Visiting in SW Florida

It's been a while since we've posted - so our 800 Dock Mates, Don and Molly, let us know - we'll try to catch you up.  March has been a great month for visiting friends.  After taking in the sites at Jewfish Key, we went up Port Charlotte Harbor and Di and Dennis McKay graciously hosted us while be docked in Punta Gorda.  Dennis spent an entire day trucking us around to stores and helping us install a new set of house batteries on the boat.  And then we got to go to their new house and swim in their pool - the house is beautiful and Dennis is making even more so with his usual hard work and attention to detail (sorry, we foolishly forgot to take pics).

After visiting the McKays we went down to Sanibel Island and stayed on the hook one night before heading up the Caloosahatchee River to Fort Myers.  This stop is full of visitors to Miss Hattie.  First, our friend from Indy, Cathy Orosz graced us with a 5-day visit.  We took her on a cruise to Fort Myers beach (20 miles down river) and stayed on the hook two nights while we explored the restaurants and beaches;  we also caught the IU-UNC game at a dive bar called Hoosiers in Paradise - it was March Sadness for the Hoosiers that night.  On our return to Fort Myers Yacht Basin we toured the Edison and Ford winter estates - a very cool life they were leading down here in paradise.  And Lenore made a new Easter Bunny friend, Lulu, as we walked along the sidewalk back to the marina.

Yesterday the McKays brought Don and Molly Prusa down to Miss Hattie - Don and Molly had driven down to Port Charlotte Easter weekend.  It was a great afternoon and evening visit - good laughs, good food (including Bob's guacamole), and of course good drink.  We had an empty, lonely feeling when they all walked away from Miss Hattie.

Now we're expecting John and Chris Sobecki - they'll be crossing the Okeechobee waterway to Stuart with us beginning April 1.  Tomorrow, Bob's brother and spouse - Gary and Nadine are scheduled to show up.  No doubt there'll be more food, drink and laughs

Lenore and Cathy - Beach Babes

Dennis, Don, Di, Molly - a great visit

Hokulea on world voyage

Edison Winter Estate

Lulu the Easter Bunny

On the move again

Poolside action

Poolside hotty

the pool at Vinoy

Chihuly Poppies

Chihuly Chandelier

Chihuly Sea Garden

We reluctantly left St Petersburg on March 4.  The weather had been nice and, as you can see by the pics, we were enjoying the facilities of the resort. The shops and restaurants were great. The days flew by, an endless summer that we don't want to end. We were daily serenaded by large green parakeets and met each morning by lovely blue sky and the sea of incredible green-blue, just like our daughter, Gretchen's eyes. Our last day, we finally got to the Chihuly Collection. It is so amazing, it makes your eyes ache. - My fav! Dali was O.K. too, Bob's pick.

Vinoy Marina, St Petersburg

Vinoy Park sculpture at sunrise

We moved just 28 miles down, anchoring out at Jewfish Key.  It's a lovely spot, with easy dinghy access to both a beach and a neat restaurant.  The down side was that the anchorage was adjacent to a sand bar that is exposed at low tide and is a favorite gathering spot for the 'young, restless, and over-stimulated' weekend crowd - of course, that just adds to the scenery.  We stayed 3 nights on the anchor;  we hadn't planned to stay the 3rd night but the TV reception was good and the last episode of Downton Abbey was playing - so, of course we had to stay.

Jewfish Wkend Scenery

Jewfish Wkend Scene

sunset at Jewfish Key

We then moved a whole 12 miles to Sarasota - get the picture - reluctantly moving south!  We opted for a mooring ball at the marina - and we were glad we did - we were away from the hubbub and the crowded slips.  Sarasota is a neat little town with very, very high end art galleries;  in one, the paintings started at $7,200 and went up to $95,000. The one I wanted was a mere $37,000. Oh well, it's fun to look!  We found a neat little Tiki bar (more our style) and hung there in the evenings.

Happy Tiki Hut Patrons, Sarasota

Then we moved on down - this time a respectable 42 miles - to Gasparilla.  We needed to do laundry and fill our water tank.  We'll stay here for 2 nights before going over to Cabbage Key, the inspiration for Jimmy Buffet's "Cheeseburger in Paradise".