go out and around several shallow areas—we were 12-15 miles offshore—and had another long day after this one still to go! But we had been assured we would have little wind and a “small sea” so we took advantage of it and pressed on. We got to Pete’s Pier in Chrystal River just at sunset—hit the metal canopy overhead (which we had been assured we could fit under!)—and promptly switched slips. The locals there living on their boats all told us many boaters hit the top of the shed—evidently the owners (whom Louis had talked with 3 times about the height) still didn’t know how “tall” their roofs are! Such is life on the water.
We left Chrystal River at dawn—still having not seen any manatees, which the town is noted for. But we have been assured by Robert, from “C-Life”, that we’ll have many more chances. I’m holding him to that promise! We dodged thousands upon thousands of crab pots almost all day—poor crabs, they don’t have a chance in this area—we had no idea that Florida Marine Fisheries would allow so many in one area—and were grateful for the spurs/cutters on our propellers—we hit two ropes that were invisible and underwater! By reversing our engines several times, thankfully, Louis did not have to go swimming that day.
We have been eating on the boat now for three days and all of us are looking forward to getting to Tarpon Springs today—a huge Greek enclave with lots of fabulous restaurants, bakeries and “The Sponge Capitol of the World”. We’ll be at the City Marina for several days—right beside all the activity of the fishing boats, sponge docks and restaurants—and we all need to just stop and rest for a while. Four longs days on the water in a row is something we wouldn’t have planned—but the weather was perfect for our “crossings” of the Gulf and so, once again, we were lucky. TYJ. (Most Loopers make a 24-26 hour single crossing, traveling overnight, from Carrabell directly to Tarpon Springs. But neither “C-Life” nor “Bella Luna” wanted that long a trip, so we broke it up into 3 days.)
We left the cute town of Apalachicola mid-morning for a short (30 mile) run to Carrabell. This is the place where most Loopers wait for a calm day to make their crossing of the Gulf of Mexico over to the west coast of Florida. We’ve had friends leave almost immediately and others who have had to wait over a week for a calm sea in order to cross. We had no idea what time frame we would be in—would we get lucky? January is not known for its’ good days to cross—the books say there may be 10 good days out of the whole month that might be favorable—we knew we were behind the main group of Loopers who had crossed before Christmas. Buddy is the “crossing guru” at Moorings Marina (where we were going in Carrabell)—everyone seeks his valued and accurate opinion and goes when he says, “Time to go!” Both “C-Life” and “Bella Luna” were prepared to wait (even if it would, most likely, take us over a week)—we would have a long trip of 82 miles (11-12 hours) in very open waters and no land in sight to get to the other side of the Gulf—Steinhatchee.
So, we got to Carrabell around lunchtime after a calm-but cool-ride. (We’re in Florida, right? I thought we were going to be warm!) Louis and Robert checked in the marina and quickly sought Buddy’s opinion. Showing our Captains his computer generations, Buddy said we needed to leave very early the next morning (yipes!)—there would be 3 days in a row with calm seas—almost unheard of in the month of January. This is great news to us!!! Both couples made a quick dash across the street to the local IGA supermarket to stock up on a few more supplies, knowing our next several nights we wouldn’t have any access to a grocery. We had one more meal of oysters at the local favorite restaurant—with a ride over and back from Tony—and all four of us loved every bite.
Saturday morning, after an abortive attempt at 6:30am, we left the docks at 8am—still in dense fog. It was daylight, but just barely in all that fog—we would be in that soup until almost 3pm! Thank goodness for radar, a great GPS system, no wind, calm waters and the security of having another boat with us! Not only is it a long ride over to the west coast, but it’s another long two days after that to get to Tarpon Springs and the comfort of the ICW. We had three days in a row of pretty weather—we knew we needed to hustle.
And hustle we did! We got to Steinhatchee just at dusk—lots and lots of Saturday fishermen were coming in. And we were tied right at the end of the dock watching all of it! Cooler after cooler went to the fish cleaning station (thinking of you, Bob!), where men and women worked hard to clean their catches of mostly bottom fish. At this local, very old Florida “happening place”, the prettiest catch I saw was 8 large and very heavy red groupers on a string. For once I didn’t beg for a single fish—I was just too tired to clean and cook anything so fresh that evening! Besides, we had to leave before daylight the next morning to go another 80+ miles (about 15 miles offshore) to get to Chrystal River. (The reason we have to go offshore so far is that the waters are just too shallow to run the coastline in this part of the west coast.)
From Steinhatchee to Chrystal River—from dawn to dusk we traveled on calm waters. We had to go out and around several shallow areas—we were 12-15 miles offshore—and had another long day after this one still to go! But we had been assured we would have little wind and a “small sea” so we took advantage of it and pressed on. We got to Pete’s Pier in Chrystal River just at sunset—hit the metal canopy overhead (which we had been assured we could fit under!)—and promptly switched slips. The locals there living on their boats all told us many boaters hit the top of the shed—evidently the owners (whom Louis had talked with 3 times about the height) still didn’t know how “tall” their roofs are! Such is life on the water.
We left Chrystal River at dawn—still having not seen any manatees, which the town is noted for. But we have been assured by Robert, from “C-Life”, that we’ll have many more chances. I’m holding him to that promise! We dodged thousands upon thousands of crab pots almost all day—poor crabs, they don’t have a chance in this area—we had no idea that Florida Marine Fisheries would allow so many in one area—and were grateful for the spurs/cutters on our propellers—we hit two ropes that were invisible and underwater! By reversing our engines several times, thankfully, Louis did not have to go swimming that day.
We have been eating on the boat now for three days and all of us are looking forward to getting to Tarpon Springs today—a huge Greek enclave with lots of fabulous restaurants, bakeries and “The Sponge Capitol of the World”. We’ll be at the City Marina for several days—right beside all the activity of the fishing boats, sponge docks and restaurants—and we all need to just stop and rest for a while. Four longs days on the water in a row is something we wouldn’t have planned—but the weather was perfect for our “crossings” of the Gulf and so, once again, we were lucky. TYJ. (Most Loopers make a 24-26 hour single crossing, traveling overnight, from Carrabell directly to Tarpon Springs. But neither “C-Life” nor “Bella Luna” wanted that long a trip, so we broke it up into 3 days.)
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