More than a month has passed since I last tried to “catch up” on this blog. It’s difficult to play and then have time and energy to write but if I don’t make haste and get cracking on getting you up to snuff as to where were a…
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20 May – 28 June 2014 Treasure Island – Three Rooker Bar – Carrabelle – Ft. Walton Beach – Pensacola
Marina Jacks Sarasota, FL
Our week in Sarasota flew far too fast but we didn’t waste a precious second of our time there. We really look forward to returning in the fall. Below is the fountain and sculptures that were our first view every m…
10 – 19 May 2014 Punta Gorda and Venice, FL
When our month in Punta Gorda was up we cruised 3-4 hours which makes for a very nice day and anchored in Gasparilla Sound. We’ve been way over due a R and R and this afternoon and evening has been it! What a pretty place to just kick back! A friend made great fun saying that our entire life is a R and R but even volunteers can have a stressful times and both of us did for a month or two. We hung deadlines on the “time clock” the last time we “clocked out” and don’t do well with them at all since retirement.
The next morning as we continued north, the beautiful blue-green water was just boiling with shark fins. Wonder if they can flip my kayak? Just give me a swimming pool where I can see the bottom and any foreign bodies that might be in there. And to think, growing up on the Pensacola and Ft. Walton Beaches, thoughts of scary water creatures never entered my mind. All I ever saw back then wer jellyfiesh.
Our next destination was Venice, a very small town so reminiscent of old Florida.
We explored the town on foot and then by bicycle. The Legacy Trail, a Rails to Trails bike way runs from Venice, north to Sarasota, so we rode from our boat slip at the Crow’s Nest Marina, that beautiful bike way, through Nokomis and into south Sarasota. Even on a weekday, the trail was well used.
When we arrived back in Venice, we stopped for a little caffeine boost at a coffee shop Bill remembered we’d been to long ago.
Tourists and locals use the jetty near the marina for fishing or just sitting on the park benches enjoying the view.
This is another example of the boats mentioned in a previous post of which you’d be wise to steer clear. Many of these folks are consummate novices who know not what they’re doing; dangerous to themselves and their boat-load as well as everyone else on the waterway.
We celebrated my Mother’s Day with a delightful dinner at the Crow’s Nest. Despite it’s outside appearance, it does have a lovely ambiance. Inside, an upscale dining experience awaited us.
Time to leave Venice. The water here is so beautiful. We look forward to another visit on our return south in the fall.
Till next time…
Bill and Laura
Palafox Pier and Yacht Basin
Pensacola, FL
Bill and Laura
Palafox Pier and Yacht Basin
Pensacola, FL
We anchored in Pelican Bay very near Cayo Costa and my plan was to kayak over to the island. It’s accessible only by boat and what an alluring essence of nature found there. As I was ready to hop in the water, I saw what, on first glance, looked like a dolphin. The big difference was that fin stayed above the water and it was not part of a dolphin’s anatomy. We anchored near the pass and, upon inquiring, learned that sharks do venture into the Bay from the Gulf from time to time.
Venice, a small town so reminiscent of old Florida, was our next destination. 9787 . We rode from the Crow’s Nest Marina, the Legacy Trail, a RTT beautiful bikeway, through Nokomis and into the southern most Sarasota. 9817 and of course, back to Venice. coffee shop pix
Tourists and locals use the jetty near the marina for fishing or just sitting on the park benches enjoying the view. crows nest pix on desk top
pelican on rocks 9787
9827 stay clear of these rental boats!
9837 time to leave Venice
11 April – 10 May 2014 Punta Gorda, FL (Naples, Winter Haven, Ocala, Amelia Island by car)
Punta Gorda was our first stop after our Naples visit. Several of our friends live there and we were looking forward to visiting them and exploring the area as we continue to look for where we’d want to live when (and if) we ever have to abandon this full-time cruising lifestyle. That little town should be named Venice because there are canals everywhere.
While there, Bill and the Enterprise folks were on a first name basis as we used their cars on several occasions that month. We drove to Amelia Island for our trawler rendezvous and engaged in a bit of motor coach shopping on the way home. We’ve heard so much about The Villages, the development for “seniors”, so we stopped there to see what all the conversation is about. It isn’t at all what we’d envisioned i.e. a bunch of old folks barely able to move, pushing walkers and dragging O2 tanks. It could be a city. Population 100, 000!!! And no decrepit geezers that we saw but very fit and active “seniors” running, cycling, playing tennis and loving their Golden Years. The landscaping is beautiful and homes range from little cottage/bungalow types to multimillion dollar estates. The Villages has its own retail, physicians, and even a hospital. A couple we met there–he’s retired and she’s a RN, wanted us to go to dinner with them—which we did—and they invited us to spend the night. They had never met us till that afternoon and I think they should be crowned “Ambassadors” for that community. So now we’ve seen The Villages, declined their kind overnight invitation, and drove back home which wasn’t very far.
Back in Punta Gorda, we spent Easter Sunday with our ex-dock neighbors in the Keys, Patt and Bill, who’ve recently bought a condo in Punta Gorda on one of the multiple canals.
Janis and Ralph also live in Punta Gorda and are trawler friends that we met years ago through the trawler owners’ association. They had us to their home for dinner, loaned us a vehicle for a weekend, drove us around giving us a tour of areas they’d suggest living in if we decide to settle there. They couldn’t have been more gracious and absolutely put themselves and whatever they had, at our disposal.
One of the gifts of being an early riser. I love how the fog obscures the Port Charlotte end of the bridge as if it’s releasing it to commuters as their work week day begins.
Enterprise enabled us (again) to make a couple trips to Naples to the Apple Store. Those are rare and hard to find along the waterway. Was really surprising that Sarasota doesn’t have one so we were obliged to take advantage of Naples’ store. That was a treat—it’s in the elegant Waterside Shoppes with Tiffany, Brooks Brothers, Burbury, Cartier, deBeers, Yamron, Salvatore Ferragamo, and purveyors of that ilk––so making 2 trips there wasn’t that much of an imposition! 
It also gave us the opportunity to see areas of Naples that we didn’t get to see on our cycling excursions as well as restock our larder of heavy or bulky items that aren’t suitable to transport on a bike.
It also gave us the opportunity to see areas of Naples that we didn’t get to see on our cycling excursions as well as restock our larder of heavy or bulky items that aren’t suitable to transport on a bike.Several years ago when we were in Ft. Myers, a friend from our city of retirement, Greenville, SC, came to visit. He and Bill went to the GM car museum housed in an old WalMart and then the 3 of us went to St.James City on Pine Island, to a biker bar, The Ragged Ass Saloon. Bill and I went back there with Janis and Ralph’s vehicle but it just wasn’t the same without Plex…or the clientele had changed. When we were there before, it didn’t seem that it could degrade any farther but think it has. We concluded that to really feel at home there and part of the ‘crowd’, we needed a vast assortment of ink covering our epidermis, “leathers”, and cigarettes. We witnessed a woman light up right next to a guy on O2—they weren’t even a foot apart—so decided there was no time like the present to make our exodus and the quicker the better before the whole place blew up.
And we aren’t even in the Keys!
My Bill and Patt’s Bill went to the GM Muscle Car Museum and while there, talked to the owner. Meantime Patt is introducing me to her favorite shops. Collecting these cars has just been a hobby for him and he’s kinda getting tired of it and is ready to move on to something else.
He hopes some one will come in and buy the whole kit and caboodle for $24 million, otherwise all 220 cars will all go to auction. If you would like to visit this museum, you’ll need to make haste because next year this time it will be just a fond memory unless one of you will step forward. The four of us went to lunch after both Bills decided that hobby wasn’t within their budget.
Punta Gorda has great cycling paths that are segments of the Rails to Trails project. The city wants to be known as a Bicycle Friendly city so to make that visible, there are brightly painted and decorated bikes parked around the city. I couldn’t pick and choose—they were all cute and eye-catching in their own way.
There are 14 more but these oughta give you the “impression”.
It’s time to move on and continue our journey. Leaving Punta Gorda was difficult. We say that about every place when we leave. We’ve made a bucket list for our next trip there—things we wanted to do, restaurants we wanted to try, and places we wanted to cycle but ran out of time.
Bill and Laura Bender
Kindred Spirit III
Bill and Laura Bender
Kindred Spirit III
10 April 2014 Little Shark River – Panther Key – Marco Island – Naples – Pelican Bay – Punta Gorda – Amelia Island (by car)
Even though our departure from Marathon was emotional, it always feels good to have water moving beneath our hull again and thrill at the dolphins riding our wake and welcoming us to continuing our cruising. Our first night was in the Little Sha…
1 April 2014 Marathon, FL
Returning Here Each Winter is Akin to “Going Home”
That “Home” word seems to come out of my mouth often as in arriving at Olverson’s or Wild Dunes but we all refer to our Sombrero Marina friends as our Marathon Family. Som…
March 2014 Our Winter in the Florida Keys
Where the sun is shining, the sky is azure, the sand is white and toasty to the toes, the palm trees sway…and we’re on Island Time.
11 March 2014
Many of you have had a brutal winter so I sorta hate to tell you how delightful ours has been a…
Happy New Year 2014
After Christmas Eve and Day at Jekyll Island with friends, Betsy and Jim, we cruised on to St. Augustine where we had a short visit at A1A Alehouse with Kelly and her daughter who was home from college. Even though it was not much more&nb…
Christmas Day 2013 Jekyll Island, GA
Christmas Day 2013
Jekyll Island, GA
Christmas Eve afternoon we arrived at Jekyll Island Harbor and were greeted by our friends, Jim and Betsy, who arrived a few days earlier. About 20 cruisers gathered around a campfire last night and…
22 December 2013 Merry Christmas to All!!!
An Excursion Boat Coming into Atlantic Yacht Basin, Great Bridge, VA
A spectacular fall day describes 14 November when the wind abated, giving us the bluest of azure skies. Our 3 water tanks were topped of, both 300 gallon fuel tanks full, hold…
