So Excited to have Family Aboard! Clearwater, St Pete and Sarasota.

We made the 20 or so mile trip from Tarpon Springs to Clearwater Beach marina on Sunday Dec 13.  As directed by the Turtle Cove staff we waited until we had some tide come in as I am sure our props were sitting in the mud at low tide there.   Just took our time and enjoyed the inter coastal activity along the way. 
It was pretty windy so we had some salt deposits upon arrival.  We sterned in next to Job Site a beautiful Sea Ray sedan bridge from Bay Harbor.  We last ran into them at Aqua Marine at the head of the Tenn Tom back in Oct.  They had been here a couple weeks and loved it....and after spending three days here we agreed! 

Short walk to a wonderful sandy beach, lots of shops, restaurants, etc.

So after our arrival and washing the boat, we got our showers done and Sarah and Joe arrived from Bellingham WA to join us for a whole week.  It is so nice to have them aboard as our first guests!!

And as we said a little earlier, Clearwater is very nice and we just kept extending our stay one day at a time.  Sarah and Joe's friend Matt Fletcher showed up in Clearwater with his fiance' Meg.  This was a surprise to all as they had not announced it publically until then!  Congratulations Matt and Meg!

We left for St Pete on Wed.  Leaving Clearwater: A shot from Matt and Meg's room at the hotel.

Had a great 40 mile (or so) trip under warm sunny skies with little wind.  We had hoped to see many dolphins and were not disappointed!  In fact at one time we had in excess of six swimming in our wakes....some under the bow sprit and others along the side of the boat.  And it even included one juvenile dolphin who was keeping up with the others just fine.  Sarah and Joe taking pictures and videos of the dolphins.  What a day on Tampa Bay!

 

Our original destination was the municipal marina but they only had one night available.  So we decided the Renaissance Vinoy Resort (a Marriott managed property) marina would suffice...:>)
Boy, what a place. A storied past, refurbished to it's former grandeur in the 90's.  Opened in 1925, occupied by the military in WWII, closed in the 70's, occupied by the homeless and rodents for years, then finally refurbished as noted.  Wow.  From the glory days:

Today with Sum Escape in the foreground

 

Huge outdoor pool and hot tubs, great exercise and spa facilities, etc.  All available to the marina guest as well.  Sarah and Joe used the exercise facilities and Joe set a personal best on the treadmill running a half marathon before we left on Sunday morning! 
And with our Marriott member number, $2 a foot (same as Clearwater Beach and other marinas with many less amenities).  Oh Nancy C, there were great hair dryers in the shower facilities!!  You better stop here!
And wouldn't you know it, we got "stuck" here due to the wind and large waves on Tampa Bay.  We were going to stay 2 nights and ended up staying 5...what a sacrifice! 

Beautiful Christmas tree at Vinoy.

The Dali museum in St Pete was really interesting.  We did not know anything about this surrealist artist until visiting the museum.  What detail and creativity!  You should take the couple hours to do this museum if in the area.  It is amazing art.

 

We found many great restaurants in St Pete.  The marinas are right in the heart of it all.  St Pete is a little out of the way via the Loop, but in our opinion, a very worthwhile trip off the regular route. 

 

At the Canopy restaurant overlooking the park and Christmas tree.

 

Lots of condos downtown for possible future exploration too...seems like a pretty vibrant city.
On Fri night and Sat we found out the downside to the Vinoy marina....easterly component winds and a strong surge in the harbor.  So we checked the weather and noted continued strong east winds.  The wave forecast was only three footers on Tampa Bay, so we set out at 9:30 AM for Sarasota, Marina Jack to escape the surge.  It turned out to be a good choice.  Tampa Bay was a following sea, but the auto pilot and 2100 RPM (16 MPH or so with the wave action) was a great formula to get under the Sunshine Skyway and on to Anna Maria Island inlet into the intercoastal again.

 

 

 

 

Coming into Sarasota

 

It would have been nice to show Sarah and Joe more travelling along the Great Loop, but the cities we visited were fun and we found plenty to do.  And they at least had two travel days with us to see what a typical day of travel is like.   It was likely enough for them as 10MPH is pretty slow for a 30 something.  But they did enjoy the dolphin shows!  Oh, and as Joe pointed out, they did about 1% of the Loop!
When we arrived at Marina Jacks, the boat was full of salt as the 15 knot winds kicked up significant spray our entire trip.  So we sent Sarah and Joe off to enjoy a late lunch and Julie and I ate a quick sandwich and then scrubbed the boat.  Courtney joined us in the evening for dinner at Marina Jack....it was very good and a piano bar to boot.  View from the boat at Marina Jack.

 

Dinner crew:

 

On Monday we enjoyed a dinghy ride around Bird Key....and actually through the canal through the middle.

Even dinghyed over to O'Leary's Tiki Bar for lunch!

 

 

 

We sent Joe and Sarah off on the Marina Jack courtesy shuttle to the airport around 3 PM on Monday.

 

Tuesday brought a work day and a quiet boat...we miss the kids already!  But our time in Sarasota will be great visiting Courtney and exploring the city.  Thanks for following us.  Merry Christmas to all!!