Beach photos from various days.
On Feb 1 we took the bus to Sarasota
and went to the Blue Rooster, a local live music venue/restaurant and saw Braille Blues Daddy Brian Lee. He is in his 70's, was blind from age 8 and is a really good blues musician. We will go back to see him again before we leave Sarasota if possible. Great comfort food, a cool venue and as a bonus, the band was not so loud so we could actually converse!
The Sarasota farmer's market has become a Saturday habit with Ed and Diane (Coaster) handling the driving into downtown Sarasota each Saturday morning. Here is the double decker bus coffee shop we always stop at to have a great cup of coffee.
The market is excellent with all kinds of produce and even a local fish monger with wonderful fresh fish offerings. We have enjoyed pompano, snapper, grouper, hogfish, mahi-mahi, scallops and shrimp thus far. All was excellent but get to the market early as the fish sells out fast! We also went to The Rosemary for lunch one Saturday which was excellent. Thanks so much for chauffeuring us each week Ed and Diane!
We walked to meet 5 other couples from our marina at the Dry Dock for lunch one day. They had all dinghyed to the restaurant but we decided to combine it with our daily walk routine. It was almost a 6 mile round trip and it was fun to meet some other marina guests at the lunch. And as always, the food was great too.
Friends Nan and Kevin (Bottom Line) from Michigan stopped by for a great short visit and lunch at the beach club on the 8th. They were travelling (by road) from Tampa to Fort Meyers Beach and took the "scenic tour" through Longboat Key to stop and visit. Thanks so much for stopping, it was great to see you. And we hope you choose to do the Loop in a few years when you retire....your boat is a great one for it and you will have a blast.
Julie's brother Kevin and sister in law Deb stopped by on Saturday the 10th to spend some time visiting at the marina pool before we went to their house for a great grilled dinner to celebrate Julie's upcoming birthday and checking out all the remodeling they are doing. Great job! Thanks so much for the hospitality Deb and Kevin!
We have also been spending a fair amount of time planning our 2018/2019 boating and other travel plans. Our rough plan (as our friends Scott and Brigitte on Putz'n Around always say... a rigid plan subject to infinite revision) is to return to the Great Lakes aboard Sum Escape this summer and then store the boat in Michigan for the winter season. We have rented a condo in Florida for mid Oct to mid Dec, (Here is a photo, it is the end unit and is directly on the beach)
then will visit our children scattered across the US for a couple weeks. Then, given we already had a cruise planned for February with a group of our ole crusing friends, we will fly to New Zealand and Australia late December. Thinking is, if we are going that far already might as well make it a longer tour. Then we will meet up with our cruise buddies for an Asian cruise Singapore to Japan in February. After that....undecided but will need a "home" from late February until the weather warms in Michigan (late April) and we can launch our boat (home) again in Spring 2019 for a summer of Great Lakes exploration prior to heading south aboard Sum Escape for the Winter 2019/2020.
We toured a few condo open houses one Sunday just for grins. Nice places and a great way to get a feel for the local market. For now, our cruising lifestyle is the one we prefer. We'll sign up for a slip here at Longboat for winter 2019/2020 before we leave in early March.
Julie found a Coast Guard Auxiliary posting in the laundry room so we scheduled a safety inspection. Tom noted expired flares before the gentleman arrived so those have been replaced and both boat and dinghy have their 2018 safety inspection stickers proudly displayed. He did ask about Kidde fire extinguishers recall. We had already replaced all seven on board courtesy of Kidde!
On Julie's 60th birthday (Valentine's Day) I scheduled Julie for her first ever massage session at the Resort Spa. She really enjoyed it and joined me at the beach shortly before noon.
We walked back to the marina along the beach and got ready for a fun evening. We joined a number of other boaters at the Longboat Key Club event center for a Valentine's Day dinner/dance.
Betsy and Dave (Frye Daze) organized a table for 10 and also had a sash that said "60 looks good on me" and tiara for Julie to wear! It was a really nice party and 60 does look good on you Julie....I love you!
The Key Club members were welcoming and friendly, the food/drinks were good and the band was good too. We had a lot of good laughs and a great time. Thank you Betsy for organizing!
Here is Tom removing the boarding plate after the varnish crew had installed it backwards! It's hard to get good help....it is installed correctly now.
I (Tom) flew to Michigan to move Mom into assisted living, leaving on the 16th and returning on the 21st. Here is the "you click, we pick" car we scored at Enterprise! Not bad for paying $38 for a compact car....2018 Mustang convertible!
We think Mom is settling into the new living arrangement well. We know the food is much better (I personally had two meals there to prove it), the social interaction opportunities are much improved and the care and help she needs is available 24/7. So we pray that God continues to help her adjust and she is happy, safe and comfortable there. Many thanks to my sister Pam and brother in law Steve for being there to help pack and move Mom. It was a large undertaking and the team worked well together. And thanks to my brother Larry and sister in law Eileen for the accommodations while I was in Michigan. A thank you to my sister Betty for her numerous winter travels to Muskegon from Chicago. And a thanks to Deb for all her help with the hospitalization and related and to Larry and Eileen for all their support over the past few months with Mom. This has been a significant "siblings project" for sure and I think we all worked together well to make it happen!
The new apartment.
Julie and her brother Kevin and sister in law Debbie picked me up at the airport when I returned on the 21st. We took a road trip together to Key Largo where we were able to visit with Julie's cousin Denise and her husband Dave who were in Key Largo on vacation from Washington (state).
We had a great time catching up with everyone. You may recall that Denise and Dave joined us aboard Sum Escape in the Bahamas two years ago. And they were also kind enough to have us in the summer of 2016 at their home in Washington. It was fun spending some time together again. Thanks to all for a great time!
Our group of four was upgraded to a 2 bedroom, 2 bath suite!! Old, but clean and nice.
And the tiki bar restaurant was right next door.
And thanks for the key lime pie Dave and Denise. I think I can get enough whip cream...
Dave and Denise's houseboat accomodations. Really a cool little spot!
We planned another outing to the Blue Rooster to see the same band. Diane and Ed (Coaster), Karen and Larry (Dream) and Debbie and Kevin joined us there. A great venue and great company!
The diver came as scheduled on Thursday March 1. He noted zincs in good condition, scrubbed the bottom and removed a 10 foot line from the port side shaft. Hmm, not sure when we picked that up! He also noted a ding in one blade of the starboard prop. Have not noticed any vibration and we hope we don't once we get underway. Hopefully this can wait until winter storage for repair....
On Friday we rode out bikes 4-1/2 miles to the UPS store to deliver a package for Brett. Yes, it is his pre school through 8th grade scrap book Julie has been diligently working on to complete. It will arrive just in time for his 31st birthday! We are sure he will appreciate it more at this age than back in the high school days!
February statistics. See January, we did not move the boat! But we do enjoy staying at Longboat Key. We are signed up for December 2019 to March 2020 to prove it!
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