Warm Weather, Cool Breeze

• We pulled into a brand new marina; we were the first to ever tie up to the new pier. Many years ago we took a trip to Puerto Rico and there was a donkey with a beautiful spray of flowers on its head. I stopped to take a picture and a man came up to me and said, "That would be $1.00." I, of course, paid. What a way to make a couple of bucks. The big deal about this marina was the birds! I have never seen this many parrots in my whole life - at least 300. They flew from inside the marina over to a private house. The owner told me that every year the birds come back around November. He didn't know where they went once they left him in the spring. He spends a fortune on birdseed and cleaning materials. I told him about my experience in Puerto Rico and suggested he put up a donation box (there were several of us taking pictures at this time) to help fray the cost of the food and cleaners.
• We traveled to Clearwater, Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg, Anna Maria Island and Brandenton, where my parents once lived, to Sarasota. As Sarasota appears in the distance, it looks like a big city with lots of office buildings. As you get closer you realize all these buildings are high-rise condominiums. We pulled into a place called Marina Jack, an elegant marina. I'd say a little up-scale with a huge fountain with water spraying out of several dolphins' mouths; very interesting. We docked and one slip away from us a 110 foot boat pulled in. So much for any sun for us. Every morning the newspaper is delivered to your boat. If you want, you can also have a continental breakfast. We took a nice walk through the town and surrounding area and checked out the real estate prices and the restaurants. We can afford the restaurants, I'm not sure about the real estate. We checked out the Ringling legacy. A museum of the Circus with memorabilia from Ancient Roman relics to contemporary carnival props are on display. We saw the coral colored mansion that belonged to John Ringling.
• We were looking for a little night life and found it right in the marina. I was only going to have 1 drink so I ordered a Black Russian (my favorite). The couple we were with called it a night. We wanted to stay; they had an oldies band and we were having a good time dancing. Mike was amazed at how all the old people around us knew all the words to all the songs. He's having trouble realizing that we are in the old people category. As the night went on a young couple sitting next to us bought us a round of drinks. Black Russian #2. We, of course, sent them over a round. The next thing I knew they were sitting at our table and Black Russian #3 was in front of me. Then the shooters started. By this time it didn't make any difference, I was gone. I looked at Mike and suddenly he became a twin, two Mikes. How lucky am I? Somewhere along the evening, someone must have given me some Cape Cod Potato Chips (years ago I got sick on them while drinking Mudslides). Yes, I was intimate with the porcelain god. For years now, at least 40, Mike has been telling me he's a trained professional, drinking is not for amateurs, I think he's right.
• The next morning Mike was on his own. I looked and felt like death warmed over. I slept until 3 in the afternoon. When I woke up we were entering a new marina, Palm Island Marina. We had a very nice sunset dinner and I went back to bed.
• Upon entering Fort Myers, we said goodbye to our buddy boaters. Ruth and Dennis live in Cape Coral and crossed their wake. They started the loop last May and completed what they wanted to see in seven months. We had a lot of laughs with them and their dog Tango. We will miss them.
• We spent almost a week in Fort Myers Beach; with the first 3 days spent at a boat yard having the repair work done to our anchor and fiberglass. The insurance paid for it. Bob and Carmela M. recently moved to Fort Myers. They gave us a call and came to the marina and picked us up.
• We went to their new condo, had a wonderful home cooked dinner, meatballs, sausage and pasta, one of Mike's favorites. Their new home is spacious and open, 3 bedrooms and 2 baths with lots of closet space. Carmela seemed very happy and adjusted; we think Bob is a little homesick for L.I. We know he'll be just fine once he meets new people and he hears about the cold weather in N.Y.
• We moved across Estero Bay to another marina. It was like being in Times Square, N.Y., lots to do. We were right in the heart of Fort Myers Beach. We would go to the beach in the morning and Ruth and Dennis would pick us up in the afternoon to shop and go sightseeing. We went to Sanibel Island and Captiva Island. The only way to explore the islands is by bike. There's only one main thoroughfare, Periwinkle Way. I can't imagine the traffic on the weekends. We went to "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge, it takes up much of the 12 mile island. During the nesting season you are asked not to go on these rookery islands. If pelicans are frightened off their nests by human intruders, they leave their eggs exposed to fish crows.
• We ate at a restaurant called the Green Flash. The one thing I will always remember is walking into the Ladies' room and standing facing the wall is a man. You stop and do a double take - what is this man doing? You then realize it's a statue; they got me. I think I blushed. Not to leave the men out...in the Mens' room when you stand in front of the thing, okay, the urinal, you look up and you can see all the people sitting at the bar. You think they can see you, but it's a two-way mirror. Mike said he just waved until he realized that no one could see him.

Apalachicola to Tarpon Springs

• We have been in Apalachicola, FL since Friday; it is now Wednesday afternoon. We are waiting for a weather window to cross the gulf at the "Big Bend." It is about 180 miles straight across from here to Tarpon Springs, where the Inter-Coastal starts again. All of this is open water. We have chosen not to take it all at one time, instead we will break it up into three legs; still in open water but smaller trips. It still takes good weather.
• Apalachicola is an old fishing town that is trying to attract some tourist business. They have a number of good restaurants and a couple of museums. Oysters of all types are their claim to fame. Mike ate oysters every day, lunch and dinner. I decided I needed a haircut, I now look like one of the pigeon sisters. Mike wanted to see the Dr. John Gorrie Museum. In the 19th century Dr. Gorrie believed that yellow fever, which was running rampant at the time, was caused by the oppressive heat. He then invented the first ice machine which is on display here...at least we think so. We have gone to see it three times and each time we were met by a large "closed" sign. This is typical of the town. They are trying, but can't quite get it right. Dennis and Ruth went to the local grocery store. Loaded down with groceries they decided to call a cab for the 1/2 mile ride back to the marina. Whammo, $13.00 one way! Not really tourist friendly.
• We left for Carrabelle on Thursday morning. We planned on leaving the next day for Steinhachee, but again the weather kept us here one more day (Noel gave us a problem). On Saturday we went to Steinhachee and went to a marina called Sea Hag. Sounds like a place you would really want to stay at! I was in the shower when I heard this awful sound and felt a hard jolt. I almost fell out of the shower. I wanted to run out and see what it was but I had to take the time to get the shampoo out of my hair and dry off. Turns out a boat hit the front of our boat, tore off the anchor bracket and took a piece of fiberglass off. Our buddy boater, Dennis, said the reason we have any bad luck is because we have bananas on the boat! We checked with our official old timers folklore expert, Whitey A., and he said he never heard of it. Now we have our anchor tied on the front of our new boat with ropes. Looks great! The man that hit us gave us his insurance information; we called and the work will probably be done in Fort Myers.
• Our luck continues. We went to Crystal River, FL, to which the guide book says some 30 natural streams feed it and that the river is a manatee sanctuary. We pulled into the Twin River Marina and filled up the tanks. After we tried to back in to our slip, we hit bottom, so the dock person told us to go bow in. If we go bow in, we can't get off the boat. She then directed us to another slip. When we started to back in, the boat quickly pulled to one side and came out of the water about a foot. We were just hanging there! Turns out that a boat was once on fire in that slip and her lines were hanging from the pole down into the water and under our boat. Mike had to get a knife and cut the lines. We just tied the boat up there, partially out of the slip for the night. We were exhausted from the long trip and now another problem with the boat that was not our fault. When we climbed into bed, my side was wet; the porthole was not closed tight. To finish the day, we had to sleep in a wet bed.
• The next day the owner of the marina told Mike it was his own fault we ran over the lines and we had to pay for a short haul. We can't figure out how we could have known there were lines in the water under our boat. He said if we didn't like it we could go to another marina. He had us. We could not run the boat this way; besides the next marina was many miles away. He insisted that we pay him before he pulled us out. A short haul takes about an hour and a half. We decided while the boat was out of the water we would polish it and Mike would put on the new zinks. The owner had a fit. I was told that I was not allowed to be near the boat while it was out of the water. Mike was yelled at for going on the boat to get the zinks. The lift operator was fired. This miserable little fat man said his insurance would not cover us if anything happened.
• We felt terrible when the operator was let go. In speaking to other workers, we found out that the owner was looking for a reason to fire the man. Not one of the other employees had a nice thing to say about their boss. I was proud of Mike, he didn't punch the guy. I know he would not have been happy in a Florida jail. I never did get to see the manatees.
• Tarpon Spring - we stayed for 2 nights at the Anclote Harbor Marina. On the Anclote River, the homes are just like in the Hamptons. Very impressive. We called Charlie L. and told him we were in town. He came over and took me to the grocery store and then we went to lunch. He's such a great man, we enjoyed spending the afternoon with him.
• We went to the marina in town, what a busy place! Tarpon Springs is the sponge capital of the world. We docked next to the sponge factory; it was like Disney World. Every half hour you could hear the sponge factory (like "It's a small, small world") people telling you to come and see the theater and a museum featuring sponge diving exhibitions and exhibits of authentic sponging ships. You work up an appetite from walking up and down Dodecanese Boulevard. There are many Greek Restaurants to choose from. We ate at three different restaurants; we had spanokopita, pastitso, keftedes and of course, gyros. Do you remember the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding?" At Costa's Restaurant on Athens St., the name of the waitress was Nickie and her husband's name was Nick. We had a good laugh at that one. I wonder if her husband's name really was Nick! I found two stores that sold women's clothing made in the USA. Mike told me to have a good time, I helped the local economy. The entire town was charming.