Oh no, we’re
not heading west to Corpus Christi…we are now on our way up the coastline of
Florida to Bradenton. This will be our
final destination in our three month adventure of the Gulf states. I made reservations today to fly back to
Texas on the 21st and Steve and his “crew” will bring Kathryn back
to our home port on Padre Island in a few weeks (the weather Gods better be on
good behavior for him this trip!). BUT
the adventure isn’t over yet, as we have a few more ports to visit before we
head into Bradenton.
On my last
blog, we were enjoying Key West and what it had to offer. We always have a way of finding some good
eating establishments/bars to enjoy. On
Saturday, we strolled along the wharf where there are hundreds of boats and
many more people. A mommy manatee and her baby were entertaining the tourists,
so I was able to get some good close ups of these delightful animals. We, also, stopped by at the Schooner Wharf
Bar and Sloppy Joe’s to hear some music and enjoy the crowd. Dinner that evening was with Jimmy
Buffet…well, his restaurant, that is!
Our mode of transportation, once again, was the local bus line. The bus driver even had to stop the bus and
reprimand three rather rowdy fellows in the back whose language had gotten a
bit out of hand. Either they were going
to quiet down or enjoy walking!!! I sat
next to an author who proceeded to tell me her life story and the context of
her new novels. When I asked her a question
about one of them she said, “Wow, you were really listening to me!” Sunday, we took the dingy to a local
restaurant near our marina called Hog Fish Grill. I don’t think I have seen hog fish on many
menus other than in Florida. It is quite
delicious and the restaurant has quite the following. On the dingy ride over to Hog Fish, right
next to our marina, was an old, large yacht.
The name on the side was Platinum.
This yacht belonged to Mick Jagger (probably purchased after one of his
albums went platinum) and he later sold it to someone in Florida. They had let it go into disrepair and it was
being torn apart there at the boatyard.
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Steve Enjoying Downtown Key West
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| Mama Manatee and Her Baby |
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Sloppy Joes on Duval St
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Platinum
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Dinner at the Hogfish Grill
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If you are
familiar with the map of Florida, you’ll remember that Key West is directly
south of Ft. Meyers. So, for the
quickest route from Key West to Ft. Meyers Beach is to go north for 120 miles
and you’re there! So, on Monday that is
just what we did! This meant we had to
sail for 21 hours, which is an overnight sail.
The seas on the Gulf were absolutely perfect!!! CALM and FLAT! There was no trouble with sea sickness on
this little trip! We arrived in Ft.
Meyers around 10:00 AM on Tuesday. We
both were a bit tired, since we had to take turns doing watches, but there
isn’t too much happening on the Gulf during the night. There was almost a full moon, so we had our
own personal lighting! The only other
thing of interest was a giant sea turtle swimming with his flippers in the air.
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A Couple of Cruisers Flashing Us as We Leave Key West
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Good-bye Key West
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Sunset on the Gulf North of Key West
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We are
leaving in the morning to follow the Inter Coastal Waterway up to
Bradenton. Today we have had rain and wind,
which tends to “stir up” the Gulf’s waters.
The ICW is a waterway inside the coastline and tends to be much
calmer. So, those are our plans for the
next week. The trip is coming to an end
soon, but the fun keeps on going J.
Thanks again to all of our followers on the blog! We get some very nice feedback!
